I also do what Shirley does, as more rapidly boiling water will not cool down as qick as a small amount. I also set up a big bowl of cold water with lots of ice in it as the cold dip. After that, they they get drained a little and then placed in a big clean bath towel to absorb the excess water before bagging for the freezer. Pickled string beans are nice too. If you don't like string beans, don't grow them. You may find that if you grow string beans, you may like their flavor more than store bought frozen ones.

Well, you know, we've only had the beans three times so far in the last 10 days or so. We can keep up with them at that pace, but I was just looking ahead in case I do have extras that I can keep till later in the year. I had heard of blanching, but I didn't quite remember. Let's see if I have it right. Throw the beans in boiling water for 1 1/2 minutes, take out and immerse in ice water, dry, and then put them in a ziplock bag. Try to take as much of the air out of the bag (Mary, interesting idea about the straw). Alternatively, I might try 'blanching' them in the microwave and then the rest as above. Is that right? Now I almost hope I have extras just to try this procedure out! Thank-you, everyone. P.S.- Carol, how do you make oven-roasted beans? Anna

When I blanch mine, they are done in small batches and are cleaned and cut to size beforehand. I blanch in a LOT of boiling water and only allow it to reach boiling for aabout a minute more. That could be from 1-3 minutes. They get scooped out and are placed in a big colandar and repeatedly dunked into a big bowl of ice water. They get dunked several times and then sit there for about a minute or two. I removed them from the ice water, and allow them to drain a few minutes. Then into a big bath towel to help blot up the rest of the water for about 20 minutes. Then they get bagged and frozen. I don't usually have much clumping of the frozen beans. I do agree that some bean types don't freeze well and their end flavor isn't as tasty as fresh. Some even take on an odd taste that I dislike so they may get tossed. Lately, its the yellow waxed beans that work well for me, and they have a decent taste and texture even after several months on the freezer.

Macky, your technique is quite similar to mine. I have two matching stainless steel kettles with large strainer basket inserts... this works well for large-scale freezing, since one basket can be cooling while the other is blanching. But rather than fill a sink with cold water, I place a kettle in the sink large enough to immerse the basket, and keep the tap running slowly into it. My well water is cold enough to make your teeth hurt! The cold water sinks to the bottom, and the warmer water is constantly flowing over the top. I stir constantly when the basket is first immersed, for about a minute, then let the veggies sit under the running water. Meanwhile, I strain out any fragments that might remain in the blanching kettle (the wide hand strainers sold in Asian stores work great for this), place the second basket in, and once the water resumes boiling, put in another batch to blanch. I remove & drain the batch that is cooling about a minute before the blanching is complete; by that time the water in the cooling kettle is cold. The other sink holds a colander for draining; but it's not that important to get the veggies completely dry. I initially freeze veggies in square plastic freezer boxes, then vacuum seal the frozen "blocks" into bags (this lessens the chance of debris interfering with the seal). A little water helps the veggies hold together during the transfer. I freeze greens (such as chard) covered in water; this reduces freezer burn. If you don't use a vacuum sealer, covering with water is a good alternative for extended storage. Place the veggies in a ziplock freezer bag, cover with water, squeeze out air bubbles, and seal. Be sure to leave enough room for the bag to expand as it freezes. In my experience, you don't want to use a cheap freezer bag for this, the seam might pop open or leak as it freezes. For me, vacuum-sealed green beans will last for over a year with good quality, if kept at 0 degrees F. A refrigerator ice box generally doesn't get that cold, so storage life would be reduced in the warmer conditions. A small chest freezer is a worthwhile investment if you want to freeze enough veggies for the year. Oh, one last note about blanching. For the best quality, it is best to work small batches. For me, one pound seems to be the magic number... the blanching times tend to match those listed in the Ball Blue Book, which is my reference of choice for canning & freezing. When freezing a new variety for the first time, it's a good idea to do a test batch & check for proper blanching, before freezing large quantities. One tip I've noticed is that when properly blanched, the beans (and most other cut veggies) will sink as they cool.