If you don’t have room in your freezer, but you want to be able to stock up using the green beans from your garden, then home-canning your green beans is the easy way to do it.

I grow the kind that does not have strings, which saves a lot of time. If you have never canned before, it may seem like a lot of work, but it’s the raw pack method, which is easier than other ways. If you follow these easy steps, you will accomplish one of the most significant things for survival, feeding your family with the best tasting organic food.

Gather Equipment and Ingredients

1. Pressure Canner/Cooker – necessary to kill bacteria like botulism that can kill you if not cooked at 240 degrees in a pressure cooker since using stovetop doesn’t get hot enough.
2. Mason canning jars with lids and rings to match
3. Paring knife and canning funnel
4. Large pot of water at boiling temperature
5. Large bowl
6. Towels and hot pads
7. Labels for jars and a thin tip marker
8. Canning Salt for flavor (optional)
9. A bushel of freshly picked green beans – follow directions on the pressure canner/cooker for exact amounts for the quantity desired.

Preparation

• Snapping the beans: I use a paring knife by holding it in my right hand and pushing the bean up against the blade without cutting to snap in three to four pieces into a large bowl.
• Rinse in cold water.
• Sterilize the jars, lids, and rings in the pot of hot water, remove right before filling.
• Using the funnel, fill each jar up to an inch from the top.
• Add salt if desired – but no more than ½ tsp. for each pint or 1 tsp. for each quart.
• Pour boiling water over the beans in each jar up to an inch from the top.
• Giggle the jars to remove any bubbles.
• Wipe the edge of each jar making sure they are not cracked, place lids on, and tighten rings securely.

Cooking

• Using jar lifter, place jars in your pressure canner/cooker according to the user manual (if at high elevation, check instructions for the proper setting).
• Close lid and cook at 10 pounds 13 quarts for 25 minutes (pints for 20 minutes).
• Once done, turn off the canner/cooker and wait for the pressure gauge to return to zero before opening.
• Remove jars with the lifter placing on a towel to drain where they are out of the way of being bumped or in a draft.
• Let jars cool and check lids to make sure they are sealed. If the lids pop when touched, it is sealed.
• Write the contents and date on labels with marker and apply to jars.
• Store the jars where they will remain cool and dry until you are ready to

Conclusion

You can use the green beans for all kinds of recipes from salads to side dishes, and you will be astonished at how much better it tastes than the store-bought can or frozen versions. Do not throw away the tips of the green beans—use them for composting.

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