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| My personal favorite way to eat beans, fresh with tators and onions. |
Supplies needed to can green beans using the water bath method:
- Fresh green beans
- Salt, optional
- Quart or pint canning jars
- canning rings and lids
- Stockpot, blue granite cooker or pressure canner
- Dishtowel
Instructions
to can green beans using the water bath method:
1) No
matter your choice of using a large stockpot or pressure cooker, the first
thing you need to do, is to head out to your garden and pick the green or
yellow beans. For the best results, you will want to can them as fresh as
possible.
2) Wash
the green beans before starting the canning process. This is not a hard
process, in a clean sink; rinse the beans in cool water.
3) Snap
off the hard end of the green bean, and look to see if there are any bug bites,
or damaged parts, which need cut out.
4) Next,
snap your green beans into bite-sized pieces and wash the beans and wash
again. They do get dirty as they grow so close to the ground.
5) Take
your large stockpot and fill it with water to heat. Wash the quart or pint jars
in hot soapy water, rinse and turn upside down until ready to use. Put your
canning lids in a small pan of hot water until needed.
6) Now
stuff the washed green beans into the canning jars packing them tight but
leaving plenty of head space. Fill the jars with hot water, put a teaspoon of
salt in the green beans and with a wet cloth wipe the lid clean. Remove a lid
from the hot water and place on the top, put the ring on and snug tight.
7) Put
the jars of green beans in the boiling water and give them a hot water bath for
3-3 1/2 hours. Cover the pot with a lid to keep the heat in, after it is boiling you
can turn down to medium heat.
8) When
your green beans have finished processing, take them out and set them on a dry
dishtowel to cool. Make sure you leave plenty of room in-between the jars so
the air can flow through them. As they cool, you will hear a ping sound to
tell you they are sealed. The ping is a glorious sound to all who do home
canning.
9) Congratulations,
you just canned green beans using the water bath method.
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| The water is a little low in these qts |
Tips when canning green beans using the water bath method:
Make sure you have enough water in the pot to cover the jars.
It is old-school to use salt while canning green beans it is an optional step.
Be careful while working with boiling water.
***Disclaimer: there are some that say water bath method is unsafe that only pressure canning will do. However I am 62 years old and this is the way my mom did it year after year until I started doing my own. Since my children are grown and do only a few pints to hold us over the winter months, and also I freeze some.
I grew up eating home canned green beans, and my grandmother didn't have a pressure canner--just a regular old water bath canner. I'm 41 years old and I lived to tell about it. :D Just curious about the timing on this...is this correct that they need to boil in the canner for 3.5 hours? If so, did you have to add water at any point from evaporation, or did the jars stay submerged? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYes the beans have to be in the boiling water no less than 3 hours and better at 3 1/2 hours. You don't start timing either until the water is boiling. It's been awhile since I've canned as it's just me that would eat them, however, no matter what I'm sealing, I always make sure the jars are covered. If you have to add, just make sure that water is also boiling.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this, I was raised watching my mother can for many, many years,and she always water bath hers. Even her fruits, I have learned a lot on canning,but did remember how my mother did. And when I been seeing how people say use a pressure cooker and how they say you must use a pressure cooker on green beans. Well I didn't die. I been more in looking for green bean canning and then I found you. Thank you so much for sharing.I just couldn't remember how my mother did it until I saw yours. You did about the same thing my mother did. So I am saving this on my Pinterest to use your recpies. Thank you again and God bless you. And ps I am 49 years old. And my mama and home cooking just made me healthy lol.
DeleteMy grandmother canned beans the same way and this is the way she taught me to can them.
ReplyDeleteI learned from my mom. I'm assuming being one of 12 kids she learned from her mom too.
DeleteThank you! I have been searching the cook time for water bathing green beans and haven't had much luck. Do you have other recipes for canning without a pressure canner?
