5 Time Saving Tips - Pickled Green Beans

My friend Kathleen attended one of my preserving classes at The Depanneur earlier this summer and it is like I have created a monster :). Her latest masterpiece was Blackberry Sage Jam. So when she mentioned that she was about to tackle Pickled Green Beans, I knew I had to throw some of the things I have learned when pickling green beans down on paper and get it over to her asap.

Top Time Saving Tips When Pickling Green Beans

There are a few very simple things such as, getting organized before you even start. Have all your ingredients and tools out and get them set up in a way that works for your kitchen that I will mention right off the start before I get into the tips themselves.

1) After clipping the ends of your green beans lay them out on a cutting board or flat surface near where you will be filling your jars. Ensure all bottom ends of the beans are facing in one direction. This allows you to grab handfulls of beans at once to fill jars and will mean less time fussing in the jar filling stage.

2) If your jars are too short or your beans are too long, don't spend a lot of time getting them to be equal lengths. Just put them into your jars will all the bottom ends of the bean facing the bottom of your jar. Then take a pair of kitchen scissors and trim the beans up to be all one length

3) Don't forget to use a rubber spatula to release air bubbles from inside of the jar after pouring in your brine. You will be amazed how the level will drop after doing this. Top up each jar to the headspace outlined in the recipe.

4) After the water bath if your beans look a little wrinkled, don't deflate and think they are ruined. Sometimes after a week or two of aging they plump right back up. If they remain wrinkled it could be because you used too much salt in your brine or the beans were old. Think of it as a life lesson ;)

5) And the most important tip of all - ALWAYS use a recipe from a trusted source to ensure you end up with a product that has a ph level that is water bath safe. Remember safety first!