Steaming Green Beans for the Freezer

Growing up, my mom always canned beans. But my husband was accustomed to frozen beans. Freezing beans was certainly easier then pressure canning beans and probably healthier since they are not cooked so long. But canned beans were so simple to get out and serve and sometimes my frozen beans had an unpleasant rubbery texture. So I did both methods.

Last year a friend shared how she steamed her green beans. She thought they were fresher tasting and less rubbery then blanched beans. I followed her directions last year and we really liked the taste of the beans. And it was SO simple! I didn't even have to wait for a big pot of water to boil! I'm not sure I'd want to use this technique if I had bushels of beans but for a few it worked quite well.

We started picking a few beans this week and I tried taking pictures  of the process. The steam made it a little difficult to see.

I chose a large pot, placed 1/4 cup of water in the bottom, put on the lid and turned the heat to high.

As soon as the water boiled (it didn't take long) I threw in a couple hand fulls of beans and shut the lid. I just wanted an inch or so of beans.

After a few seconds, I opened the lid and stirred the beans, and shut the lid again.

Repeat stirring every few seconds until the bean's color turns to bright green, only 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Then dump the beans into cold water.

The process really takes longer to explain then to do!

Once the beans are cool, place them in freezer bags and freeze.

If you have lots of beans, you could have more then one pot going at a time.

This year we are trying something different with our beans. Most years I plant a large patch, which gives us buckets of beans until I'm sick and tired of beans and pull out the plants, then eat out of the freezer or jars for the rest of summer.

This year, I planted only a short row or two, but planted every few weeks for a extended harvest time. My goal is to pick a few for a meal, steam a few extra for the freezer, and slowly (hopefully painlessly) get enough for winter without a huge "Bean Day". By eating fresh for a longer period of time, we will be eating beans at their optimum freshness and vitamin level. I'll let you know if it works!

How do you do beans?

Linked to the Tuesday Garden Party.