How to Can Green Beans
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Learning how to can green beans safely starts with one fact the sources state plainly: “Pressure canning green beans is the only way to can them safely.” Green beans are a low-acid vegetable, so the jar has to reach a temperature that a boiling water bath cannot provide. The steps below follow the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) at the University of Georgia, which publishes the tested green bean directions, and a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse food safety infosheet.
The numbers in this guide come from those pages and from the NCHFP beginner poster, which agrees with them. Where the sources are silent, the article says so rather than filling the gap.
Quick answer
- Use a pressure canner, not a boiling water canner, for plain green beans.
- Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes, at the pressure set for your elevation.
- Dial and weighted gauges need different pressure settings, so check which one your canner has.
- Let the jars cool undisturbed, then test the seals before you store them.
Why a pressure canner is required
The NCHFP green bean page is blunt on this point: “There is no safe option for processing green beans in a boiling water canner.” The reason is temperature. The Wisconsin infosheet explains that spores of Clostridium botulinum are hard to destroy at the temperature of boiling water, so a pressure canner, which runs hotter, is needed. The infosheet puts the risk plainly: “Boiling water baths will not get hot enough to inactivate Clostridium botulinum spores.”
The NCHFP equipment page covers shortcuts that home canners sometimes try. It says: “Open-kettle canning and the processing of freshly filled jars in conventional ovens, microwave ovens, and dishwashers are not recommended, because these practices do not prevent all risks of spoilage.” The page does not offer an oven or a dishwasher as a substitute for a canner.
Choose and prepare the beans
Start with fresh beans in good condition. The NCHFP page says: “Select filled but tender, crisp pods.” It adds: “Remove and discard diseased and rusty pods.” Wash the beans, trim the ends, and decide whether to leave them whole or cut them into pieces. The page says: “Leave whole or cut or snap into 1-inch pieces.”
Quantity depends on the batch. The NCHFP page gives a planning figure: “An average of 14 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 9 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints.” The beginner poster gives a smaller range for pint jars: “8-9 pounds green beans (3/4 to 1 pound per pint)”. Pick a little more than the plan, because some pods will be culled. If you are still deciding where to grow the crop, see vegetables to grow in raised beds, and for the easiest choices see easiest vegetables to grow in raised beds.
Raw pack or hot pack
The NCHFP page describes two packs. In the hot pack, the beans are heated first. The directions read: “Cover with boiling water; boil 5 minutes.” In the raw pack, the beans go into the jar uncooked: “Fill jars tightly with raw beans, leaving 1-inch headspace.” Raw-packed jars are then filled with boiling water and given the same headspace.
The poster asks the cook to decide between a raw pack, a hot pack, or both before starting. It also sets different canner-water temperatures for the two packs: the water is brought to a simmer at 180°F for a hot pack, or kept at 140°F for a raw pack. Both packs use the same processing times and pressures in the tables below.
The Method 6 PDF says: “Use funnel and clean fingers to push prepared beans tightly into jars, leaving 1-inch headspace.” Salt is optional. The NCHFP page says: “Add 1 teaspoon of canning salt per quart to the jar, if desired.” The Method 6 text gives the pint amount: “Add ½ teaspoon of salt to each jar, if desired.”
The poster lists the tools for the job, including two-piece metal canning lids and bands, a jar lifter, a headspace tool, and a bubble freer or narrow spatula. Examine the jars and bands for flaws, wipe the rims with a clean damp towel, and apply the lids fingertip tight before the jars go into the canner.
Pressure and processing time by elevation
Pressure depends on your elevation and on the type of gauge your canner has. The NCHFP green bean table gives two sets of pressures: one for a dial gauge and one for a weighted gauge. The processing time does not change with elevation. The table below sets those figures side by side.
| Elevation (feet) | Dial-gauge pressure (lb) | Weighted-gauge pressure (lb) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1,000 | 11 | 10 |
| 1,001 to 2,000 | 11 | 15 |
| 2,001 to 4,000 | 12 | 15 |
| 4,001 to 6,000 | 13 | 15 |
| 6,001 to 8,000 | 14 | 15 |
The weighted-gauge column follows the NCHFP table, which lists 10 pounds for 0 to 1,000 feet and 15 pounds above 1,000 feet. The dial-gauge column follows the table’s bands: 11 pounds from 0 to 2,000 feet, then 12, 13 and 14 pounds in the higher bands. The table is our own layout of those published values, and the poster’s pressure bands match it.
Processing times are the same for the two gauges. The NCHFP page gives 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts, for both hot and raw packs. The page says the table was adapted from the USDA’s “Complete Guide to Home Canning.” The poster gives the pint times for the same pressure settings. If you do not know your elevation, the Method 6 text says to “ask your leader or an Extension agent,” or to look it up on a reliable website.
Run the canner
Follow your canner’s manual for venting and for the weight or dial, because the steps differ between models. The Method 6 text describes the common sequence. Wait until steam forms a funnel from the vent port, then let it vent for 10 minutes. Bring the canner to the pressure for your elevation, and start the timer once the weight is jiggling or the dial reads the set pressure. The poster puts it this way: “Wait until you see and hear the weight steadily jiggling or the dial indicates the recommended pressure, then set timer for 20 minutes.”
Keep the pressure steady for the whole timed period. The sources here give the timed step but do not describe how to bring the canner back to zero pressure, so follow your manual for that part.
