Fermenting Green Snap Beans

[Branching Out]

We are looking to preserve some of the vegetables that we grow in our garden, and one of our goals for the summer is to master the art of fermenting green beans. Have you done this before, and do you have a recipe that you follow? Does fermenting work better with a larger volume of ferment-- or will small batches give comparable results? Finding a good balance of salt in the brine seems to be very important, and the temperature of the ferment seems to play an important role too. I am planning on using sea salt to ferment fresh snap beans in glass jars. I have one tall glass Weck jar, and also pint or quart jars fitted with silicone fermenting caps and 'pickle pebble' glass weights.

 

[Dahlia]

We are looking to preserve some of the vegetables that we grow in our garden, and one of our goals for the summer is to master the art of fermenting green beans. Have you done this before, and do you have a recipe that you follow? Does fermenting work better with a larger volume of ferment-- or will small batches give comparable results? Finding a good balance of salt in the brine seems to be very important, and the temperature of the ferment seems to play an important role too. I am planning on using sea salt to ferment fresh snap beans in glass jars. I have one tall glass Weck jar, and also pint or quart jars fitted with silicone fermenting caps and 'pickle pebble' glass weights.

That sounds fun! I have fermented vegetables before in both cortido and escabeche. Cortido has thinly sliced cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, and spices. Escabeche has lots of sliced jalapenos, carrots, onions and spices. I'll be interested to hear how your fermented green beans turn out!

 

[flowerbug]

i've never done any of those so i'm reading along and hoping those with more experience will eventually chime in. the chance of me getting Mom to try anything like this is about zero, but eventually i may be able to do some fermenting. i'd like to do some hot pepper and garlic sauces some day.

 

[jbrobin09]

I usually ferment carrot sticks, yellow snap beans (I find they are more tender than the green), garlic cloves, sometimes radishes. It's a quick ferment, usually 5-6 days at summer temps. They keep a really long time in the fridge without any decline in quality.

I use a 2-2.5% brine, with fresh dill, a whole garlic clove, and 3-4 leaves from our sour cherry shrub (tannins in the leaves help maintain crispness) and all packed tight to the shoulder in a 1L mason jar. I like to use a vacuum sealed lid (it's got a little pump to take the air out) but burping a canning lid and ring twice a day works too.

I tried to attach a mp4 video of a ferment using a Pickle pipe, (I don't love them, as I find they let oxygen in so I lose ferments to mold) but it won't let me. Is there a way to attach a video? I have uploaded it to tiktok to see if I can share that here.

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7262145387128016134

 

[Cosmo spring garden]

I learned a lot about fermting from Stacy on YouTube channel called off grid with Doug and Stacy. I also use the rubber fermenting lids, glass and sea salt. She makes it look so easy. I have fermented hot sauce in the past and also made Kimchi.

 

[Alasgun]

All of our pickles (8-10 gal‘s per year) are fermented and while we are actively making next years pickles we’re still eating the end of last years pickles! They do keep a long time, refrigerated.
We also ferment beets/carrots which we eat a dab of every day. For these we make them perpetually to always have a jar in the fridge.
different vegetables take different salt ratio’s but yes this is very easy; and good for you!

 

[jbrobin09]

I learned a lot about fermting from Stacy on YouTube channel called off grid with Doug and Stacy. I also use the rubber fermenting lids, glass and sea salt. She makes it look so easy. I have fermented hot sauce in the past and also made Kimchi.

Yes, me too on the hot sauce and Kim chi. It’s so good and easy, and you can customize the heat for your family.

 

[Branching Out]

I learned a lot about fermting from Stacy on YouTube channel called off grid with Doug and Stacy. I also use the rubber fermenting lids, glass and sea salt. She makes it look so easy. I have fermented hot sauce in the past and also made Kimchi.

I just watched one of her videos where she showed the difference between mold vs. kham yeast-- very helpful.

 

[Branching Out]

All of our pickles (8-10 gal‘s per year) are fermented and while we are actively making next years pickles we’re still eating the end of last years pickles! They do keep a long time, refrigerated.
We also ferment beets/carrots which we eat a dab of every day. For these we make them perpetually to always have a jar in the fridge.
different vegetables take different salt ratio’s but yes this is very easy; and good for you!

We are growing quite a number of different pickling cucumbers this year, and hope to ferment some of those too. I have seen different ratios of salt mentioned for cucumbers, ranging from 3.5-5% salt in the solution. How much salt do you use Alasgun? And do you store your fermented cucumbers in a root cellar over the winter? We have a nice cool, dark basement that may be just right for storing a large jar of ferment.

Also, I found someone who posted a brine calculator on their site, which may be helpful:
Brine salt percentages by vegetable: https://myfermentedfoods.com/tools/brine-calculator/

I was unaware that different vegetables required different ratios of salt in the brine. Here are some of the personal recommendations from My Fermented Foods:
2%- beets, carrots, green beans, or turnips
2-3%- peppers
3.5%- okra
3.5-5%- cucumbers
5%- radish
5-6%- asparagus, giardiniera
10%- olives 10%

 

[Branching Out]

I usually ferment carrot sticks, yellow snap beans (I find they are more tender than the green), garlic cloves, sometimes radishes. It's a quick ferment, usually 5-6 days at summer temps. They keep a really long time in the fridge without any decline in quality.

I use a 2-2.5% brine, with fresh dill, a whole garlic clove, and 3-4 leaves from our sour cherry shrub (tannins in the leaves help maintain crispness) and all packed tight to the shoulder in a 1L mason jar. I like to use a vacuum sealed lid (it's got a little pump to take the air out) but burping a canning lid and ring twice a day works too.

I tried to attach a mp4 video of a ferment using a Pickle pipe, (I don't love them, as I find they let oxygen in so I lose ferments to mold) but it won't let me. Is there a way to attach a video? I have uploaded it to tiktok to see if I can share that here.

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7262145387128016134

Love the sound effects on your video-- very fizzy. No worries regarding pressure building up, and explosions?? Lol

A couple of days ago we put a jar of Goldrush yellow snap beans, garlic, and a few small hot peppers in a jar to ferment. All of the recipes seem to specifically mention green beans, so I am pleased to hear that the yellow beans have worked well for you in the past. There is hardly any head space in this jar as I topped up the brine fairly close to the top-- so I have the jar sitting in a cereal bowl, just in case it overflows. Next time I will try to allow for 1" head space in the jar. I can hardly wait to try them!