When the beans are in season, many gardeners can harvest significantly more of the legumes than they can use in a short time. In addition to freezing, it is a good idea to boil them down and preserve them in this way.
How can you preserve green beans?
Canning green beans consists of blanching the beans, filling sterilized preserving jars, pouring boiling water or stock over them, sealing the jars and boiling them at 100 degrees for 120 minutes. This means that the beans remain long-lasting and aromatic.
How does canning work?
When preserving, the beans are first prepared, put into containers, sterilized in a pot or the oven and then cooled again. This process creates a vacuum, the lid attaches itself to the jar and seals it airtight. The enzymes that would normally cause food to spoil are killed by the heat. This means that the beans last for at least a year.
Suitable vessels are:
- Mason jars with glass lids, rubber ring and metal clip
- Twist-off glasses
- Glasses with rubber ring and fixed clip closure
The jars must be sterilized before preserving. Boil the containers, lids and rubbers in a large pot for 10 minutes. Then let it drain upside down.
Basic recipe for boiled beans
Ingredients
- 1 kg beans
- 1 teaspoon s alt
- some savory
- a small dash of vinegar
Preparation
- Bring water to the boil in a large pot.
- Meanwhile, wash and clean the beans and break them into bite-sized pieces.
- Add s alt and vinegar. The acid ensures that the vegetables stay nice and green.
- Blanch the beans for five to fifteen minutes, depending on how thick they are. They should still be al dente.
- Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water.
- Put the beans in the preserving jars. There should be at least two centimeters of space at the top.
- Place a sprig of savory on top.
- Boil the water again and pour over the beans.
- Put on the rubber ring and lid, put on the metal clamp.
- Place the jars on a rack in the preserving pot.
- Fill up so much water that the glasses are three quarters full.
- Cook at 100 degrees for 120 minutes.
Sour green beans
This recipe makes a broth that gives the beans a very delicate aroma.
Ingredients
- 1 kg green beans, weighed cleaned
- 125 ml white wine vinegar
- 50 g sugar
- 1 tbsp s alt
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp dill
- some savory
Preparation
- Cook green beans in boiling water until al dente.
- Remove from the cooking liquid and rinse with cold water.
- Pour vegetables into the preserving jars up to a maximum of two centimeters below the rim.
- Put the ingredients for the stock in a pot and bring to the boil.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, pour the liquid over the beans. These must be completely covered.
- Close the jars with the lids.
- As described in the basic recipe, cook in the pot.
Tip
You can also preserve beans in the oven. To do this, preheat the oven to 100 degrees. Place the jars with the beans in a roasting pan and add two to three centimeters of water. Put the mold in the oven for an hour.
