Canning green beans is one of the best foods to start with if you are new to canning. There are very few ingredients needed when canning green beans and the process is fairly simple. By the time you finish canning your green beans you will be familiar with some of the basic canning methods and ready to explore new food options.
There are two types of canning methods: Water Bath Canning often abbreviated WB and Pressure Canning often abbreviated PC. Before you start canning green beans you need to decide what method you need to use.
The Best Method for Canning Green Beans
Canning green beans requires you to use the pressure canning (PC) method. There is no safe option for water bath canning green beans because they are a non acidic food. Pressure canning is the only method recommended for low acid foods. Low acid foods includes almost every vegetable, some fruits, meats, and fish. For most of your jellies, jams, and pickles you will use the water bath method.
Now that you know you need to pressure can your green beans you need to gather your supplies. Pressure canning requires a bit more equipment and a little more money than water bath canning does. Below are some of the tools that I recommend as well as some very helpful books to add to your home library.
Tools You Need to Pressure Can Green Beans
Pressure Canning Tools I Recommend:
All American Pressure Cooker + Tools – I recommend this one because it uses both a pressure regulator with weights of 5, 10, and 15, plus a visual pressure gauge that is easy to read. Another great thing about the All American is that it doesn’t use a rubber gasket to seal the cooker. It is designed with a metal on metal seal and clamping locks to create a tight seal. Since it doesn’t use a rubber gasket you don’t have to worry about it getting damaged or having to keep a spare gasket on hand to replace a damaged one.
Norpro Canning Essentials – This kit includes long tongs, a jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, extra wide mouth funnel, a jar wrench, and a bubble popper & measurer. You will need all of these tools to efficiently and safely pressure can. This kit only costs around $10.00. You can buy this same kit in a bundle with the All American Pressure Cooker that I linked above. My suggestion is that you don’t skimp on these tools. You will save yourself from burnt fingers and wasted food by spending a little money on these helpful tools.
Recommended Books for Canning:
The All New Ball Book Of Canning And Preserving – This is a great book because it includes instructions and recipes for both water canning and pressure canning. Another favorite thing about this book is that it has over 350 recipes including a section for meals in jars. You get the added bonus of learning how to preserve food through freezing, dehydrating, and curing and smoking in the later chapters of this book.
Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving – A really good book for beginner canners because it includes a lot of helpful canning information such as step by step instructions. This book also includes over 500 recipes. I highly recommend purchasing BOTH this book and the one listed above so that you have a lot of information and recipe options on hand.
Now that you know what method to use to can your green beans and what tools you need, you now need to prepare your green beans for canning. Like I said at the beginning of this article, canning green beans is simple, so take a deep breath, and relax! You’ve got this! 🙂
How to Prepare Your Green Beans for Canning
Step 1: Pick green beans that are tender and crisp and remove any that have been damaged by bugs. Whether you are harvesting your own green beans from your garden, received a bunch of green beans from a friend, or bought them from the store or farmers market, you still need to pick through them and throw out the yucky ones. You don’t want to be canning any beans that are damaged.
Step 2: Run them under some water to clean off any dirt. Add a bit of apple cider vinegar to your water to help clean the beans if you want to. Swish them around in the water and then lay them on a clean towel or paper towel.
Step 3: Leave them whole, or remove the ends and cut or slice them into 1 inch pieces. It’s really up to you to decide what size you want your green beans. You might try to think about how you are going to use them in the future. If they going to be added to a soup, you may to cut them into smaller pieces. Are you going to use them as a side dish? If that is the case, leaving them whole might be the better choice. There is no wrong answer. If you just can’t decide, you can leave some whole and some cut up so you have a variety to choose from.
Now that you’ve got your beans clean and ready to be canned you need to decide if you want to raw pack or hot pack your green beans.
Raw Pack vs Hot Pack
- Raw packing green beans is where you pack raw food in your jar and then add a boiling broth or boiling water to the jars.
- Hot packing green beans is where you heat your food and then pack it into a jar.
Hot packing removes more air in the jar than raw packing does. By removing as much air as we can we from the jar we will preserve our food much longer. Hot packing also helps compact the green beans and preserves their color and flavor better than the raw packing method. Again, it’s really up to your personal preference. My suggestion is to try both methods and see which one you prefer.
Now that you know the method to use, the tools to gather, how to prepare your green beans, and whether you are going to raw pack or hot pack them, you are ready for an approved recipe! It’s very important that you use an approved recipe to avoid under processing your green beans. Under processing canned foods can result in illness if spoiled food is eaten.
Approved Recipe for Raw Packing Canned Green Beans
Step 1: Tightly pack your jars with raw green beans. I say tightly because you will be surprised how much they shrink in the canning process. Leave about 1-inch headspace at the top of your jar.
Step 2: Next add 1 teaspoon of canning salt per quart to the jar, if desired. You can usually find canning salt in your grocery store, but if not use this link and buy it with your other items on Amazon. You can add your canning salt directly into your jars. No need to mix it up with the boiling water.
Step 3: Finally add boiling water to your jars. Use your bubble popper and measurer to make sure to leave 1-inch headspace from below the jar rim. This space is important for processing the green beans safely.
Step 4: Wipe the rims with a clean towel and then add your lids and rings to your jars. Tighten the rings firmly but there is no need to put all your muscles into it!
Approved Recipe for Hot Packing Canned Green Beans
Step 1: In a large stock pot, cover your green beans with boiling water and boil 5 minutes.
Step 2: Fill your jars with loosely with green beans. Leave 1-inch headspace. Don’t throw the water away.
Step 3: Next add 1 teaspoon of canning salt per quart to the jar, if desired. You can usually find canning salt in your grocery store, but if not use this link and buy it with your other items on Amazon. You can add your canning salt directly into your jars. No need to mix it up with the boiling water.
