No, beans need to be blanched before freezing - low acid, high risk product - no matter how you cut them. ;)

3 minutes. I assume you know how to blanch? If not, instructions on how to are also available at the link below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to freeze green beans

Thanks!

If it is possible to french the beans after blanching, I would do it. If you slice before blanching , I would cut the time to about 1 minute.

Yes, the Frenching is better done before any blanching. Imagine doing that all by hand and a sharp knife with no fancy tool to split them. Took me about an hour to French about 3 pounds.

We tried both blanching before and after, and it was no contest, before was much easier and gave a better result. With the following caveats - these were huge beans, some sort of local heirloom pole bean that easily is 8-10" long and the dia of a finger. And its really arid here, so things dry out and cool quickly. So we blanched the whole beans for 2 to 3 minutes, dumped the water and beans through a strainer into another pot, reheated that to a boil, and repeated. The hot beans were spread out on the counter where the rapid evaporation cooled them down to luke-warm in a minute. We then frenched them.

A bushel of beans, two hours, 5 gallons of frozen frenched beans in 2 lb packets.

Whew.

A bushel

A blanch involves quick heat for a couple of minutes. If just in boiling water and then allowed to cool on their own, they do continue to cook. A dip into ice water immediatly after the BW dip is the best way to stop any further cooking. allowing them to simply cool of their own will be like cooking them twice (if frozen), or 3 times if canned. A Frencher seems to work best for fresh picked. You like long beans, try the red noodle. They are reddish color and can gor to over 3 feet long!. I was amazed at the length, and the redish color remains even after all cooking. They are a pole type and do require a tall trellis.

To quickly remove the ice water after the blanch, I use an Oxo Salad spinner. These are great for most all blanced stuff and take out quite a lot of standing water. After a few spins, I place them on a big thirsty clean towl, and cover with the towel. They freeze to a loose package, as opposed to a big frozen lump. I also do broccli crowns and peas the same way. Love that spinner!!