Preparing Green Beans to Can or Freeze

CANNING AND FREEZING FOOD IS A GREAT WAY TO PRESERVE IT FOR LATER USE. TODAY I AM GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU HOW TO PREPARE YOUR GREEN BEANS IN ORDER TO GET THE BEST RESULTS WHEN YOU CAN OR FREEZE THEM.

There is not a lot of preparation that needs to be done to green beans in order to be able to can or freeze them, but there are a few things that you need to do so I thought I would share with you how I prepare mine.

Bush beans or pole beans which are best for canning or freezing?

Each year we usually grow two different types of green beans, pole beans and bush beans. They each seem to serve a different purpose so we find growing them both works well for our family.

Green Pole Beans

The pole beans make steadily all summer long but they don’t make a huge amount at one time. I like to go out every couple of days and pick enough pole beans to cook for supper. I spend a lot of time during the summer canning the green beans that we will be eating all year long, so I love having the pole beans so that in the summer we are able to eat fresh beans instead of canned ones.

Green Bush Beans

The bush beans on the other hand produce a lot of beans at one time so they seem better suited for canning or freezing, to have available to eat later in the year. When we pick our bush beans it is usually way to many to cook for just one meal.

Washing your green beans.

The first step in preparing your beans is to give them a good washing if they are dirty. I do this by filling either the sink or a large bowl with water and a little lemon juice. I then add my green beans and swish them around for a bit. Then give them a good rinsing. If they are really dirty they might have to be scrubbed under the rinse water. My beans are usually only dirty if it has recently rained and splattered mud or dirt onto them. If they are not very dirty I usually don’t wash my beans as my first step. I wait until a little later to wash them.

Snapping and destringing your green beans.

If my beans are pretty clean this is my first step and washing will come next. The reason for this is that the beans are dry when we are snapping and destringing them, which I find makes it a little easier.

So many times you will hear green beans referred to as snap beans or string beans. Those are not different varieties of beans they are all green beans. It’s just that some green beans are really stringy, hence the name string beans. People usually snap green beans into smaller pieces before cooking therefore they are called snap beans.

I do snap and destring our beans before I freeze, can or cook them. The first step in this process is to snap off each end of the bean and then snap the bean again, usually in half or thirds. While you are snapping you will find out if your beans are stringy. If you do have stringy green beans you will want to pull those strings off while you are snapping your beans. Strings are tough and not very pleasant to have in your beans. I show you exactly how I do these steps in my video below if you would like to see me do it.

So if my beans are pretty clean, I snap them first and then I wash them the same way I talked about before and when I am finished they are ready to be canned, frozen or cooked.

I hope that is post was helpful to you. If you are new to “putting up” food for the winter I have several other post and will continue to have more because storing the food we grow for the winter is something we do around here.