Freezing Green Beans

Freezing Green Beans is an easy way to enjoy your organic garden bounty in the winter months.

First the beans must be picked and snapped. Today the trend is to leave the end of the bean on and only snap off the stem end.

Blanching, or scalding green beans in boiling water helps to retain their flavor,color and texture in the freezer. Blanching is used to prepare many other vegetables for the freezer as well.

Nowadays I forgo the boiling water and place the beans in a container with a cup or two of water,cover the container and blanch them in the microwave for about three minutes and then cool them in cold water. I don’t know if this is a legitimate way to fix them but it is much cooler than having boiling water on the stove in the summer and the beans seem to freeze as well and taste fresh.

I have used cardboard freezer boxes,plastic bags- making sure I removed as much air as possible-and plastic containers for freezing green beans. They have all worked, but today I favor the rigid plastic container. I have upright freezers and the hard containers stack easily on the shelves and the label stays visible.

During the winter, it is easy to take a container out of the freezer, pop the contents into boiling salted water and cook until done. Frozen green beans can also be cooked in the microwave. For soups and stews, I just add them frozen to the recipe.