One advantage of being in the midst of a big remodeling project is that I've had a good excuse to slack off on my usual summer canning and freezing. For example, we purposefully planted only five tomato plants (instead of the usual 20-25), and just enough beans and other vegetables to eat, with no intention of filling the empty jars in my storage room this year.
I'm not even sure exactly where my canning equipment is right now--probably in some deep, dark recess of the garage. Our smaller than usual garden was meant to just feed us this summer; I knew I wouldn't be able to work on canning projects in my torn apart kitchen.
There's only one problem. Someone forgot to tell the beans! They are hanging in giant clusters like grapes in a vineyard.
(This photo was taken after picking). We tried pole beans this year for the first time, and they are very
prolific. Yesterday we picked bucket after bucket, and of course I
can't let them go to waste. I can't pressure can them, but freezing is
another matter. I like having individually frozen, long, straight beans
on hand to make one of my favorite recipes, Green Bean Bundles. (If
you want to see the recipe, go
HERE). If you don't have your own beans, of course you can use store-bought individually frozen whole beans as well.
So I spent the day freezing numerous gallon bags of them, which is no small feat considering all the steps involved. It's worth it though, because having them separately frozen and not all stuck together means I can reach in a bag and grab out just as many as I need, and I'll appreciate having them available for my various purposes. If you are interested in my process for freezing beans, see below.
Freezing Beans
1. Pick the beans. After years of breaking our backs bending over to pick rows of bush beans, the pole beans allowed us to stand up and pick--except for the lower ones.
2. Snip the beans. This task can be relegated to almost anyone--including relatively small children. I made use of a relatively large child. It took him hours, but he got to watch TV while doing it.
3. Wash the beans very well. I refilled my sink with clean water numerous times and really got in there with both hands to scrub. Here I'm scrubbing with one hand and taking pictures with the other!
4. Put a big pot of water on to boil.
5. Toss in the clean beans in as many small batches as necessary, leaving them in about 3 minutes once the water has returned to a simmer.
6. Prepare an ice water bath for the beans. This will stop them from continuing to cook.
7. Drain them in a colander.
8. Lay them out on paper towels or clean dish towels.
9. Lay another towel on top and press to absorb as much moisture as possible. I like to flip my cookie sheet over with another sheet on top to let more water absorb on the second towel.
10. When they are quite dry, lay them out on cookie sheets lined with tin foil. The more dry they are, the less frosty they will become in the freezer.
11. Place in freezer for 2 or 3 hours.
12. Pick them up in handfuls, keeping them going the same direction, and carefully place in freezer bags. They will pick up easily like sticks.
Now for the next batch!
Why do you need to do the blanching step? Just curious what that adds to the finished product. ..
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, blanching stops the action of enzymes which occur naturally in vegetables helping them grow and ripen. The enzymes continue to act after they are picked and will cause color, flavor, texture, and nutrient losses. Freezing slows down the action of enzymes. In short, they wouldn't taste as good later without the blanching step.
DeleteWhy do you need to do the blanching step? Just curious what that adds to the finished product. ..
ReplyDelete