Freezing green beans is very simple that anyone can do it. You don't need any special tools or equipment. Here's what you'll need:
1 large pot
1 large bowl
Ice
2 large spoons or tongs
Ziploc quart freezer bags
Green Beans
Green bean season ranges from July to August, and of course it varies for different zones. You could find green beans at your local grocery store on sale; however, I prefer to buy from a local farm. They tend to have better quality, fresher produce and cheaper prices. Plus most farms give you a discount for buying in bulk. I was able to find a large box in my region for $32, which yielded enough green beans to last our family of three for a year.
After you have your green beans, make sure to keep them refrigerated if you're not going to work with them right away. But do so quickly: like all fresh produce they will go bad quickly.
First step in freezing green beans is cleaning. I used this cleaning ratio that I found here. It worked like a charm! It's really great for green beans because it's really tedious washing every single bean by hand. I let them soak in this solution for 20-30 minutes. Then I rinsed well and kept them in bowls.
Next you need to snap off the end that was attached to the plant. The other end that comes to a long point you can keep on or snap off. It depends on your preference, but a lot of the plants nutrition is held in this part of the bean. I personally don't like to chew on just the skin of the green bean so I discard any "flat" or what my husband calls "meatless" green beans. When you snap the end off you will be able to see that there is a fleshy center. If not, and the bean goes flat when you squeeze it, discard it. Now is the time to snap the beans into the size you want as well.
Now that all your beans are cleaned and snapped it's time to blanch. Blanching is boiling or steaming vegetables for a short amount of time. Doing this stops enzyme's from breaking down the food which would cause loss of taste and texture. It also kills bacteria that could be harmful when you eat it. Make sure to not over blanch, this will cause the vegetables to become mushy and dark in color.
Fill a large pot half full with water. Bring water to a rapid boil. Add green beans, being careful to not over crowd the pot. The water will not boil if it's over crowded. The blanching time starts when the water comes back to a boil, which should only take about a minute. For green beans, blanching time is 3 minutes.
After you blanch quickly transfer your beans with your tongs into a bowl of ice water and let sit for 5 minutes. This will stop the cooking process.
Pull them out of the ice water and lay on a towel to dry. They should now be a bright grass green and still crisp, just slightly softer then fresh. If any come out looking brown or avocado green you probably over blanched and they might not be as tasty. The avocado green beans were always what my mom's canned green beans looked like. Yuck!
If you're not in a hurry you can lay the green beans out on a dry towel to air dry. But if you're like me, I didn't want to drag it out another day. So I blotted the green beans dry with a paper towel.
After all that's done pack single serving's for yourself or your family into quart ziploc bags. Label with the month and year and seal pushing out as much air as possible. Voila! Now you have frozen green beans to last you all year long. After all was done that large box yielded 30 14 oz bags of green beans. That's about $1.06 per bag or 0.076 cents per oz. Not bad at all!
Well thanks for stopping by, come back next week and I'll share two of my favorite recipes that use your newly frozen green beans!
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