In article ,
"Jimmy" wrote:

I want to freeze a lot of green beans and have them crunchy when thawed out.
Any way to do this? If I blanch them then freeze them will they be soft?

So far this season, I've frozen nearly 25# of green beans; it's been an
unusually great year. This is my system:

Wash the beans very well by immersing them & changing the water until it
is clear. Cut off the stem ends and any bad spots. I cut mine in 2-3"
lengths because it's easier to get more on a tray.

Blanch them, in maximum 1 - 1.25# portions, in rapidly boiling water for
no more than 3 minutes. Start timing as soon as the beans hit the
water. Use a minimum 8 qt pot with a deep pasta insert so you can just
lift the whole shebang out of the water (carefully).

Remove them to a small colander sitting in a large bowl filled with ice
water (use lots of ice) for no more than 3 minutes (you don't want to
make them soggy). Swoosh them around in the ice water a few times to
ensure that they get cooled rapidly.

Drain them in a colander and shake out excess water. Spread them out on
the middle section of a decent size terry cloth kitchen towel and roll
them up for at least five minutes. Spread them out on a large sheet or
jellyroll pan that has been oiled with the slightest amount of olive or
other oil. Put the pan flat in a 0 degree F freezer. The lower the
better. If your freezer is self-defrosting, be sure to get the beans
out as soon as they are frozen or they will be dried out. A non-self-
defrosting freezer is better for this kind of freezing. (I use a
similar method for freezing broccoli, whole roasted peppers and a few
other things) I can get four trays in my freezer so I usually do 5-6
pounds of beans at a time.

When the beans are hard frozen, vacuum-seal them in a bag with
Food-Saver or similar device. I use a narrow bench scraper to scrape
them out of the pan. You have to do only one pan at a time and move
quickly so they don't start to thaw. You don't want your vacuum sealer
(should you have one) sucking water into it's innards). I usually wipe
the edge of the bag after I fill it to ensure there are no little drops
of water.

No frozen bean is ever as good as fresh but I find this process is
pretty darn good. The key is working fast with no interruptions. My
step mom used to freeze beans in boxes and they were always a solid
block of ice, soggy when thawed and horrible. Good luck.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot