Can green beans be canned without using pressure cooker

[jozirk]

I always can green beans using a pressure cooker. A friend wants to know if you can put them in jars without using pressure cooker. I'm thinking if you don't want to pressure cook them you would have to freeze them. Any suggestions?
Thanks. Jo

[CM]

Beans are vegetables (low in acid) so they need to be processed in a pressure cooker (pints 20, quarts 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure). You can process them in a boiling water bath only if they're pickled (in a vinegar/salt solution).

Hope this helps!

[dazaga]

For best results, I agree that you would want to use a pressure canner or freeze them. That said, I can my green beans in a boiling water bath with a little salt - no vinegar added. They keep very well, but the color is not as good as if you would freeze them. I don't have a pressure canner, so have to resort to the old-fashioned method - may not be the best option, but it works!

[catfish]

i have never pressue canned green beans. i just pack quarts or pints with the beans, put 1 teaspoon salt for quarts, 1/2 teaspoon salt for pints. put in a pan that had a metal rack to hold jars. mine is big and blue it will hold 7 jars. tighten lids, then a 1/2 turn to loosen. place in pan fill water leaving 1 inch head space. cook 25 minitues for quarts, 20 minutes for pints. when done take out let cool in a no draft area till seals pot.

[CM]

Hi catfish and welcome!

Here is what the University of Georgia has to say about the subject of canning green beans in a water bath canner:

People still canning green beans at home using the boiling water canner instead of a tested pressure canning process are risking food loss and even worse, possible death or serious poisoning. We are receiving phone calls from people canning dozens and dozens of jars of green beans in boiling water and then losing all that work and food due to spoilage. Beans canned this way looked fine coming out of the canner, but are now turning cloudy and jars are popping open, even sometimes with force. These beans are definitely spoiling from being underprocessed. But it could be worse: even if the jars still look good, it is possible that they contain botulism toxin from this unsafe canning practice.
Jars of improperly canned vegetables and meats can contain the deadly botulism toxin without showing signs of spoilage such as being seen in the reports mentioned above. Those that do show signs of spoilage could also contain botulism toxin because they are showing other signs of underprocessing.

Spores of Clostridium botulinum bacteria, as found naturally in soils, are very, very heat resistant. Even hours in the boiling water canner will not kill them if they are inside your jars of beans. Left alive after canning, they will eventually germinate into actively growing bacterial cells that will produce a deadly human toxin when consumed. The bacteria like the conditions inside closed jars of low-acid foods (such as vegetables and meats) sitting at room temperature, so they must be killed during the canning process for safe storage.

So, please be careful and be sure to use a pressure cooker for canning low-acid foods like vegetables.