We have a great crop of runner beans. We planted very late as we were
away for the month of August and only planted the last week in July.

They are delicious but we cannot eat the vast amounts being produced - I
tried freezing last year but I was unhappy with the end result. Is
there any other way I can preserve beans that will taste as good, or
almost as good as fresh?
--
Judith Lea

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...

We have a great crop of runner beans. We planted very late as we were
away for the month of August and only planted the last week in July.

They are delicious but we cannot eat the vast amounts being produced - I
tried freezing last year but I was unhappy with the end result.


How exactly did you prepare the beans ? Did you blanch them for instance,
before freezing ?


Is
there any other way I can preserve beans that will taste as good, or
almost as good as fresh?


It's generally accepted that if its properly done home frozen beans are
quite acceptable.


muchael adams


....


--
Judith Lea

In article , michael adams
writes
How exactly did you prepare the beans ? Did you blanch them for instance,
before freezing ?

Yes, I did, drained them, let them cool and then put them into
appropriately sized bags, sucked out the air and twist sealed - could I
have improved on this, would it be better to just freeze without
blanching?

It's generally accepted that if its properly done home frozen beans are
quite acceptable.

Michael, do you have any tips on how to do it properly?
--
Judith Lea

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , michael adams
writes
How exactly did you prepare the beans ? Did you blanch them for instance,
before freezing ?

Yes, I did, drained them, let them cool and then put them into
appropriately sized bags, sucked out the air and twist sealed - could I
have improved on this, would it be better to just freeze without
blanching?

It's generally accepted that if its properly done home frozen beans are
quite acceptable.

Michael, do you have any tips on how to do it properly?
--
Judith Lea


I did a long post on this last year Judith, unfortunately the Google
archive seems to be playing up at the moment. Not that I'm saying
it's all the last word on the subject but it would save repeating it
all. Oh anyway. Off the top of my head with spelling and grammar
mistakes thrown in.
Top and tail and chop the beans into chunks.
Use a stock pot with a wire basket - or a pasta insert. Only pick and
freeze in (smallish) batches just big enough to fill the stock pot. Bring
the water to the boil, plunge the beans in the container in, and then once
the beans have been boiling "vigorously" for 3 minutes, plunge straight into
freezing water.
Prepared beforehand with plenty of ice cubes from the fridge. And maybe
bottles of water put in the fridge. Once cooled, say 30 seconds remove at
once and dry thoroughly between kitchen towels, tea towels etc. Lay flat
on a sheet of polythene on a board and leave that in the freezer until
the beans are individually frozen. Maybe an hour. No upper limit. Then bag
them up, squeezing air out of the bags as you go, and tie with the bag tie.
As I understand it, speed is of the essence when reducing the temperature
of the beans when taking them out of the boiling water hence plunging them
into the iced water.
It can mean taking a bit of trouble, especially as its only possible to do
one batch a day, basically. Unless you have loads of stockpots I suppose.
But once you get the hang of it - and most important they taste alright a
few months later, then it might not seem so bad,


michael adams

....

michael adams wrote:
"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , michael adams
writes
How exactly did you prepare the beans ? Did you blanch them for instance,
before freezing ?

Yes, I did, drained them, let them cool and then put them into
appropriately sized bags, sucked out the air and twist sealed - could I
have improved on this, would it be better to just freeze without
blanching?

It's generally accepted that if its properly done home frozen beans are
quite acceptable.

Michael, do you have any tips on how to do it properly?
[...]
I did a long post on this last year Judith, [...]

I've snipped Michael's sound method, but, with him, I'd emphasise that
very rapid chilling after blanching is important. If you don't do that,
they'll go on cooking and end up too soft and lose colour -- that's why
chefs "refresh" some cooked vegetables under cold water before serving.

For some of your crop it may be worth trying the method posted by Rusty
a year ago. I for one would be very interested in hearing how it goes,
as I was sceptical, thinking it might make the beans mushy (as above).
If it works well, it would be a lot quicker and more convenient. As
follows:
" The way I freeze runners you'd never know they *HAD* been frozen. ...
Blanch them and bag them up with the blanching water in multiples of 1
portion lots. Including the juice prevents them from freeze-drying, and

all you have to do is to allow them to thaw, then gently bring them up
to the boil."

(I hope Rusty's back soon, none the worse for doing up his house: we
need some more joviality round here.)

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
" The way I freeze runners you'd never know they *HAD* been frozen. ...
Blanch them and bag them up with the blanching water in multiples of 1
portion lots. Including the juice prevents them from freeze-drying, and
all you have to do is to allow them to thaw, then gently bring them up
to the boil."

