Green Beans problems, diagnosed

First decide whether the toughness was already in the raw bean. Utah State University Extension says over-mature beans become tough and stringy, while Food Network shows that young fresh beans should cook to crisp-tender in only a few minutes. If the raw beans snapped cleanly but stayed hard, check cooking time, pot temperature and batch size; if they were fibrous before cooking, extra time may soften them but will not restore young-bean texture.