Canning without a pressure canner is not a safe way to make shelf-stable jars of green beans. Green beans are low-acid, and only a pressure canner reaches the 240°F needed to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores inside a sealed jar. Below is what to do instead.
Canning Green Beans: No Pressure Cooker Method: is it safe?
A boiling-water bath tops out at 212°F, and oven, open-kettle, dry and dishwasher methods heat jars unevenly and less reliably still. Botulism spores survive those temperatures, and sealed jars of low-acid food give them the oxygen-free conditions they need to produce toxin. The jars can look, smell and taste normal.
The safe ways to preserve it
- Pressure can it. Use a weighted- or dial-gauge pressure canner and follow a tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (nchfp.uga.edu) or the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning exactly: jar size, headspace, pressure, processing time and altitude adjustment.
- Freeze it if you do not have a pressure canner.
- Refrigerate and use within 3–4 days.
Electric multicookers and pressure cookers are not approved for canning, because they have not been shown to hold the temperature that tested processing times rely on.
Signs a jar is unsafe
Throw away, without tasting, any jar with a bulging or unsealed lid, leaking liquid, spurting when opened, cloudy or bubbling contents, or an off smell. If you suspect botulism, seek medical care immediately.