I was just about going to say ... I do the same way with all my greens.
But I don't 'cook' them, I blanch them 2mns at the most - not three
which I find far too long. By the time I put them in plastic box to
freeze with the juice, they've got time to carry on 'cooking'. Then
when cool I put in freezer. (I've found lots of fantastic little boxes
ideal for 1/2 portions servings at Pound Stretcher or Pots of Gold type
shops).

(I hope Rusty's back soon, none the worse for doing up his house: we
need some more joviality round here.)

I miss him very much indeed (

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , michael adams
writes
How exactly did you prepare the beans ? Did you blanch them for instance,
before freezing ?

Yes, I did, drained them, let them cool and then put them into
appropriately sized bags, sucked out the air and twist sealed - could I
have improved on this, would it be better to just freeze without
blanching?

It's generally accepted that if its properly done home frozen beans are
quite acceptable.

Michael, do you have any tips on how to do it properly?

Hi Judith

Apologies for butting in.
We grow a lot of runner beans as the SO really loves them and we need a
supply to last until next year.
We use a Krisk Bean Stringer and Slicer to process them and bag them
straight to the freezer.
We never blanch them as I think they come out of the freezer a lot worse
than just freezing them direct.
They cook out of the freezer nearly as well as fresh. This might be because
it only takes a very short cooking time if they are shredded compared to
cross-wise cut "lumps"

Liz



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
We have a great crop of runner beans. We planted very late as we were
away for the month of August and only planted the last week in July.

They are delicious but we cannot eat the vast amounts being produced - I
tried freezing last year but I was unhappy with the end result. Is there
any other way I can preserve beans that will taste as good, or almost as
good as fresh?
--
Judith Lea

My Mum used to preserve them in salt. They were my favorite veg :~))


Found this for you
http://www.foodbanter.com/preserving...er-beans.html:

Preserve your surplus beans with salt - it's cheap, they keep and 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 easily out-class frozen
beans for texture and flavour.

You will need clean glass jars with tight-fitting lids (they don't have 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 salt (iodized or
sea-salt). That's all you need (even sealable plastic food storage utensils
are fine).

Wash then top and tail your freshly-picked runner beans and slice them 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 an inch of
salt, beans then salt and so on until your jar is full to within an inch of
the brim.

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

Once your jar is full, (you should still be able to see a little undissolved
salt amongst the beans) seal the jar with a plastic lid or else use 2 layers
of cling film to seal it before capping if the lid is 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 to
remove excess salt - then enjoy the best runner beans you've ever tasted!
Regards - Neal.
PS: (Also see: http://www.motherearthnews.com/libra...lf_Sufficiency)

In article , michael adams
writes


I did a long post on this last year Judith, unfortunately the Google
archive seems to be playing up at the moment. Not that I'm saying
it's all the last word on the subject but it would save repeating it
all. Oh anyway. Off the top of my head with spelling and grammar
mistakes thrown in.

Big, helpful snip.....

I will Google to see if I can find your earlier reply and thank you for
going to the trouble once again.
--
Judith Lea

In article . com, Mike
Lyle writes

Thank you for the advice, greatly appreciated.

I've snipped Michael's sound method, but, with him, I'd emphasise that
very rapid chilling after blanching is important. If you don't do that,
they'll go on cooking and end up too soft and lose colour -- that's why
chefs "refresh" some cooked vegetables under cold water before serving.

For some of your crop it may be worth trying the method posted by Rusty
a year ago. I

Snip

I will try both methods and eat them, in, say, 1 month so see how they
do and I will post to let you know.

(I hope Rusty's back soon,
me too
--
Judith Lea

In article , P. Brookes
writes
Hi Judith

Apologies for butting in.

Liz, Don't apologise!!! it is lovely that so many people are keen to
pass on their experiences as I have been an absolute disaster with
freeing veggies. However, I am actually a complete disaster in the
kitchen anyway so Edward bought me a concrete mixer for my birthday -
don't ask, that's another story but I can and do use it.

We use a Krisk Bean Stringer and Slicer to process them and bag them
straight to the freezer.
We never blanch them as I think they come out of the freezer a lot worse
than just freezing them direct.
They cook out of the freezer nearly as well as fresh. This might be because
it only takes a very short cooking time if they are shredded compared to
cross-wise cut "lumps"

I am going to try this method as well, so I shall have 3 experiments and
I will have a tasting panel (family) to see which is considered the
best.

