Easy Guide to Pressure Can Green Beans – Video

Hi all!  If you followed along with my gardening last year, you know that I had an overabundance of green beans.  Today, I’m sharing details on how to pressure can green beans and I have a video that I posted to YouTube last year to go with it.

Fresh-picked green beans last in the refrigerator for about a week and a half.  At the height of the plant’s production (especially if you overplant), it’s nearly impossible to keep up.  Let’s chat about some options for preserving green beans and then we’ll delve into pressure canning.

Ideas for Preserving Green Beans

• Blanch & Freeze – requires no special equipment but watch for freezer burning
• Freeze Dry – requires a freeze dryer but beans last many many years (I’m eyeing a Harvest Right freeze dryer)
• Dehydrate – requires a dehydrator and beans could be added to soups
• Pickling – requires a refrigerator or water bath canner (Dilly Green Beans & 3-Bean Salad – yum!)
• Pressure Canned – requires a pressure canner

With all those ideas, you need to pick your poison so let’s cover pressure canning.

Note:  Processing green beans is similar to how I canned potatoes, except with the green beans I opt to do a raw pack and there is a different processing time.

How To Pressure Can Green Beans

1. Wash and drain your beans.
2. Trim ends off and cut/snap into 2-inch pieces.
3. Tightly pack raw beans into hot sterilized jars.
4. Add salt to each jar of green beans, 1 tsp each quart or 1/2 tsp each pint. (optional)
5. Pour boiling water into jars, leaving 1-inch of headspace.
6. Using a skewer or chopstick, slide or poke into jars to remove any trapped bubbles.  Add any more water necessary to maintain a 1-inch headspace. NOTE: Use a wooden skewer, not metal as I did. Whoopsie!
7. Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean damp cloth.  Place the lid on the jar and crew band on to finger-tight.
8. Process in a pressure canner for 25 minutes for quart-size jars and 20 minutes for pint-size jars.
9. Turn off the heat.  Do NOT release pressure from the canner. Instead, let the canner release pressure naturally and come to room temperature before opening the pressure canner lid, at least 12 hours.
10. Remove the lid, wipe down the jars of residue, label, and store.

Pressure Canning in Action

To watch process my green beans, see the video below…

Super easy and your canned green beans will last for at least a couple of years.

Blessings!