Canning Green Beans with a Pressure Canner

A person choosing to can their own fresh fruits and vegetables these days has become more and more popular. It’s not surprising considering that canning these foods not only locks in the flavor but also will save you money. Not only that but people also get to enjoy the vegetables and fruits that they love even when they are not in season. If you are a vegetable and fruit lover, then that very thought probably brings a big smile to your face. One of the favorite foods for people to can all over the world is green beans. We will give you a little overview here on how that is done. You can check out these pressure canner reviews if you are looking for a canner.

Why do people choose to can green beans over other vegetables? For one they are very easy to prepare. They are also a vegetable that the canning process does a great job of locking in the flavor too. Not to mention they are a very affordable vegetable to buy in bulk in many cases, and that is a great way to save some money on your food bill.

GREEN BEAN PREPARATION

Before you can start the canning process, you must first properly prepare the beans so they will can the right way. Here is how you go about doing that.

• Food Safety
  As with any food that is being eaten or stored safety is a big concern. Make sure before you go any further in the preparation phase that you thoroughly wash off the green beans you will can. The will help get rid of unwanted pesticides and other harmful residue that can contaminate the outside of the beans.
• Green Bean Trimming
  There is no one size fits all when it comes to trimming your green beans in preparation for canning. There is no right or wrong way, and much of it comes down to personal preference. Some people prefer to can the whole bean while yet other only like the fat meaty part of the green bean that is in the middle. What you do here is all up to you.
• Pre-Boiling
  You want to pre-boil the green beans you have prepared by cooking them for around 5 minutes in boiling water while covered on the stove.
  Now you are ready to start the canning process.
• CANNING AND COOKING THE GREEN BEANS

There are two main ways to can beans. That is using a warm bath method or a pressure canner. We have talked about the importance of safety already, and that is why we will only discuss pressure canning in this article. This method takes the canning temperature up over 240 degrees which is the temperature needed to kill the bacteria that causes the harmful condition botulism which occurs commonly in improperly jarred food items.

If you don’t own a pressure canner, they are very easy to find in the marketplace. They range from inexpensive to very costly models, but you don’t need a fancy one if you are on a budget. They will all generate the required 240 degrees of temperature to can items like green beans safely. If you do not know much about pressure canners then we suggest you read several pressure canner reviews to help determine the best pressure canner for your needs. They differ from typical pressure cookers primarily due to their size to accommodate jars.

• Placing the Beans In the Jars
  The next step in the canning process is to place the beans in the jars. Make sure you leave at least one inch of headspace at the top of each jar. Some people like to add boiling water inside the jars instead of using lukewarm tap water. Add in 1 tsp of salt to quart jars and ½ tsp to pint-sized jars (optional).Once this is done close the lids tight and band them to make an airtight seal and then place the jars into the bottom of the pressure canner. Do not stack them on each other. They should only rest on the bottom of the canner.
• Processing the Green Beans
  Most pressure cookers have three pressure settings for canning. Green beans tend to can best on the 10 psi setting. The desired cooking time is considered to be around 25 minutes for quart sized jars and around 20 minutes for pint-sized jars (about 15 minutes more cooking time is recommended for canned whole beans).
  Let the jars cool before storing. Check the jar seals after 24 hours and discard any product where the seal is no longer tight.

NOW ENJOY YOUR DELICIOUS CANNED GREEN BEANS ALL YEAR ROUND

You have put in a lot of work to line your shelves with many jars of green beans. The canning process is fairly time-consuming but you will reap your reward for it each time you prepare a meal that includes a jar of your delicious tasting green beans. So enjoy it because you deserve it.