I often give pickles about 6 weeks to set up after canning. It gives the flavors a chance to mellow out a little bit.

Well, these were a year old. If they'd mellowed, sure glad I didn't eat 'em earlier!

You can switch to cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, both of which are mellower. I'd go with the cider vinegar; it will darken the beans slightly but it has a much softer taste. Just be sure whatever you use is 5%.

Also, you can add a bit of sugar to the vinegar. It doesn't affect the safety and can help take off that edge.

Carol

Thanks Carol. I'll try all those suggestions.

Are you eating them straight up or mixed with something else. Do you think using them as a base for a three bean salad might help redude the harshness?

Pickled in vinegar will obviously not give you the same taste as fresh cooked beans. If your wanting no vinegar, try blanching and freezing them, or do them in a pressure canner without any added acid. Usually I like them pickled with garlic and dill and add them to cold pasta salads.

Carol writes: > Also, you can add a bit of sugar to the vinegar.

That was to be my suggestion too even though have only used with refrigerator pickled veggies and not processed. Turns out as a rather sticky syrup, but really quite good. I use a 50/50 sugar and 5% acid cider or distilled white vinegar mix.

I was wanting a dill pickle-like flavor, not fresh, & had processed them with some garlic & dill. Ideally they'd be eaten straight, but even mixed in with my salad (with no salad dressing) today they were just too vinegary. Not a good vinegary either!

I don't really want a sweet taste, but maybe could add a little Splenda. I've lost 45 pounds this year, and have cut back on the sugary things I love to can. Sour pickled veggies, though, hardly have any cals. I like to toss them into salads and skip the dressing. But these pickled green beans I made -- whew!

At the grocery store this afternoon I was looking at the various vinegars. Looks like they're all 5% or 6% dilution. Balsamic vinegar might be good with the green beans.

Thanks, everybody, for the advice.

awm, did you process your pickled green beans in a pressure canner? I have never made pickles in a pressure canner, and I think using a boiling water bath would result in a crisper pickle that would taste better than a mushy green bean soaked in vinegar.

You're right though, dilly beans are pretty strong. Since you are pressure canning your green beans, you are safe to do so in water provided you follow the directions below, and you can substitute vinegar for some of that water. In other words, you can reduce the vinegar if you are pressure canning, but again you will get a mushier product than boiling water bath (which requires at least 50% vinegar in the brine for pickled green beans).

If you want to make dilly beans to use in salad, I suggest Italian-style potato salad. Simmer sliced red potatoes until tender, then put hot potatoes in a plastic bag & sprinkle liberally with vinegar. When cool, mix in pickled green beans & pickled garlic. Add some oil and salt and lots of parsley. I think this tastes best at room temperature.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: pressure canned green beans in water

The beans were a little mushy. You're right, Melva, I should have done them in a BWB.

The Italian-style potato salad sounds good and easy too.

Awm03, congratulations on the weight loss ! I know how hard it is. I have lost the same amount. Keep up the good work. I know, I eat dill pickles when I get really hungry. That and sugar free jello.
I use this recipe from USDA.
Pickled Dilled Beans
4 lbs fresh tender green or yellow beans (5 to 6 inches long)
8 to 16 heads fresh dill
8 cloves garlic (optional)
1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
4 cups white vinegar (5 percent)
4 cups water
1 tsp hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Yield: About 8 pints

Procedure: Wash and trim ends from beans and cut to 4-inch lengths. In each sterile pint jar, place 1 to 2 dill heads and, if desired, 1 clove of garlic. Place whole beans upright in jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Trim beans to ensure proper fit, if necessary. Combine salt, vinegar water, and pepper flakes (if desired). Bring to a boil. Add hot solution to beans, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process 5 min.
If you want to skip the boiling of the jars first, then process in the BWB for 10 min. I do it, and they are good and crisp still. You can also use Pickle Crisp if you want pickled things really crunchy. Cider vinegar will seem less tart, but it will make the brine darker. Adding a pinch of sugar is a good idea, too.

This is the same experience I had with my garlic dilly beans. They are quite good otherwise, and when I open the jar, I remove about half of the brine and add some water. This seems to "tame" them for immediate eating - but makes them a bit questionable for the long time storage after opening.

My questions to the forum at that time - involved using another type of vinegar. As I had made some wine vinegars - one from table white and the other from light red (Paisano)wine.

Both of these wines tested out to a 5% solution with a pH meter, and I wondered if the white one could be used in the bean recipe, as the taste was much more subtle than either regular distilled or cider commercial vinegars. The answer that I got back was that it was ok.

So for what it's worth - next year, when my beans come in -I planned to have enough of the white wine vinegar to give it a try.

Just another 2 c's.

Bejay

When using Splenda to sweeten the vinegar, use very small amounts. For some reason Splenda can be really sweet when used in vinegar. For me, a half cup for a 7 quart batch of sweet pickles, is almost comparable to adding nearly 5 pounds of sugar to the same recipe. Another herb choice and the use of tarragon, as it goes well with beans. Reducing the vinegar strength with water can also bring down the strong acid taste. This can be done even after you have opened a jar, just by pouring out some of the brine and replacing it with water, then let it sit a few days in the fridge before eating.

Linda Lou, just wanted to congratulate you on your weight loss.

Think I'll try making the pickled green beans with white wine vinegar this weekend. They're a good green salad ingredient.

Awm03, thank you for congratulating me, too ! I still have a long way to go, but it is OK.
Try adding a pinch of sugar and see if that doesn't help in the jars you have left of the other ones, if you do have any more.
Just now having some of my sugar free plum jelly. It is good. Next I want to make sugar free grape.
Too lazy today, though.