ReplyDeletehttp://angelgirlpj.blogspot.com/2015/08/how-to-can-tomato-juice-using-water.html
ReplyDeletehttp://angelgirlpj.blogspot.com/2015/08/canning-diced-tomatoes.html
http://angelgirlpj.blogspot.com/2015/06/freezing-or-canning-tomato-salsa.html
http://angelgirlpj.blogspot.com/2015/08/peachy-goodness-making-peach-honey.html
I've been wanting to do this for years and finally did it! Thanks for your post it was a huge help! I saved and will always use this! Turned out perfect, so happy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this . I want to do a lot of canning but everything I want to can is done with a pressure cooking and I hate it cause I don't understand it at all . I hope to find more Bath Method .
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing you are for so many of us. Thank you and my children thank you. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteWhat about canning squash?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of squash? With zucchini and pumpkin I usually freeze them. Sorry I don't have an answer about canning squash. I do assume, it would take a pressure canner.
DeleteDisclaimer: There are MANY that say water bath method is unsafe that only pressure canning will do. I am 70 years old and hot water bath for 3.5 hours is the way my grandmother and my mother and I bottled beans year after year until I started finally purchased a pressure canner in the 70’s.
ReplyDeleteOur family always processed green and yellow bean using the hot water method. My mother who is 93 says they never had a pressure cooker in the 1920's or 30's or 40's or 50's and they processed all food with hot water bath. We processed, beans, potatoes and carrots 3.5-4 hours from boiling point. Tomatoes and fruit were processed using the hot water bath method for 30 minutes.
My Aunt who is 95 said they process meat in this way back in the 1920's-1940's. She says they process beef and chicken 6-8 hours from boiling point. I have only ever used a pressure canner for meat so cannot attest to that.
Truly, pressure canners are wonderful and certainly preferred. But I hate to see this old-time information lost and people think it is not possible to bottle food without a pressure canner.
Before you eat it – 1) be sure the product is not discoloured 2) when you open a jar, check and listen for the seal 3) smell the product to be sure it is good. If it smells bad or if in doubt throw it out.
Honestly, I can't tell if you are OK with this method or not. I am almost 65 and it's the only way I have ever done green beans.
DeleteI don't understand why you can't THOROUGHLY cook a hugh pot of green beans with potatoes, onions, and ham hocks then ladle up (hot) into jars to bathe for, say 45 minutes. Let cool down to hear ping? What have you to say? Thanks in advance.
DeleteI don't know, I'm not an expert, just a mom/grandmother that cans garden goodies. I've never tried it, sorry.
DeleteHave you ever waterbathed pinkeye purplehull peas?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of them, so sorry, no.
ReplyDeleteI have waterbathed pinkeye purplehull peas and they turned out great. I used the same timing as the green beans above. Didn't plant any this year but will again. They are an easy plant, cousin to black-eyed peas. Can eat them like green beans or out of the pod as they mature.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Thank you! Thank you! I am 66 yrs old, I have always hot water bathed everything. I tried pressure canning and I hated it. Pulled my liquid out of my jars, third expert came trying to show me how and it did the same thing. Tried it on carrots same thing, plus my beautiful orange carrots turned dull colored. Its a shame they put so much fear into young canners and cause them to spend so much money on pressure canners. My late sweet husband thought he was helping me, because its supposed to be so much faster, spent 400.00 on the so called finest, after 4-5 trys, it sits on a shelf. I have showed many how to can, no one has come back and said they had gotten sick or threw out food.
ReplyDeleteI am now 65 1/2 with this garden season upon us. I can tomato product of all kinds and green beans. I tried frozen green beans but didn't like them. I do freeze corn, zucchini, pumpkin and asparagus. I have been told by older aunts that there are some things that need pressure canned but just avoid those things :) I stick to what works.
Deletemy grandparents taught my husband and me to can this way.. I don’t use a pressure cooker so I was happy to find this…I think this is the best way to do it..thank you for sharing this..
ReplyDeletemy beans always look wrinkled after - even with dilly beans. What am I doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't have a clue what a dilly bean is or why they would look wrinkled. Mine always come out tasting like they were just cooked. They only need to be reheated.
DeleteI pressure can my green beans to 11 pounds pressure and then turn burner off and they stay at that pressure for at least 12-15 minutes before the pressure starts coming down. I've done this for years. However ,I have been told it is not safe. My grandmother taught me this.
ReplyDeleteI don't own a pressure cooker so I honestly don't know.
ReplyDeleteOK, so my one question was answered in a previous question. So, my question in going to ask is..... does the lid of the pot need to be on while boiling or just after when the heat is turned down? And then, how long do u keep the pot on medium heat before the hard can be removed? How long before removing bars from the hot water? What about lima beans?
ReplyDeleteI put a lid on he pot to get the temp of the water higher rolling boil faster. I typically leave the lid on the whole time to keep the heat in. I know many will say water bath is unsafe, but I learned from my mom, she learned from her mom etc... I'm almost 66 and no problems yet. After beans have been in boiling water no less than 3 1/2 hours, you can turn your burner off and safely and carefully take the jars out of the water to cool and seal. Again, I have never canned lima beans, so I have no information for you. Sorry.
DeleteDont you have to sterilize the jars first?
ReplyDeleteYes wash your jars and use them right away. If you prefer, you can keep your jars filled with hot water. Keep your lids in hot water as well.
DeleteThank you so much for this...I hot bathed 15 quarts of Green beans, so far have had 5 lids pop off..the rest are still looking ok..except, there is some cloudyness in a couple of them. My friend pressure cooked hers..I am terrified that I will poison my family. Getting ready to do more green beans, pressure cooking takes a long time!
ReplyDeleteSince obviously I am not there to inspect your jars or lids to make sure they were clean, chip free and sterilized I do not know what happened. I also do not know why they are cloudy. I have done I think 24-30 qts of green beans this same way, and my jars are bright and clear.However, if in doubt throw them out.
Deletebe sure to center your lids before screwing on your rings (don't make the mistake of thinking the ring will automatically center it for you there is wiggle room) and the cloudiness is the salt nothing to worry about. i know this is a year after you wrote but I just found this and wanted to help
Deletemy mom always did it this way too and they are amazing, she would put a handful of pinto beans in the jars too which makes shelly beans looks great and taste great in the green beans
ReplyDeleteI'm 73 and both grandma's and my mom used the hot water bath to can green beans and I'm still kicking so we must be doing something right.
ReplyDeleteI am going on 67 and processed 5 1/2 quarts last week. Tonight we're eating a batch with sausage, tators and onions tonight. Yum. Happy canning!
DeleteGot a question, I was water bath some quart green beans. I got busy and let my water run out. 🤦♀️ estimate they were in the water for 2.5 hours. They sealed but still up in the air if they would be good? Anyone else have this happen? Should I keep them or throw them out?
ReplyDeleteWow, good question. I try to keep the water hot and full the 3 hours. I wouldn't throw them out, but you might think about eating them now and refrigerate the rest.
DeleteI am almost 73 and have always used water bath method to can my green beans and it was the only way my mother did it. However, I cook my green beans for about 2 hours, then put them in the jars. I boil them in the water bath for 1 hour. I have been canning since I was 21, and have not had a single jar go bad. I have never had a problem with the jars sealing. My mother had a very large copper oval vessel she used and was done using kerosene stove. This is the only way my son will eat green beans.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post! I have been following several people on youtube who talked to Amish people that water bath can everything. I had wondered about that because I know pressure canners were not always around. I also love reading the comments on their videos and learned a lot of people in th US grew up with learning the water bath method for everything, but that wasn't what really surprised me. People from all over the world are saying this is the only way they do it, that you cannot even buy pressure canners in their countries and if they want one they have to buy it from the US. I also realized that the biggest benefit to pressure canning is less time. Not everyone wants to babysit their canning for 3+ hours. There are what you call 'Amish ' canners, very large rectangular pots with lids that allow you to process quite a few quart jars at once.
ReplyDeleteI'm 45 and I've been growing a garden and canning eversince I got married 27 years ago, I water bath everything, a pressure canner has always intermediated me. I have an old canning book that I use that tells me how long to wb any food. Thanks for sharing this canning recipe.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, that's how I feel. Sometimes I wish it wasn't so, as some things I just won't attempt to WB can.
DeleteI appreciate your comments. I would love a copy of your old canning book or the chart of how long to water bath any foods!! Is it availble on line any where?
Delete