Canning - No Pressure Green Beans

All my canning skills were developed by a group of church ladies in Virginia who had lived off the land for generations. I took their word as gospel and lessons learned from them have served me well for 30+ years. They did not use a pressure canner for green beans so I don't either. If you have any questions about safety, please refer to this LINK.

Green beans are as simple to process as they are to cook. So here's the way it goes...get out your canning supplies and set the process in motion:

1. Sterilize jars, rings and lids and start heating water in your canning pot and bring a large, second pot of water to a boil.
2. Start with fresh, beautiful, unbruised beans. (You will need about 1 lb. of beans per quart)
3. Inspect each bean, cutting off both tips, removing and blemishes and cutting in bite-sized pieces. (If the beans have strings, it is better to snap off the ends, pull the strings off and snap them into pieces)
4. Wash the cut beans under cold running water.
5. Pack them into hot sterilized jars, leaving plenty of space at the top. (headroom)
   
6. Add 1 tsp. non-iodized canning-appropriate salt to each jar.
7. Fill each jar with boiling water to within 1/2" of top.
8. Wipe threads.
9. Add lids and screw rings on comfortably tight.
   
10. Set filled jars in canning rack and lower into boiling water in canning pot. Put lid on pot. Be sure the water covers the jar tops by an inch or two. Add more boiling water if level drops.
11. Bring to a boil over high heat and process for 3 hours. Begin timing when water returns to a boil. (Once the water returns to a boil, heat can be lowered to medium to maintain a soft boil)
12. Remove processed jars to a folded towel to cool leaving air circulation space between jars.
13. Once the jars are cool to room temperature, check to make sure lids have sealed. Remove rings. Wash the cooled jars, write date on lid and move to storage.
14. Any jars that did not seal should be reprocessed or refrigerated and used within a few days.

Take responsibility for your own food safety. Before opening any home processed jar, check to make sure lid is still "sucked-down" in it's concave position. Never use anything from a jar if it is discolored, foaming or has an "off" smell. Always bring home canned green beans to boiling before serving.