Green Bean’s and Sweet Corn
So today I processed green bean’s and corn for the first time. I didn’t think we would have enough to process since our chickens ate the majority of the bean seeds that we planted, and we had some irrigation issues, fungi, and severe bug pressure with our corn (I’ll talk more about that in a future post). Both are pretty easy to process in comparison to tomatoes that have more steps involved. I followed my Presto Pressure Canner and Cooker instructions that came with my pressure canner.
When I started the process I had approximately 35 lbs of corn on the husk. For corn, you remove the husks and the silk and then you proceed to wash. If you are not able to can them on the same day that you picked, make sure that you at least shuck them, rinse, and refrigerate so you can process them later in the week (this is what I did since it took us several hours to pick and shuck the corn). If the corn is not refrigerated in a reasonable time after picking, some of your corn may start to shrivel up, or get a little wrinkly. I learned this the first time I picked a few ears and I had a few do that. When you are ready to process, you blanch the corn in boiling water for 3 minutes. Then you remove the corn from the cob. This can be pretty labor intensive if you are doing a large batch. However, it’s easier to do when you have nice full ears of corn. You should cut the kernel from the cob about 3/4 the depth of the kernel (this will insure that you don’t get any of the hard husk in your finished product.) You can raw pack or hot pack the corn. I chose to raw pack it this time. Raw pack loosely into a hot mason jar leaving 1 inch of head space. Cover with boiling water, making sure to leave that 1 inch head space and then adjust you lids to the jar. When you have completed this, you are ready to put them in the canner. I processed them in pints for 55 minutes with 10 lbs. of pressure. If I had done quarts I would have processed those for 85 minutes with 10 lbs. of pressure.
I had a little over 12 lbs of green beans (they had already been snapped and prepared) when I began. For the green beans you want to wash them and remove the blossom end and the stem and if you are growing string beans (personally not my favorite), remove any strings. You can raw pack or hot pack your green beans. I chose to raw pack. Raw pack beans tightly in a clean hot mason jar leaving 1 inch head space and then cover with boiling water. Adjust your lids to the jars and you are ready to can them. Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes with 10 lbs. pressure. I canned mine in quart jars this time.
Make sure the rims of the jars are clean and that you adjust your lids correctly to prevent liquid loss.
