Runner Beans.

Hi,

We have another glut of runner beans. I find that when cooked after
freezing they become rubbery and not so nice. Does anyone know of a better
way of preserving them. Thankyou. I live in the UK

We enjoy a good feast of them while they are in season, give the overflow
to friends.
We don't enjoy the bean after freezing.
qahtan, Niagara Peninsula. Canada



"May" <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote in message
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May wrote:


The can very well, but you'd need to use a pressure canner (maybe you
call them "autoclaves" over there) and I gather that they (and
appropriate jars and lids) are rare anywhere except North America.

You might try picking some of them small and pickling them, or share
with your friends and neighbors.

You can also let them mature on the vines and shell them for fresh shell
beans or dried beans.

Best regards,
Bob

Thanks for the advice.



"zxcvbob" <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote in message
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better

May Wrote:


Yes - preserve your surplus beans with salt - it's cheap, they keep an
in my opinion are at least as delicious as fresh beans (if not better
because you are probably going to eat them out of season) and easil
out-class frozen beans for texture and flavour.

You will need clean glass jars with tight-fitting lids (they don't hav
to be special Kilner or preserving jars, which are quite expensive) i.e
empty jam or peanut butter jars are ideal, and you will need sal
(iodized or sea-salt). That's all you need (even sealable plastic foo
storage utensils are fine).

Wash then top and tail your freshly-picked runner beans and slice the
into small pieces no larger than say 2 inches by half an inch.

Now fill your jars in layers: One inch of sliced beans then half a
inch of salt, beans then salt and so on until your jar is full t
within an inch of the brim.

After 20 minutes you will find that the salt has drawn water from th
beans and that your beans are now being preserved in brine. Tap th
jar to dislodge any large air bubbles, and top up with beans or salt s
that before you seal the jar, all beans are immersed in the brine, ad
more salt if necessary to achieve this.

Once your jar is full, (you should still be able to see a littl
undissolved salt amongst the beans) seal the jar with a plastic lid o
else use 2 layers of cling film to seal it before capping if the lid i
metallic. Your beans are now preserved ready for labelling and storage
ideally in a cool dark place such as a pantry.

Before cooking, simply rinse the beans twice in a colander or sieve t
remove excess salt - then enjoy the best runner beans you've eve
tasted!

Regards - Neal.

PS: (Also see: [Only registered users can see links. ]

--
npbamboo

npbamboo <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote:


Your link didn't work for me so, I went directly to
[Only registered users can see links. ]
and here's a quote from the article:

"When you want runner beans, some time in the winter when the weather
is foul and you don't feel like going out into the snow to pick
Brussels sprouts, pull a handful out of the salt, wash under the tap
for an hour and then boil".

Wash under the tap for an hour? The writer was obviously not on a slow
recovery well on his self sufficient farm.
Also, worthy of note, the article in question is over 30 years old and
many of the food preservation recommendations it contains are very
outdated.
I'll pass.

Ross
To email, remove the "obvious" from my address.

RR Wrote:

--
npbamboo