Preserving Your Harvest

[karenerwin]

I made Chinese Buffet Green Beans tonight with my frozen green beans from the harvest.
I added some red pepper flakes, maybe a few too many flakes... I will do a little less next time, maybe just a half a teaspoon. They were so good!
https://blogchef.net/chinese-buffet-green-beans-recipe/

Thank you for posting the link for this recipe ! I love Chinese buffet green beans but it had never crossed my mind to look for a recipe for them.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Thank you for posting the link for this recipe ! I love Chinese buffet green beans but it had never crossed my mind to look for a recipe for them.

It's our family's new favorite side dish!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I just bought an electric pressure canner! I am so excited. I will pick it up today.
Last week I canned some beef with onions and some chicken chunks. And I used up the last jar of canned pinto beans. It was a long evening of sitting in the kitchen babysitting the canner for over 2 hours. And realizing I will probably need to do this more often...

Inspiration struck and I decided to look up reviews on electric pressure canners to end my agony. Good reviews convinced me to buy a Prest 12 quart pressure canner. It will only do 5 quart jars at a time, but that is all I usually do for meats and soups anyway. This will make it much simpler to can meal items, and I still have my old pressure canner for those times I do larger quantities. Plus DH said I can still buy a larger canner if I need it this fall.

 

[Iluveggers]

Does anyone know if there’s a good way to cook and store dried beans? Last year I had a pretty decent harvest of dried black beans. I can keep them dried, but then I have to plan a day ahead of time to cook them. Already cook I can whip them up so much faster! I have a water bath canner and a little extra freezer space. Suggestions are welcome please!

 

[wyoDreamer]

You can freeze cooked beans. It is suggested to cook them as low temp as you can to help prevent splitting.

 

[Iluveggers]

You can freeze cooked beans. It is suggested to cook them as low temp as you can to help prevent splitting.

Thank you! I didn’t realize they needed to be at a low temp! Would crockpot on low setting be too high?

 

[wyoDreamer]

I think it would be OK on low. It is just to prevent the beans from splitting when you recook them in something like chili. The website also said adding the salt halfway through cooking is said to help prevent splitting also.
I prefer to pressure can beans to have a couple jars at the ready on a shelf, so I don't freeze cooked beans.
I just froze some refried beans though, DH days he likes them but for some reason doesn't eat them. I only know how to make a big batch of refried beans, so into the freezer with the extra.

 

[Sally PB]

Maybe it was on the baking thread, but someone recently posted how to pressure can beans.

I'm toying with the idea of getting an electric pressure canner. I have a stovetop one, but would have to get it checked. Then there's the whole "watch it for a long time," and wait-wait-wait for the everything to cool, etc. I like the idea of one that can be on the counter and I can go do something else.

@wyoDreamer, how do you like yours? Have you used it yet? I was looking at the Presto one, and it's $329 on Amazon. Wonder if it's cheaper in a store...?

 

[Swiss]

Does anyone know if there’s a good way to cook and store dried beans? Last year I had a pretty decent harvest of dried black beans. I can keep them dried, but then I have to plan a day ahead of time to cook them. Already cook I can whip them up so much faster! I have a water bath canner and a little extra freezer space. Suggestions are welcome please!

What if you cook them, then dehydrate them?

 

[Iluveggers]

What if you cook them, then dehydrate them?

Never tried that…hmm, would it work?