NEVER Boil Green Beans Again — Try This Old Appalachian Trick

A green bean boiled five minutes and drained is a bean that never got the chance to become itself. Mamaw June cooks hers the way the mountains always did: hand-snapped, side meat fried first, an hour and a half to two hours on a low simmer, salted only at the end — and the pot likker never goes down the sink. Seven old Appalachian rules and what each one really does in the pot: why the squeak in a "crisp-tender" bean is the pod never breaking down, why the string comes off whole by hand and shreds under a knife, why the meat goes in first, why salt waits, why the liquid is the dish, how her grandma kept beans all winter on a thread with no freezer in the house, and the one rule on canning green beans that is not up for argument. HALF-RUNNER BEANS, THE MOUNTAIN WAY 3 pounds half-runner or ordinary green beans, strung and broken into 2-inch pieces by hand 1/2 pound side meat, or 6 slices of bacon 1 onion, quartered 6 cups water (it should just about cover the beans) 4 small potatoes, if you like Salt and black pepper, at the end 1. Fry the side meat in the bottom of a big pot over medium heat till the fat runs clear, 8 to 10 minutes. 2. Drop in the onion and stir it a minute. 3. Add the beans and the water. Bring it to a full boil, uncovered. 4. Turn it straight down to a low simmer, put the lid on, and let it go 1½ to 2 hours, adding a splash of water if it gets low. 5. Lay the potatoes on top for the last 25 minutes. 6. In the last 5 minutes, taste the likker, then salt and pepper — about a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper for the pot, less if your meat was salty. 7. Never drain. Lift the beans out with a slotted spoon and spoon the pot likker over. Cornbread alongside. LEATHER BRITCHES (beans dried for winter) String whole washed beans on heavy thread with a needle. Hang them somewhere warm and airy 3 to 4 weeks, till leathery clean through. To cook: soak overnight, then simmer with side meat the same as fresh, 3 to 4 hours or longer. CANNING Green beans are low-acid: pressure canner only, never a water bath. Raw-pack, cover with boiling water, 1 inch of headspace; pints 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes at 10 pounds on a weighted gauge, and check your altitude against your canner's own chart. CHAPTERS 0:00 Everything you were taught about a green bean is backwards 2:49 Mamaw June and her blue speckled pot 3:18 Rule 1 — simmer, don't boil 5:03 Rule 2 — string them by hand, never a knife 6:06 Rule 3 — the side meat goes in first 7:26 Rule 4 — salt waits till the end 8:40 Halfway: the one idea behind all four 9:19 Rule 5 — never drain the pot likker 10:49 Rule 6 — leather britches, beans dried for winter 12:13 Rule 7 — pressure canner only, never a water bath 13:27 When it goes sideways: tough, scorched, bland 14:09 What a pot of beans really costs 14:55 Two things to try tonight 16:29 Your turn: tell me in the comments This video is for general cooking information only. Home canning must follow current USDA guidance for your altitude and equipment.