Another heritage recipe from Grandma Irvine – Dilled Beans (thanks to my sister for the very detailed instructions.)
Grandma Irvine’s Dill Beans
21 cups of green and yellow beans (7x 3 cup bags)
Note: if beans are long you may need to cut in half to fit your jars.
4 – 5 cups of baby carrots
Lots of fresh dill
Jars, lids and rings
Note: 2008 made 12 x 8 oz. jars (70 mm lids), 8 x 16 oz. jars (70 mm lids) and 4 x 20
oz. jars (wide mouth lids)
Brine
5 cups of vinegar
5/8 cup of salt
13 cups of water
Note: this should just fill to the top of the 2 gallon crock with the beans and carrots.
Clean beans and carrots and cut off ends.
Boil beans and carrots with salt. Be careful not to over cook. A needle should easily
slide through but not mushy. Once at the right tenderness, drain and run cold water over
to stop cooking.
Note: 1996 – 20 minutes, 2006 – 17 minutes, 2008 – 15 minutes
Dump cooked beans and carrots in a 2 gallon crock and pour brine over top. Place a
plate and a weight on top to seal tightly. Leave overnight.
Drain beans and carrots and reserve the brine. Heat up the brine for the jars.
Sterilize the jars in dishwasher or pour boiling water over clean jars.
Clean dill and place lots of dill in the bottom of each sterilized jar. Arrange beans and
carrots in the jars. Add more dill on top of jar. Pour brine in jars to ¼ inch from top of
jar. Push contents down under the brine, get rid of bubbles and not poking up otherwise
you will not get a good seal.
Boil lids to sterilize and put on the jars and add ring. Seal tight.
Heat the water in the canner. Load the wire jar holder with jars and place in canner.
Water should be at least 1 inch above the top of the jar. Try to keep same size jars in
the canner. Bring the water to a boil in approx. 20 minutes or less because you do not
want the contents to cook anymore. Let sit for 5 minutes in hot water. Note: 1996 – 20
minutes to boil with mixed carrots and beans in jars.
Remove jars and set aside (right side up) in a non drafty and warm place on a towel
and covered with a towel. Repeat until all jars have been through process in canner. As
soon as the jars start cooling off the lids will seal (pop) indicating that they are ready to
be stored in a cool dry place.
Jars should sit for at least one month for the dill flavour to penetrate.
Crack open a jar and enjoy!