Step 4: Take the liquid that you boiled your green beans and cover them. Use your bubble popper and measurer to make sure to leave 1-inch headspace from below the jar rim. This space is important for processing the green beans safely.
Step 5: Wipe the rims with a clean towel and then add your lids and rings to your jars. Tighten the rings firmly but there is no need to put all your muscles into it!
You are pretty much all set to start canning your green beans now! There is just one more thing to consider and that is what altitude you live at. The processing time for canning green beans will need to be adjusted according to your location.
Altitude Adjustments for Pressure Canning Green Beans
Pressure canners must be operated differently at different altitudes so it is important that you know your altitude and adjust your weights accordingly. Use this link to help you if you are unsure about what altitude you live at.
Increased pressure must be applied as the altitude increases. Read the users manual on your pressure canner to know what specific pressure your weighed gauge or dial gauge needs to be kept at for your altitude. Under processing of food might occur if you don’t use the proper weight.
Step 1: Add water to your pressure canner. Read your manual to determine how much water you should add to your pressure canner.
Step 2: Add your jars and lock your lid in place.
Step 3: Turn heat on and vent for 10 minutes.
Step 4: Add weight according to your altitude.
Step 5: When pressure is up, then begin your timer. Adjust heat to maintain pressure. Don’t let the pressure drop or climb too high.
| Table 1. Recommended process time for Snap and Italian Beans in a dial-gauge pressure canner. | ||||||
| Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0 – 2,000 ft | 2,001 – 4,000 ft | 4,001 – 6,000 ft | 6,001 – 8,000 ft |
| Hot and Raw | Pints | 20 min | 11 lb | 12 lb | 13 lb | 14 lb |
| Quarts | 25 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |
| Table 2. Recommended process time for Snap and Italian Beans in a weighted-gauge pressure canner. | ||||
| Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time | 0 – 1,000 ft | Above 1,000 ft |
| Hot and Raw | Pints | 20 min | 10 lb | 15 lb |
| Quarts | 25 | 10 | 15 | |
Pressure canning is a bit more involved than water bath canning is and there are some helpful things to do in order to have a successful experience.
Best Practices When Pressure Canning
- Plan on staying close to your pressure canner. People often make the mistake of leaving their pressure canner when it’s in operation. Remember you are essentially creating a bomb in your kitchen if you are not watching it and adjusting the heat as needed. My suggestion is that you set aside a block of time, free of distractions, so that you won’t need to go very far from your pressure canner. If you have to leave, or get called away, it’s best to remove it from the heat and start all over at a time when you are less distracted.
- Use clean jars and lids. Many of us are very frugal and that is a great attribute, but don’t be so frugal that you use jars that are chipped or cracked and lids that’s seals are damaged. You can buy new jars, lids, and rings fairly inexpensively on Amazon. See this link to compare prices. If you use jars that have even small cracks in them you may end up with broken jars inside your pressure cooker and have to throw everything away for fear of contaminating the rest of your jars.
- You don’t need to sterilize your jars and lids if you will be canning for at least 10 minutes. A lot of people do boil their jars and lids in water, but this is an unnecessary step if you are going to be pressure canning for at least 10 minutes. I would say though, if it makes you feel uncomfortable skipping this step, then go right ahead and do it. No harm either way.
- Use olive oil or petroleum jelly along the rim of your pressure canner to prevent the lid from sticking. Read your users manual that came with your canner for best results.
- To prevent scaling on your jars add a bit of white vinegar to the water in your pressure canner. Scaling is a white film that covers the jars which is caused by sediments in the water. It doesn’t hurt your food, but makes them look less appealing.
- It’s ok to can different size jars at one time or the same food, but use the longer time to process all the jars.
- Don’t open your pressure canner until the pressure has dropped all the way to zero. You could cause serious injury to yourself and your surroundings if you aren’t patient.
Now that you have taken all the time to can your green beans you are going to want to store them in the best possible way.
Best Practices for Storing Canned Green Beans
- Label each lid with contents and date you made it.
- Store between 50-70 degrees F. Above 90 degrees can soften the seals and ruin your green beans.
- Don’t stack cans. Stacking cans could damage the seals by placing pressure on them and damaging them.
- Remove rings to prevent a false seal.
- Keep the older jars to the front of your shelf.
One of the reasons we can foods is so that we have a ready supply of food in times when food is scarce or not growing. Because of this we need to know how long we can store our green beens before they will go bad.
How Long do Canned Green Beans Last?
Best practice says, we can eat our canned green beans for at least a year. But, they can be eaten longer as long as they are still sealed and don’t smell funny.
That being said, there is one major concern that you should be aware of when canning.
Danger to Avoid When Canning
Botulism
Botulism is one of the most common concerns people have when choosing to can and for good reason. Botulism is a potentially deadly virus caused by a poison. If food is improperly canned botulism can occur, that is why it is so important to use a USDA approved recipe, like the one I give you in this article, and follow the instructions carefully. Botulism can’t be seen, smelled or tasted.
If your can spurts when you open it, throw everything out, even the jar, lid, and ring. If your lid bulges, throw it all out. If your food is moldy, smells bad, or is discolored, throw it all out as well. Clean up any of the spilled food with a bleach solution. It’s better to err on the side of caution now than to be sorry later. Don’t ever taste food to test if it is safe.
Ready, Set, Go!
I think you’re ready! Now remember, canning green beans is a fun experience! Gather all the materials talked about in this article, set aside half a day of undistracted and uninterrupted time, and have fun! Don’t forget to take pictures of your finished products and share them here with me and with your friends! – Keepsm:)ing!
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