Cool the jars and test the seals
Lift the jars out of the canner, keeping them upright. The poster says to place them “on a towel or a rack, at least 1 inch apart to cool evenly”, and it adds: “Do not disturb for 12-24 hours.” The NCHFP cooling page adds a warning about the lids: “When you remove hot jars from a canner, do not retighten their jar lids. Retightening of hot lids may cut through the gasket and cause seal failures.”
After cooling, remove the screw bands and test each seal. The page describes two options. Press the middle of the lid with a finger or thumb: “If the lid springs up when you release your finger, the lid is unsealed.” Or tap the lid with the bottom of a teaspoon: “If it makes a dull sound, the lid is not sealed.” The page also notes that food touching the underside of the lid can cause a dull sound too, so a lid that sounds dull needs a second look before you decide.
Store the jars and handle unsealed ones
The NCHFP storage page says: “Label and date the jars and store them in a clean, cool, dark, dry place.” For best quality it gives the range “between 50 and 70 °F”, and it advises against storing jars above 95 °F or near hot pipes, a range or a furnace. Use the jars within a year, since the page says to “can no more food than you will use within a year” unless a specific recipe gives other advice.
A jar that does not seal is a different case. The storage page says that a jar found unsealed within 24 hours of canning should be refrigerated, and that its contents should be consumed within one week. The pages we opened do not describe reprocessing a jar, so this guide does not offer that step.
Watch for spoilage
The NCHFP spoilage page sets the core rule: “Do not taste food from a jar with an unsealed lid or food that shows signs of spoilage.” It adds a warning that matters for green beans. Spoiled low-acid foods “may exhibit different kinds of spoilage evidence or very little evidence”, so the page says suspect containers should be treated as having produced botulinum toxin. It also states: “Contact with botulinum toxin can be fatal”, and it describes how to dispose of the containers and clean the area.
When you open a jar, the page says to look for rising air bubbles and unnatural color in the contents. Smell for unnatural odors, and look for spurting liquid and cotton-like mold growth on the food or under the lid. Any of these signs means the jar should be handled as the page directs, without tasting it.
Frequently asked questions
Can green beans be canned in a water bath canner?
No. Plain green beans are a low-acid food, and the NCHFP page gives no safe boiling water process for them. Pints and quarts both need the pressure canner and the time and pressure settings in the tables above.
Which pressure setting applies?
Set the pressure from the elevation table. Dial gauges and weighted gauges need different settings, and the table shows both. If you are unsure of your elevation, the Method 6 text recommends asking your extension office rather than guessing.
Can green beans be processed in the oven?
No. The NCHFP equipment page says processing freshly filled jars in conventional ovens is not recommended, because it does not prevent all risks of spoilage. The same page also says that heating dry foods in canning jars in an oven is not a recommended science-based method.
How long should the jars cool before the seals are checked?
The poster says to leave the jars undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours and to test the seals once they are completely cool. Do not retighten the lids while the jars are still hot.
What should be done with a jar that did not seal?
Refrigerate it and eat the contents within one week, according to the NCHFP storage page. The pages we opened do not describe a safe way to reprocess it, so do not put it back in the canner.
How we chose
We limited the list to pages that opened with HTTP 200 and that come from the NCHFP, a University of Georgia program that adapts the USDA’s home canning guide, or from a university extension office. Where two sources give the same figure, the article uses the NCHFP green bean page as the primary reference and cites the poster or the Method 6 text as a check. Third-party canning sites turned up in search but were not opened, so none of their figures appear here.
The procedure and the pressure values agree across the pages we opened. The poster and the NCHFP page give the same pint times and the same pressure bands, which is why the table can be built from one set of numbers.
What we could not verify
The sources are strong on pressure and processing for pints and quarts, but they leave some questions open. Those gaps matter when you plan a batch.
What the sources do not say
- The poster lists processing times for pint jars only. The quart time of 25 minutes comes from the NCHFP green bean page, not from the poster.
- How often a dial gauge should be tested for accuracy. The pages we opened do not give an interval.
- How to bring the canner back to zero pressure after processing. The opened pages cover the timed step, not the cooldown.
- Processing times for jar sizes other than pints and quarts.
- How long a canned green bean keeps its color and texture. The storage page gives a one-year guideline for quality, not a texture test.
- Any detail about a specific canner brand or model. The sources speak to gauge types, not to models.
Bottom line
Pressure can the beans, set the pressure for your elevation and gauge, process pints for 20 minutes or quarts for 25, and cool and check every jar before you store it.
Sources
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Beans, Snap and Italian – Pieces, Green and Wax”: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-vegetables-and-vegetable-products/beans-snap-and-italian-pieces-green-and-wax/ (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Pressure Canning (Beg.) Can My Green Beans” (beginner poster): https://newt.fcs.uga.edu/nchfp/putitup/Poster%206%20Beginning%20(Green%20Beans).pdf (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Method 6: Pressure Canning” (PDF): https://newt.fcs.uga.edu/nchfp/putitup/Method%206%20-%20Pressure%20Canning%202015rev.pdf (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Extension, Canning Beans Infosheet (food safety fact-or-myth sheet, PDF): https://lacrosse.extension.wisc.edu/files/2022/08/Canning-Beans-Infosheet-copy-1.pdf (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Cooling Jars and Testing Jar Seals”: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/cooling-jars-and-testing-jar-seals/ (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Storing Home Canned Foods”: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/storing-home-canned-foods/ (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Identifying and Handling Spoiled Canned Food”: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/identifying-and-handling-spoiled-canned-food/ (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Equipment and Methods Not Recommended”: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/general-information/equipment-and-methods-not-recommended/ (opened 2026-10-23, HTTP 200)
