Garden Green Beans can be Canned, Dried, Pickled or Frozen

From Tammy Roberts, Nutrition and Health Education Specialist, Missouri Extension

 Hopefully, gardeners will have so many green beans this year they don’t know what to do with them. Don’t worry though; there are many ways that you can preserve green beans so you are eating your garden’s bounty all winter long.

“If you’re canning your green beans make sure you are using recipes that were published during or after 1989” said Tammy Roberts of University of Missouri Extension. “Many canning processes changed after that year”. Green beans can only be canned safely in a pressure canner. Quarts should be processed at 11 pounds of pressure for 25 minutes. For those with a weighted gauge canner, process for the same amount of time at 10 pounds of pressure. (For those above 1,000 feet of sea level nothing changes for those using a dial pressure gauge. For a weighted gauge use 15 pounds of pressure for the same time period. (Only the upper northwest corner of Bates County is above 1,000 feet.)

“An important thing to remember when freezing your green beans is that they must be blanched before you freeze them” said Roberts. Blanching stops the enzyme process that makes the beans continue to mature even after they are picked. Green beans should be blanched for three minutes then quick cooled in ice water before you put them in the freezer.

 The suitability for drying green beans is listed as being fair to good. They must be blanched for two minutes before they are placed in the dehydrator. For better texture some people freeze the green beans for 30 to 40 minutes after blanching and before placing them in the food dehydrator. Drying time is eight to fourteen hours.

 “Another option that many people don’t often think about is pickling your green beans” said Roberts. She says the recipe is very similar to quick pickled cucumbers. All pickled products must be processed in a boiling water bath canner to assure safety. University of Missouri Extension’s guide sheet, Pack A Pickled Product, has detailed information on how to prepare and process dilled green beans. University of Missouri Extension guide sheets can be found at http://extension.missouri.edu/publications.

With all of these options, you can offer your family a great variety of foods from just one type of plant in your garden.