Pressure canning question

[grammafarm]

I just pressure canned 7 qts green beans last night. I have always been a helper when canning but have branched out to do it big girl style! lol! I had read that I needed to add a bit more time to the beans if they were tougher and these were. They were from a forgotten row! A bit tough looking. I looked at chart wrong for base time so almost boiled the pan dry & in the process some of the liquid from the jars seemed to have boiled out too! Are the jars safe? They all sealed. I have a feeling that I should use them soon and not plan on storing them for long. Help! Thanks for any & all replies.

[MomM]

I'm not sure what the correct answer is. Can you call your county home extension agent and ask. When I first started canning, I didn't seal the canner correctly and I could tell that it wasn't sealing like it should, so I called them and they were great. Good luck.

I'm getting ready to can 25# of tomatoes and about 15 # of peaches. Going to be a busy day.

[Darlene]

Cooking them and preserving them isn't always the same thing, although it mirrors each other. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never heard of pressure canning beans longer just because they were picked off the bush later.

 

Always add 2-3" of water in the bottom of your canner before you put your jars in. That will help insure that you don't run out of water while processing. I've processed fish which is for over 2 hours in the canner and still had plenty of water in the canner so be careful with that.

 

As far as liquid loss from your jars, you should be fine, but I agree with you that I'd use those jars first because the bean that are out of the water will discolor some.

[JCK88]

No, you don't process beans longer because they are tough or old...they process at the standard time. But they won't taste as good as nice young beans. The ball blue book says not to use tough beans because of the quality--not beacuse they need more time.

 

I always add at least two quarts of water to the canner--and a little more if it's a long processing time. I've never had it run dry even with 90 minute processing times.

 

 

[grammafarm]

Thanks for the replies. I have an older Mirror pressure canning guide that I was using. It said to add the time for beans that were tougher because they were closer to being shelled stage of growth. I'll try the next batch with the help you've all given. Will let ya know! Again thanks.( I do have a Ball canning book but was using the guide from the pressure canner) I am learning alot about preserving the harvest. More than I thought I needed to know!

[Simplegirl]

I have an older Mirro canner and the book says to add time for older, tougher beans. And my Ball canning book from 1990 says the same thing. The new one only says that the processing time is for young beans only (which implied that you should process longer for those which are older and tougher- at least to me). So, I just processed my last bunch today 15 minutes longer for pints (according to the instruction from the canner book).

[Violet]

This is why we tell everyone to get a new copy and use it. Some of the old books have outdated information.

Part of it with the beans is that they are still old beans and don't improve with processing. I wouldn't say it is a safety issue with doing it with the old beans and doing them longer, just not as tasty as tender beans. I understand you not wanting to waste them.

I would have been tempted to pickle them.