Living Off The Grid

Freezing vegetables is easier than canning them, and in many cases can lead to a fresher taste. The only downside is that canned foods will keep even if the power goes out. If you want to give freezing a try before you start to learn the finer art of canning, green beans are a good place to start.

Here is how to freeze green beans:

What You’ll Need
Fresh Grean Beans
Freezer Bags (not the flimsy sandwich kind)
A large pot of boiling water
One large bowl of cold water and ice
One sharp knife
One large empty bowl

Step #1 – Pick fresh beans
It is important that the green beans you plan on freezing be as fresh as possible when frozen and free of any damage, such as brusing or holes in the pod.

Step #2 – Rinse the beans
Gently wash your green beans in cold water

Step #5 – Prepare bowls
Fill one bowl with ice and cold water and put another bowl of water on the stove to boil

Step #4 – Cut the beans
Using your sharp knife trim both ends of the bean, taking about a quarter-inch off of each side. Throw away the ends. Cut the “keepers” into smaller sizes (I usually just cut them in half or thirds).

Step #6 – Blanch the beans
Dump the beans into the now-boiling pot of water. Cover the pot and keep at full boil for three minutes. It is important that the pot stay covered so water doesn’t escape and leave some of the beans exposed outside of the water.

Step #7 – Cooling the beans
Immediately after draining the beans from the boiling water dump them in the bowl of ice water for three minutes.

Step #8 – Bag-n-Freeze
Thoroughly drain the green beans before placing them in the freezer bags. Get as much air out of the bag as possible without squishing the beans. Air-lock vacuum sealers work great, but aren’t absolutely necessary. If you don’t have a vacuum system you can just use a straw to suck the air out of the bag. Leave just enough opening in the zipper to insert the straw, closing that once you are finished.

That’s How To Freeze Green Beans! Isn’t it easy? And these should keep for 6-8 months easily if your freezer doesn’t go down. Be sure to write the use-by date on each bag just in case you forget when they were frozen. For those of you with reliable electric and/or a backup generator, freezing vegetables instead of canning them can save time and money. Either way, preserving food is a wonderful – and useful – hobby.