My first ever canning beans 5 pint batch (pics included)
I'm impressed with how many beans I can get with pole bean plants. I have a total of 15 pints canned so far and probably will have twice or more than that by the end of the season. I think I planted a dozen but I don't remember. The trellis (12 foot wide by 8 foot tall) is covered all over with them. I bought a Presto 23qt pressure canner for $75. The first batch I did only 5 pints. The 2nd batch 10 pints and that was only half the amount the canner can do. I do have a question concerning the results. I think I packed the jars as tight as possible. The beans were filled to the bottom of the part the rim screws onto. And I filled to the same point with clean boiling water. But after the canner process the water level in the jars was lower as seen in the pics. Did I do something wrong or is that completely normal? In my 2nd batch a few jars had slightly higher water levels than the rest. But most of them are like those in this first batch. Click/tap on the pics as they are larger than they appear in the post.
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HoneyBerry
- Greener Thumb
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- Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State
Nice iob! What time's dinner?
I canned bush beans once. Homegrown purple bush beans and green bush beans. Uncut beans placed vertically in the jars, half purple and half green, so purple and green stripes. They were very pretty. Next time I do it I want to add dill. The only problem I had was that there were twice as many green beans as there were purple beans. The green bush beans were more productive.
I canned bush beans once. Homegrown purple bush beans and green bush beans. Uncut beans placed vertically in the jars, half purple and half green, so purple and green stripes. They were very pretty. Next time I do it I want to add dill. The only problem I had was that there were twice as many green beans as there were purple beans. The green bush beans were more productive.
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sweetiepie
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- Location: York, ND (Zone 3b)
Water loss can be experienced by pressure rising to quickly or dropping to quickly. I have a dial gauge so I have to adjust the amount of venting if my pressure starts getting to high. If you drop the pressure quickly it can push water out, same when you stop the pressure when you finish, if you just open the canner vent up and vent the steam out quickly sometimes this happens.
But even being careful, you can have water loss.
Just going by your pictures, it looks like you are filling all your jars first before putting in the canner. I have heard that if the jars get time to cool off and then are put into the canner you may have jars breaking or cracking. I have been taught to take the jar from your hot water that you used to sterilize it and go directly onto a towel or potholder (something that is not going to hold coolness, like a kitchen counter etc.) then fill, put your lid on and go directly to the canner. So you have minimal heat loss. I have not had a jar break yet. Knock on wood.
Looks great, I quit canning my beans after 56 quarts this year and started giving them away. It has been a good year for beans. Just waiting for my beans to dry out enough for me to save seed now.
But even being careful, you can have water loss.
Just going by your pictures, it looks like you are filling all your jars first before putting in the canner. I have heard that if the jars get time to cool off and then are put into the canner you may have jars breaking or cracking. I have been taught to take the jar from your hot water that you used to sterilize it and go directly onto a towel or potholder (something that is not going to hold coolness, like a kitchen counter etc.) then fill, put your lid on and go directly to the canner. So you have minimal heat loss. I have not had a jar break yet. Knock on wood.
Looks great, I quit canning my beans after 56 quarts this year and started giving them away. It has been a good year for beans. Just waiting for my beans to dry out enough for me to save seed now.
56 quarts oh my!!! I have a good deal of seed that I bought this year. Enough for me to plant twice as much as I did this year and probably the next 3 years for both bluelake bush and the pole beans. I filled the jars with the boiling water they were sterilized in and emptied them all just prior to filling them with the beans. The jars were only mildly warmer than the room temp by the time I was adding the clean boiling water to them to lid and put in the canner. But if that little bit of loss I have like that is hard to avoid and nothing to be concerned about then I guess I'm not concerned. I assume filling the jars any higher with water than I did will prevent proper sealing etc. Oh and I just remembered a question I had. When I picked the pole beans the seed part was quite large. The green part bulging. I don't know if that changes the flavor at all or not. But the green part was a bit stringy in texture. Is there an ideal look or size to aim for when picking?