| From the Ortho Books "complete book of canning"
Green or wax beans may be used in this recipe. Mix the two for
color interest.
4 pounds beans 1/2 teaspoon dill seed or one
6 Tablespoons salt fresh head dill per pint
3 cups distilled white vinegar 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed per pint
3 cups water 3 whole peppercorns or 1/4 tsp
crushed hot red pepper per
pint
1 clove peeled garlic per pint
(optional)
1) Trim and string beans, or use whole small beans.
2) combine salt, vinegar, and water; bring to a boil.
3) add seasonings to each clean hot jar. Pack beans in jars; cover
with boiling liquid, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal. Beans must
be completely covered with liquid.
4) process in boiling-water bath 10 minutes.
yield: 7 pints
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| From "Gifts of Food" by Susan Costner.
YIELD: 6 pints
3 pounds whole green beans
6 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
6 fresh dill heads or 2 tablesppons dill seed
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
3 1/4 cups water
3 1/4 cups cider vinegar
6 tablespoons salt
Rinse the green beans and cut off the ends. Pack lengthwise in
6 sterilized widemouthed pint-size canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch
headroom. To each jar add 1 garlic clove, 1 head of dill, or 1
teaspoon dill seed, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
In a kettle bring to a boil the water, vinegar, and salt, and pour
it, boiling hot, over the beans in the jars, filling to within 1/4
inch of the rims. Whipe the rims with a clean damp cloth and seal
the jars with the lids. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10
minutes (instructions below). Cool completely and store in a cool,
dark, dry place.
STEPS FOR HOT-WATER BATH CANNING
1. Assemble ingredients for recipe.
2. Assemble equipment, checking jars for cracks or nicks and lids
for dents or rust.
3. Prepare recipe.
4. While recipe is cooking, sterize jars and lids and place in
oven to keep warm.
5. Fill water-bath canner and begin heating. Start another pot
of water to boil (to be added to water bath later).
6. Fill jars.
7. Process in canner for specified time.
8. Cool and check for seal
Cooling & Checking the Seal
After the suggested processing time, remove the canner from
the heat and cool the jars to room temperature in the water.
With the jar-lifter remove the jars from the canner by lifting
them straight up, making sure not to tip the contens. Place
the jars on a clean towel to cool for 8 to 12 hours. As
the jars cool, you may hear a loud popping or pinging noise.
This sound indicates that a jar has sealed. To test for
a proper seal, wait 12 hours and then gently press the center
of the lid with your finger. If the lid stays down, the
jar is sealed.
Once the jars have sealed, the flt lids will adhear tightly
to the jar rims. If a jar fails to seal, refrigerate it
and eat the contents within a week.
9. Label and package.
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| If you've never done any canning and would like to put up some
beans, you'd do well to buy one of those HP or SUNSET books
on canning. HP or SUNSET books are the 9x12 paperbound books
on various subjects that you find on those turnable wire book-
racks at bookstores and grocery stores. Generally the books
sell for somewhere around $5. They'll have a dozen or so
recipes for each of the various things you can can: jellies/jams,
vegetables, pickles, whole fruits, etc.
Most things that contain either lots of sugar or vinegar can
be sterilized in a water-bath canner. That's a big enamel
kettle with a wire rack. I got mine at a store like K-Mart.
You should get a pair of tongs to pick up hot jars, and a
wide funnel to make filling jars easier. You can get jars
either at the same store or at most grocery stores. The
jars will come with one lid each. If you re-use the jars,
you'll need new lids, since the seals are only good for one
use. The rings that hold the lids down are good until they
start rusting.
You can make a small batch of dilly beans and put them in your
fridge and forget the canning, by the way. You may want to
par-boil them first, just to get them a bit softened and make
up for not cooking them while sterilizing. You'll want to let
them sit for a week or two to let them pickle. They won't
go bad in the fridge any more than an open jar of pickles will,
ie, not for a long time. You could use any clean jar for this,
just make sure the lid is very clean, too.
Hope this helps.
--Louise
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