Makes 3 pint jars
1 pound green beans, rinsed and trimmed
1 pound yellow beans, rinsed and trimmed
2½ cups cider vinegar
1¼ cups water
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons pickling spice
3 large strips of lemon zest
Trim the beans into 4-inch lengths to fit into one-pint glass
canning jars.
Combine the vinegar, water, pickling salt, and sugar in a large
saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add 1 teaspoon pickling spice and 1 strip of lemon zest to each
pint jar. Tightly pack the green beans into the jars. (Laying the jar on its
side to do this is helpful.) Pour the boiling pickling liquid into the jars to
within ½ inch of the rim (headspace), seal, and process for 5 minutes.
pickling salt
Fine-grained, like table salt, pickling salt is the purest of
salts, highly concentrated and the choice for canning. It contains no
anticaking chemicals, which can turn preserved foods unappetizing colors. Use
it for pickling vegetables or making sauerkraut.
