Mushy Canned Veggies

[TanksHill]

I am using the direction book that came with my Presto Canner. I would be very comfortable useing a Ball recipie book. I think they know what there doing. And I guess one thing I should remember is was my first batch ever. Maybe I ran it to long.

I will try again.

 

[keljonma]

keljonma, have you ever tried home frozen green beans. They are much different than the store bought kind. Much more flavorfull. I don't care for the store frozen green beans, taste like water. But my own frozen beans taste like green beans.
I only have a hot water bath canner, so there are many things I cannot can. I am hoping to get a pressure canner this year. I've been dropping hints all over the place, but so far no one has picked one up.

Yeah, I was talking about home grown and frozen green beans. DH likes them, but I don't. I like my green beans a bit crispier than he does, I think.

 

[Beekissed]

My mom likes her green beans frozen now, but for years we canned them. I don't eat beans but I never noticed hers looking mushy, even after being reheated for meals.

Dehydrated green beans, or leatherbritches~ as the old folks call them, are nasty looking but my folks seemed to like them. I do notice they no longer preserve them this way, so they must not be that great!

 

[freemotion]

Acre, I processed the length of time the book recommended. Raw pack with boiling water. I would have to check. I think it was 11 lbs for 30 min. That may explain the problem.

Farmer Denise, when you freeze your beans do the go in the freezer raw?

You will need to blanch them, par-boil them for a bit....2 minutes? Three? Or they will lose too much quality and be beyond mushy.

I am odd, I know, but I really love overgrown green beans cooked with lots of browned salt pork. Lots of people will give these away, and I gladly take them. I will make a big batch and eat tons, then freeze the rest in meal-sized portions. They are a little mushy, but this is one that is supposed to be that way. I don't like frozen or canned green beans normally. Only fresh, raw with dip or chopped in salads or lightly saute'd with garlic and sesame or sunflower seeds....

 

[miss_thenorth]

Last year, I froze green and yellow beans with out blanching them. I figured I did asparagus and many other things this way, so I tried it with the beans. They are not mushy, and still have a bit of a crunch to them. I prefer them this way, actually.

 

[freemotion]

Really? Hmmm....why do I do all that work, then?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Really? Hmmm....why do I do all that work, then?

That's what I thought. I did alot of looking around on the internet to see if it was nutritionaly better to have blanched them first, couldn't find anything. so basically what I did was froze them on a cookie sheet(like flash freezing, then put them in a freezer bag. the only thing I would do different this year, is make sure I cut up all the peices. I did some cut up, and some whole. The whole ones seemed to hold alot of water, whereas the cut up ones were fine. If I could finda bean frencher, I'd be all set. But I freeze alot of things like this.

ETA, I also like the fact that none of the bean pieces are sticking together, so it makes it much easier to take out just what you want.

 

[me&thegals]

I'll can some green beans because the kids LIKE them that way but other than that veggies need to be pickled, frozen, or dried as far as I'm concerned. This year I AM going to learn to make creamed corn though.

Ditto here. My kids love canned beans. Everything else gets frozen, including the corn. Oh, I guess I can tomatoes and salsa, too, regarding "veggies."

 

[Farmfresh]

Try cutting the carrots in larger chunks as well.

I can green beans, corn (some), carrots, beets, tomatoes (and related tomato products) and meats. I freeze most of the rest of my veggies. I also can fruit, applesauce and make jams and jellies.