Thank you for your advice.

--
Judith Lea

In article , JennyC
writes

My Mum used to preserve them in salt. They were my favorite veg :~))


Found this for you
http://www.foodbanter.com/preserving...er-beans.html:

Thanks Jenny, I will add this to the experiments - now up to 4. I have
got lots of the Kilner jars as I used to (in the days when I cooked)
make a lot of jam. I have just shouted to Edward, pick some more, he is
scratching his head and wondering who is going to do all the
preparation.

I hope that you can come to my Norfolk urg meet next year (sounds like
Mrs. Bucket) and perhaps I can save some until then! Why not stay a
couple of nights as I know you are coming from Holland - flights with
KLM or Flybee, under 1 hour from Schipol to Norwich and I can pick you
up at the airport. Just had a thought, Rotterdam may have another
airport nearer to you but not fly into Norwich. However, I can always
come to Stanstead for you it's only around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Judith

--
Judith Lea

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , JennyC
writes

My Mum used to preserve them in salt. They were my favorite veg :~))


Found this for you
http://www.foodbanter.com/preserving...er-beans.html:

Thanks Jenny, I will add this to the experiments - now up to 4. I have
got lots of the Kilner jars as I used to (in the days when I cooked)

OH - on a dry bread diat are you "~)

make a lot of jam. I have just shouted to Edward, pick some more, he is
scratching his head and wondering who is going to do all the preparation.

You need one of those bean slicer thingumigigs that bolt onto a table or
work surface:
Old ones:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BEAN-SLICER-by...cmd ZViewItem
and new:
http://www.kitchenkapersdirect.co.uk...ode=P000001947

I spent many an hour as a child turning the handle of one while my Mum
pushed the beans through :~)

I hope that you can come to my Norfolk urg meet next year (sounds like
Mrs. Bucket) and perhaps I can save some until then! Why not stay a couple
of nights as I know you are coming from Holland - flights with KLM or
Flybee, under 1 hour from Schipol to Norwich and I can pick you up at the
airport. Just had a thought, Rotterdam may have another airport nearer to
you but not fly into Norwich. However, I can always come to Stanstead for
you it's only around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Thansk for the offer Judith, but I might come by car and spend soem time
with other family members..... do you have a date yet?


Judith
Judith Lea

In article , JennyC
writes
OH - on a dry bread diat are you "~)

Sorry to take so long to reply - I was in the garden all day yesterday,
picking beans, apples for chutney and leaping up and down on mole hills.
As for dry bread diet, Edward is a superb cook, when he lived in Paris
for years, he had only just qualified and was quite hard up so he taught
himself to cook, and he does it much better than I do. When Fiona went
off to Guy's Hospital and Mary to University, I decided my cooking days
were over and I took over the things I actually enjoyed doing. Edward
says he got the best bargain, as he has less to do than me. I don't
think so, today he will be cursing me after doing all the beans in 4
different ways. I will let you know the outcome.

You need one of those bean slicer thingumigigs that bolt onto a table or
work surface:
Old ones:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BEAN-SLICER-by...temZ1300056548
16QQihZ003QQcategoryZ982QQcmdZViewItem
and new:
http://www.kitchenkapersdirect.co.uk...ode=P000001947


Thanks for the link, is it as good as the little French thing I use,
where it slices and takes off the outer edge for discarding at the same
time?

Thansk for the offer Judith, but I might come by car and spend soem time
with other family members..... do you have a date yet?

It looks as if it will probably be the weekend commencing 15th June 2007
- I have had confirmation of most of the dates that I need to work next
year but it looks as if I have a complete week free then. I really hope
you can make it, it will be so nice to see you after all these years of
reading you.

I can email you with maps etc., if you like nearer the time and let me
know if you would like to stay, you will be made very welcome.

I am going to start a new thread later on regarding a problem in the
garden I noticed yesterday on my roses, never seen it before so I am at
a loss.

--
Judith Lea

"Judith Lea" wrote in message
...
In article , JennyC
writes
You need one of those bean slicer thingumigigs that bolt onto a table or
work surface:
Old ones:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BEAN-SLICER-by...temZ1300056548
16QQihZ003QQcategoryZ982QQcmdZViewItem
and new:
http://www.kitchenkapersdirect.co.uk...ode=P000001947

Thanks for the link, is it as good as the little French thing I use, where
it slices and takes off the outer edge for discarding at the same time?

No idea. I never manage to grow enough benas in my tubs to warrant a slicer
! I just cut them u by hand,,,,,,,

Jenny