Not many people like raw green beans. But when you have fermented green beans on your countertop, they take on a delicious flavor, keep their crunch, and provide some healthy bacteria for your gut. This recipe is one to try on those “a little too ready at harvest” green beans in your summer garden.
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Healthy snacking
Unlike fermented carrots, fermented green beans is taking a little more time to become a family family treat amongst our children. My husband and I really do love them and eat them often.
Fermented green beans are a snack we have no rules around in our home. If our children want a snack and choose a fermented jar from the fridge, they are more than welcome to eat as many as they’d like. Healthy and nutritious snacking is always parent-approved.
What is fermentation?
Fermented carrots is a form of lacto-fermentation, a salt based fermentation process. Fermenting foods has been a preservation method used for MANY years.
Your vegetable plus salt minus oxygen results in a fantastic environment for good bacteria like lactic acid bacteria to grow. This bacteria will repel undesirable microorganisms.
If a vegetable, like green beans, is edible in raw form, it will also be edible fermented.
How does salt work in fermented green beans?
Salt is used in fermentation two ways:
- it begins the fermentation process by encouraging the development of good bacteria while discouraging bad bacteria.
- it preserves the texture of the vegetable.
The type kind of salt is important. It needs to be free of iodine and any anti-caking agents.
No table salt.
I use Redmond Real Salt.
Does the kind of water in fermented green beans matter?
YES!
The kind of water you use is important too. If you’re on municipal water, it may be chlorinated. Let your water sit in a jar for about 30 minutes for the chlorine to evaporate from it before using it as a brine in this recipe.
Using filtered water is the best option when available.
In the formula presented above earlier, (veggie + salt – oxygen), fermentation needs NO oxygen. It is very important to keep your carrots submerged in the brine for this recipe.
I highly recommend using wide mouth quart jars and these ferment weights. There have been times when a small carrot piece got around the weight and I had to add a second weight to the jar. If your carrots become exposed to the air, they will mold and your entire ferment will be ruined.
This isn’t a terrible loss as fermented vegetables are relatively inexpensive to make! Whenever you’re in doubt, toss it out (preferably into your compost bin).
Zero waste garden matter
I’m big in to as little waste as possible in our kitchen and on our small-scale homestead.
Here we have chickens, a dog, and a compost bin. We also have pigs on a neighbor’s land that we take scraps to a few times a week. Whenever I harvest green beans, there are usually multiple bowls and bags on the countertop (as seen above).
The “snapped” green bean ends get composted.
Fun fact: in the south, we call green beans “snaps” because we snap off both ends of a green bean.
The larger, thicker green beans are used for fermented green beans.
The largest, hidden underneath the bush or leaves green beans are given to the dog. We cook them down with rice and chicken broth for her.
Then I generally have a pot of green beans to cook down with a slice of seasoned meat as a side dish for our dinner.
THE FERMENTED GREEN BEANS RECIPE
- As many washed and snapped green beans as you can get into a wide-mouth quart jar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 quart of filtered water
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh dill (optional)
- 2 garlic cloves, diced (optional)
HOW TO:
Wash and snap green beans.
Rinse fresh dill of any dust or little bugs if you grow it yourself. Peel and dice garlic. Place dill and garlic in the bottom of the quart jar. Or you can play around with different herbs like basil, rosemary, or oregano or none at all.
Lay jar on its side and layer green beans as tightly as you can. Be sure to fill in any gaps. Add a quart of water to a sauce pan on the stove.
Then put in salt. Let the salt dissolve. No need to boil! Carefully pour brine into your jar until at the start of the rim.
Over the sink, hold the jar and add in a ferment weight. Some brine may spill out so be careful. Make sure all green beans are covered with brine and none have floated up around the weight.
Add a lid, I prefer these plastic ones, as metal lids and rings will rust due to the salt.
Set on jar a plate on the counter to rest for at least 2 days but I have found the green beans are most flavorful and the right amount of tangy when they’ve rested for 5 days.
Feel free to taste test at day 2! The beans will be crunchy and have a dill flavor, slightly salty.
A FEW EXTRA NOTES:
You will want to untwist your jar’s lid daily to let out any gases. This is “burping” the jar. And also to check for any mold!
When green beans are ready, you may notice the water a little cloudy with white specks in it. This is fine. I’ve noticed my glass weights become a little slimy with it. It is just the bacteria and yeast working together.
There should not be any mold present.
As you untwist the lid every day, look for signs of mold and any green beans who have escaped the water. Dunk them back under with the weight.
You can taste test a green bean on day 3 to see if you like the flavor. If it is super salty, it’s not ready yet. Let it sit a few more days.
After it is ready, you can store the jar in the refrigerator for up to 6 months (you’ll be lucky if it lasts more than a week before it’s eaten up, though!). Fermentation will still occur in the fridge but at a much slower rate.
** It is best to store fermented products in the very back of the refrigerator where it is coldest to really slow down fermentation. Storing fermented things in the door of the fridge is NOT recommended as that is the warmest place in the fridge and will allow continued fermentation to happen. This will mean you need to continue checking on the jar to let gasses escape!
Thank you for reading!
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