HALF RUNNER- PICKLE BEANS

RECIPE AND PHOTO TAKEN FROM Lois E Garland a friend in a WV group of mine

Lois writes- How many of you still love your half-runners pickle beans?

I’m from WV, and I live in Maryland now and people look at us as if were’re crazy when we go to a farmers market and ask if the have half-runners beans. Finally found a place last year that has them. My husband is from North Carolina and for years we would go on vacation to visit his brother, he passed away a couple of years ago and we’re not that healthily anymore so were we happy to find someone that sold them here. Just wanted to share my husbands family recipe for pickle beans.
Half-Runner Pickled Beans

Make sure you select fresh half-runner or if you prefer cornfield beans will work just as well.

String, break and wash beans; cook beans until they are tender in plain water. Drain and cool.

In the meantime:

Cook on top of stove

1 cup vinegar

1 gallon water

1 cup pickling (canning) salt

Heat up and stir until salt is melted (bring to a boil)

Remove from heat and set aside

We prefer quart wide mouth canning jars.

Now you want to start packing beans into quart jars. Pack beans tightly as possible without mashing them into your jars. Now you are ready to add your mixture. Pour the mixture over the beans until they are completely covered. You can run a case knife blade down the sides of jar to remove any air bubbles. Use zinc tops with jar rubbers and seal tight.

We like to add corn to our beans, if you wish to add the corn we just buy the large can of whole corn at the grocery store and when packing the beans add about two tablespoon or so of each and keep packing down after you add each layer.

To make sure the canning jars are sealed. You need a Canning Pot with canning rack in bottom of pot fill with water and insert your jars into the pot; water should cover about a quarter of the jar. Bring the water to a boil for about ten minutes to make sure the lid seals correctly, then remove the jars and make sure the lids are very tightly sealed. Set aside to cool down. You will know the lids sealed when you hear the lid pop.

Let stand 6 to 8 weeks or as long as you wish; the longer the better, they will not spoil, we still have some left from last year’s batch, Just make sure you let them stand at least 6 weeks or longer before serving. Once you are ready to serve your pickled beans, drain and rinse beans thoroughly, season with a little bacon grease and heat in skillet. Now you are ready for a delicious treat.