Article on canning green beans

Very nice directions! Thanks for doing all that hard work! I have canned beans and I just found them to be too mushy...Do yours have any crunch? You certainly aren't going to run out of beans this year!

Just the pressure canning process results in non-crunchy beans. About the same as canned from the store. Canning saves freezer space, lasts a good long while, holds nutritional values, and (except for new lids) involves reusable materials.

I have never added any other food to my beans. IMHO there is always time to add flavorings when ready to use.

Good job, MontyJ. Very succinct and totally correct.

Canning is not scary or dangerous as long as you know your stove -- for me, learning to can with an electric range had an unexpected learning curve from using a flame range -- and plan to pay attention to what you're doing. Once you start processing you shouldn't be drifting off, especially if you're as flighty as Red.

It is a good idea to have your canner pressure gauge checked every few years and follow a current edition of Bell's Blue Book TO THE LETTER.

Ridgerunner said:

So you are comfortable canning ham and potatoes for those times? Frankly, I’m not.

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I agree. If there's any meat in my jars, they get processed for the full 75/90min. Even doing high acid tomato sauce, if I put meat in it, it gets the full treatment.

Great article!

PhilaGardener said:

Thanks, Monty! I'll have to give it a try.

I currently blanch and freeze, but they seem to go pretty mushy after I cook them and my family doesn't like them that way.

Does anyone have recommendations for varieties that hold up really well (in terms of consistency) for canning or freezing?

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I prefer to blanch and freeze. In my experience the variety does not matter as much as harvesting at the right time, and not over cooking. No more than a 3 minute blanch, then ice plunge to stop the cooking quickly. When I cook them I will either steam them and pull them off before I think they are done, or stir fry in a little olive oil and garlic just until they are heated.

Mostly I have grown the Blue Lake bush and pole varieties.

The ham and potatoes are for flavor only. They can be omitted. If you look at the pics, there are no potatoes in that particular batch.

As Red said, they have the same consistency as canned beans from the store, but taste much better.

I've canned green beans this way for better than 20 years, many times doing as many as 200 quarts a year. I think it's safe to say that I have canned at least 4000 quarts of beans this way and have never had a spoilage that wasn't the result of a bad seal. If it makes you feel better, leave the ham out and add it, or bacon, at cooking time.

WOW, thanks for the FABULOUS tutorial. I do not like the consistency of canned beans. Really prefer them fresh from the garden, raw or steamed. Still I might try few jars.

Carol, how long do you cook your green beans fresh from the garden?


If you follow the hot pack method, you boil the beans for 5 minutes before you fill the jars. My canner instructions say to vent the canner for 10 minutes before you start to build pressure. That means once the water gets to boiling and steam is coming out of the vent, wait ten minutes, then put the rocker on. Then you bring it up to pressure. That can easily take 10 minutes but let’s say just 5. Then you process at pressure for 20 minutes for pints. Processing at pressure means it is going to cook hotter than just boiling. That’s the purpose of canning, to get the temperature up to 240 degrees to kill botulism. Then you let it cool off until the pressure drops back to atmospheric before you take them out. It may not be boiling all that time but it is hot. That usually takes 30 minutes or so for mine. So:


5 minutes boil for hot pack

10 minutes venting

5 minutes (really more) getting up to pressure

20 minutes processing

30 minutes cooling


That is a minimum of 40 minutes boiling plus 30 minutes cooling. They are not going to be crisp after that much cooking I don’t care what variety they are.


I can 50 to 60 pints a year for the months I can’t get them fresh from the garden. They are not as good as fresh from the garden but I think they are better than the beans you buy at the store. Just don’t get your expectations up too high.


I prefer Blue Lake pole, but also do Blue Lake bush as a back-up.

Yes we have been growing blue lake. I only cook them until they are tender crisp. So of course we really do not care for the soft texture of canned beans. But I am willing to try it to see if the flavor is worth saving some that way. Right now we have many quarts in he freezer. Those certainly are not like having fresh beans either! Only good for soup.

MontyJ said:

The ham and potatoes are for flavor only. They can be omitted. If you look at the pics, there are no potatoes in that particular batch.

As Red said, they have the same consistency as canned beans from the store, but taste much better.

I've canned green beans this way for better than 20 years, many times doing as many as 200 quarts a year. I think it's safe to say that I have canned at least 4000 quarts of beans this way and have never had a spoilage that wasn't the result of a bad seal. If it makes you feel better, leave the ham out and add it, or bacon, at cooking time.

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Thank you! I didn't realize potatoes helped with flavor!