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shellbellfnp

Are my dilly beans safe?

shellbellfnp
9 years ago

Hello! I'm relatively new to canning, today I made 36 pints of dilly beans using a family recipe. I'm now concerned that that water to vinegar ratio may have been too low...

The recipe I used calls for 1 cup white vinegar to 3 cups water and 2 tablespoons salt.

I've made a lot of these before, but they'd never lasted very long (and lately I've not even processed them I just store them in the fridge, they're eaten quickly).

So, I just finished 36 jars and processed in a BWB for 10 minutes as per the recipe.

Are these shelf safe? If not what options do I have? Can I reprocess in a pressure canner? Store In the fridge? Open them and add vinegar then reprocess?

It was A LOT of work to just throw them out....

Comments (5)

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    Did you just process them yesterday? If within 24 hours, yes, you can open them and reprocess. They will be softer.

    You can PC them but still need to open them, warm the jars, and pour boiling water over the beans. Do you have a PC and are you experienced? Beans aren't something to learn on.

    It would be better to open them (again, only if you processed them less than 24 hours ago), drain them, dump the beans into a big pot, wash and warm the jars, pack the beans into as many jars fit into your BWB, heat a mixture of half (5%) vinegar and half water plus any dried spices you may need (depends on if any are still sticking to the beans), I wouldn't add more salt or fresh herbs/garlic, then process for 10 minutes in BWB.

    For future reference, here is NCHFP recipe - if you don't sterilize the jars, process for 10 minutes instead. There is a good recipe in Small Batch Preserving, and more in The Joy of Pickling.

    Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Dilly Beans

  • shellbellfnp
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have used the PC for a few other recipes, never done green beans though. It's only been about 12 hours since I did them. I just popped the lids and moved to the refidgerator. We will eat them I'm the next couple weeks out of the fridge, better safe than sorry. Hopefully I can get my hands on another bushel of beans for the winter and use the nchfp recipe!

    Thanks for your help!

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    Wow, you have room in your fridge for 36 jars? I was going to suggest finding family members to take some.

    My fridge is stuffed with fresh beans right now, I've been blanching and freezing for days. I guess I should clear off some shelves in the little upright freezer (where I've been putting the bags of frozen beans) so I can fit 2 more cookie sheets, it will go 3x as fast.

    I have to count how many pints of pickled beans I've made already this year - at least 10. Plus relish. Lots more beans and zukes than cukes this year. Though I should make more relish - I've got cukes that have been sitting in the fridge a few days. Ones I picked yesterday should go in a fermenting bucket today - or I could make quick pickles but I have quite a few jars from past years in the basement.

    Where do you live? I'll sell you some beans!

  • shellbellfnp
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Luckily we have a second fridge in the garage, but friends and family are always willing to take dilly beans off my hands... My nieces can't get enough of them. I have made close to thirty jars in small batches throughout the summer and they don't last long enough to even bother processing, I just put them right into the fridge and after a few days they disappear. I was hoping these would be our winter supply, but safety first!

    I'm in northern West Virginia, I think the bean season is winding down here unfortunately.

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    Up in the mountains? Maybe so. I think we'll be lucky to get another month here, we're expecting some cool nights starting next week, even though most of this week is going to be near 90 as a high. Very unusual - the past few weeks have been the highest sustained temps we've had all summer, though broken up enough that we can't call it a heat wave.

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