[Jennisee]

Our garden is producing gallons of green beans, yellow beans, and purple beans. I'm going back and forth on canning or freezing, so here are the factors I'm weighing.

Freezing
Less work, less time consuming.
I already know how to do it.

I don't know that I have enough freezer space for 10 gallons of beans.

Canning
I have plenty of room for jars.
Easy to give as gifts. (I give home-canned food for the holidays.)
My family likes their beans mushy, not crispy--like out of a store can.

More work, much more time.
I've never pressure canned and will have to arrange a time for a friend to help me.
Pressure canning scares me.

So, vote and help me decide!

 

[lilylove]

I voted freeze. I've done both, and I just think frozen beans taste better. Plus, veggies lose a lot of nutrients in the canning process. Maybe you could freeze what you do have room for and then can what ever is left over. Oh, or you could try drying them for use in soups

 

[CarrieMF]

Blech canned beans(store or homemade). I freeze them all. You could blanch & then separate to freeze and put them into more decorative containers for gifts. Then they can cook them to death to get their mushy beans.lol

We eat alot of raw ones, or fresh cookes beans. You could give some away now too.

Every single one of my beans came up(in 2 rows, 35-40 plants), they scare me a little.lol

 

[nattybo]

Blanch and chop them up so they take up less space in the freezer bag.

 

[lmonter]

I say pressure can, because that's what I plan to do.

My grandma made awesome canned green beans - to the point where my family never ate any bean from a tin can, ever. I am a little intimidated by the pressure canner because I never got a chance to use it last year, but I figure that's better than what Grandma did (2-3 hours per batch of green beans in her water bath canner - but none of the 30some of us that ate them died).

Well, and I only have a 4-cubic-foot freezer and plan to freeze peas, so there won't be any room for beans.

 

[Ruthla]

Another factor in the "pro-canning" side: if there's ever a power failure, you won't lose all your stored food.

I think doing a mixture of the two sounds like the best idea.

 

[serenetabbie]

I voted for freeze because that is what I do... although I can see the appeal of canning. If I thought anyone in my house would eat canned greenbeans, I would do that rather than take up the freezer space.

Slightly OT... Did anyone ever try leather britches? They are dehydrated green beans.

 

[Owen'nZoe]

I'm intrigued by the leather britches idea, and have thought of trying to make some, but I just keep thinking that anything named after cow hide couldn't possibly be tasty. Anyone want to convince me otherwise?!?

 

[FarmerCathy]

Maybe dry some and freeze some. If you have a dehydrator that is. Easy to add to soups and stuff.

 

[veggiemomma]

Dry, then freeze. Around here, those are called "Leather Britches". Pretty tasty!

 

[Jennisee]

Thanks for all the input! It's interesting to me that so many people on this thread prefer the taste of frozen beans, whereas almost everyone IRL has been telling me that canned beans taste better.

I ended up going for the "both" option.

Tonight, I froze all the beans that I had I had in the fridge, but I'm going to pick more this week and, on Saturday, a friend is coming over to teach me how to pressure can.

I'm interested in these "leather britches" because I have a dehydrator. I'll check my preserving book, but does anyone have directions? Do you just wash and dehydrate whole? And you eat them like green bean jerky?

 

[mugglemom]

You could also pickle them for dilly beans, yum! Should be recipes in any canning book or look online.

 

[NatureMama3]

I'd freeze most and do some canned too.

 

[veggiemomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jennisee Thanks for all the input! It's interesting to me that so many people on this thread prefer the taste of frozen beans, whereas almost everyone IRL has been telling me that canned beans taste better. I ended up going for the "both" option. Tonight, I froze all the beans that I had I had in the fridge, but I'm going to pick more this week and, on Saturday, a friend is coming over to teach me how to pressure can. I'm interested in these "leather britches" because I have a dehydrator. I'll check my preserving book, but does anyone have directions? Do you just wash and dehydrate whole? And you eat them like green bean jerky?

Umm...no, not exactly like bean-jerky

I don't have a food dehydrator, so I just do it the old fashion way. Pick the beans and wash them. Don't string them or snap them. Lay them on a sheet outside where it is hot and dry. I use my porch attic so that birds don't leave any gifts on my beans, but my Grandmother still puts them out on a sheet on her tin roof. They are dry in a day or two. Make sure they are completely dry. Throw out the moldy or really bug-eaten ones. Put the others into big freezer bags. When you are ready to cook them. Take them out and rinse them and soak them whole, just as you would any other dry bean (like a kidney, black or lima) overnight. In the morning, rinse them again and put them in a pot of fresh water. Then you cook them just like you would a fresh green bean. Most tasty. I think you could probably use the food dehydrator, but I have no idea how.

 

[Jennisee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veggiemomma Don't string them or snap them.

Thanks for the recipe! I assume you still snap off both ends of the bean, even though you don't snap the bean into pieces?

 

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I do both, but am hoping my dh will finish our solar food dehydrator so I can try some dried "leather britches"!