MSU Extension Michigan Fresh

Food Safety and Storage

• Wash hands before and after handling fresh produce.
• Pick or purchase filled but tender, crisp pods. Remove and discard any diseased or rusty pods.
• Store beans in the refrigerator at or below 41 degrees F. Beans prefer 95 percent humidity.
• Use plastic bags or a vegetable crisper in the refrigerator to help maintain the humidity. The beans should stay fresh for 7 to 10 days.
• Wash beans thoroughly under cool running water. Do not use soap.
• Keep beans away from raw meats and meat juices to prevent cross-contamination.
• For best quality and nutritional value, do not preserve more than your family can consume in 12 months.

Yield

How to Preserve

Freezing

Preparation:  Select young, tender pods when the seed has just formed.  Wash under cool running water, cut into uniform 2- to 4-inch lengths or cut lengthwise into strips for French-style beans.

Blanch beans in boiling water for 3 minutes.

Cool in ice water for 3 minutes, drain and package. If a rigid container is used, leave ½-inch headspace. Seal package, label, date and freeze.

Canning

Pressure canning is the only safe method of canning snap beans. Snap beans must be pressure canned to avoid the potential of the foodborne illness botulism.

Select filled but tender, crisp pods. Remove and discard diseased and rusty pods. Wash beans and trim ends. Leave whole or cut or snap into 1-inch pieces.

Hot pack: Cover the beans with boiling water; boil for 5 minutes. Pack the hot beans into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. If desired, add ½ teaspoon salt to pint jars; 1 teaspoon salt to quarts. Fill jar to 1 inch from the top with boiling water. Remove air bubbles; adjust headspace if needed. Wipe jar rims with clean paper towel. Adjust the lids and process (see tables that follow for recommended processing times).

Raw pack: Wash jars. Pack beans tightly into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. If desired, add ½ teaspoon salt to pints, 1 teaspoon to quarts. Fill jars within 1 inch of top with boiling water. Remove air bubbles; adjust headspace if needed. Wipe jar rims with clean paper towel. Adjust the lids and process (see tables that follow for recommended processing times).

Let jars stand undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours, remove rings, check to make sure lids are sealed, wash jars, label, date and store. Food in jars that do not seal must be reprocessed in a clean jar with a new lid within 24 hours, refrigerated or frozen.

Tables were adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), Selecting, Preparing and Canning Vegetables: Beans, Snap and Italian – Pieces, Green and Wax¸ reviewed June 2012 (https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/beans_snap_italian.html). The NCHFP adapted them from the Complete Guide to Home Canning (Agriculture Information Bulletin, No. 539). USDA, 2009.

Resources

• Andress, E., & Harrison, J. A. (2014). So easy to preserve (Bulletin 989). (6th ed.). University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
• Kansas State University Research and Extension. (2010). Preserving green beans (MF-1179).

More information

• Michigan Fresh
• Michigan Fresh - Vegetables