Freezing Beans

 This year has been a great year for beans.  Last year I decided I would never fiddle with bush beans again.  It's pole beans for me.  They keep on producing as the vines keep growing and you don't have to get down on the ground to pick 'em.

I have settled on two really good varieties. Monte Gusto and Seychelles.

I freeze my beans because I think canning is a lot of sweaty work.  I don't mind making pickles, but water bath canning or pressure cooker canning isn't any fun.  Freezing is simple and you can do it in small batches.  Have a handful of beans? (or peas or a few extra ears of corn?)  Pop them in the freezer.

Here are my steps for freezing beans.

Take the ends off the beans and chop them into bite size pieces.  Boil some water, take it off the heat, and throw the beans in for three minutes.

Strain the beans and have an ice bath ready.

Put the beans in the ice bath and leave them until the cubes melt.

Strain the beans again and spread the cooled beans on a tray and put them in the freezer for a day.  This means you have to keep your freezer organized well enough to be able to fit a tray in there.  When the beans are frozen solid, break them off of the tray and put them in bulk into a gallon bag.  It sometimes takes me three or four small batches to fill a gallon bag.  That's the beauty of freezing as opposed to canning.   It is simple and easy and can be done in small batches.  When you want to eat beans, get some water boiling, take a handful or two out of the bulk bag and boil for three minutes.

When I prepare fresh beans, I use a steamer and steam for ten minutes, but boiling frozen beans is almost as good.  Two gallons will get us through the winter just fine and by the time bean season rolls around again we will be out of frozen beans and wishing for the garden fresh version.