Freezing Green Beans

[BakerAunt]

Our garden is producing a bumper crop of green beans, even though there are not that many plants. My husband suggested I freeze some. I googled it. I found one site with directions for the traditional blanching.

I found another that suggests no blanching is necessary:

How To Freeze Fresh Green Beans Without Blanching

Another site says it is essential to protect texture, color, and vitamins:

How To Blanch Green Beans | How-To Tuesday!

Who is right? I want the method that will preserve nutrition. I'll be storing them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. I don't have a food saver.

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• This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

The USDA and Farm Journal both recommend blanching, and that's what my grandmother and mother always did. But as you noted, a lot of sites now say it isn't necessary.

But if you've got a bumper crop, why not conduct your own experiment and do some both ways and see which you prefer?

[RiversideLen]

I don't know. The thing is, you can freeze them without blanching but you won't have any idea if there is any difference in the vitamins and other nutrients.

[Italiancook]

I probably should care, but I don't worry about the nutrients in green beans. I like them only one way -- cooked to death. Those kind freeze quite good in the cooking liquid. I have only a pint in the freezer now, so I guess I have to buy beans and cottage ham and make a freezer batch.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for the responses. My husband thinks that I should blanch them to kill any bacteria.

Most sites say to blanch for 3 minutes, then 3 minutes in ice water. One site said 2 minutes.

All sites agree that beans should be dry before freezing. Some people put them directly into the bags; others freeze them separately on trays for an hour or two, then freeze them.

[Mike Nolan]

As I recall, my mother put a little salt in the water she used for blanching beans, though that's not something I've seen mentioned elsewhere.

[chocomouse]

I have not frozen beans for years, because we didn't like the results. I always blanched them, don't remember for how long. And I put them into bags or freezer containers immediately, while still wet. They always turned out soft and mushy, not a good texture. I never got any beans planted this year, but I'll try to remember next year to freeze some and do a little experimenting. Fresh beans are so good.

[BakerAunt]

Today I froze three small packets (189g each) of cut green beans. That's the amount that I estimate the two of us would eat with a meal. I blanched each group in boiling water for 3 minutes, then put into ice water for three minutes. I put them in a salad spinner to dry, then wrapped them in a dish towel. There was still moisture. I spread each third on its own quarter-sheet pan lined with parchment and put the pans into the freezer for an hour. I don't know that the parchment was necessary, but I had visions of their sticking to the pans. After an hour, I put each third into a pint Ziploc freezer bag, squeezed out as much air as possible, then put them in the freezer.

When we get around to cooking them, probably in the fall, I'll add another post about how they turn out.

Thanks to all who contributed their suggestions and ideas. It's wonderful to have a community to whom I can turn with cooking and baking and preserving issues. You are the best!

[chocomouse]

I'm going copy and paste what you did and save the info in my recipe file, BakerAunt. I trust your judgement - if you like them when you cook them, I'll try that method next year. Thanks for sharing all your cooking and baking "experiments" with us.

[BakerAunt]

Tonight (November 9), I pulled out one of the packets of frozen green beans. I emptied the beans into a glass dish with a lid, then microwaved on high for 2 minutes. I stirred the beans, then microwaved for another 2 minutes.

Note: We are using an old microwave (a new one is on my list) that does not have a lot of power.

Results: The beans will never be as crisp as fresh ones, but the texture held up better than frozen ones we've bought at the store and not bought again. Freezing them individually is a good technique. The flavor is good. We will definitely freeze beans again when we have a bumper crop.

[BakerAunt]

It has been three years since I last froze green beans, but we have had a bumper crop, and my husband remarked that it would be nice to have some in the freezer in the late fall, so I reviewed what I posted here, then did some additional googling. I thought this site was helpful:

How to Freeze Green Beans (a step by step tutorial)

I also looked at a couple of other sites. I decided to add 1 Tbs. coarse salt to the boiling water before adding the green beans. I also followed my procedure from last time and after blanching put the dried, individual green beans (this time without parchment) onto small baking sheets before sticking them in the freezer for an hour before sealing them in pint bags and returning to the freezer.

According to one source I read, the salt is supposed to help maintain the nutritional value during the boiling stage and may help the texture when I cook them later.

[chocomouse]

Baker Aunt, I had just now printed out the directions I had saved when you posted on August 3, 2019!! What a coincidence. Now, I will check that new link you posted. I am about to go out on the deck, it's 89*, and pick more of our bumper crop of green and yellow beans. The first picking I did was made into bean salad, and we will finish that off with dinner tonight. This is my 2nd season growing them in a raised planter on the deck, and they produce there just as well as in the in-ground garden - but no bending over or crawling on my knees to pick!

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