Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to
freezing some for later use. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) From a consensus, I propose to wash and slice diagonally into 1/2 " wide pieces, drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, drop in iced water for several minutes, then dry and freeze. The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... -- Gordon H |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In article , AriesVal writes: | | Any comments on the methodology? | | I'm watching for replies as I too need to freeze surplus runners As people have posted in the past, the key is to do it when they are VERY small. Larger runners taste of nothing after having been frozen. I don't bother, anyway, but freeze only French beans. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
"Gordon H" wrote ... Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) From a consensus, I propose to wash and slice diagonally into 1/2 " wide pieces, drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, drop in iced water for several minutes, then dry and freeze. The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... We don't usually bother freezing Runners, tried it years ago and didn't like the result. Recently another allotment holder told us after trial and error she does not blanch the beans before freezing and cooks them from frozen so we have tried a few bags. We always freeze in portions for two (peas, french) so no need to bother with open freezing. -- Regards Bob Hobden |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
"Gordon H" wrote in message ... Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) From a consensus, I propose to wash and slice diagonally into 1/2 " wide pieces, drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, drop in iced water for several minutes, then dry and freeze. The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... -- Gordon H I do not blanch, just chop um up and freeze um, we then steam um from frozen, never had a problem that way, although I don't know what the shelf life would be in the freezer |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In message , Nick Maclaren
writes In article , AriesVal writes: | | Any comments on the methodology? | | I'm watching for replies as I too need to freeze surplus runners As people have posted in the past, the key is to do it when they are VERY small. Larger runners taste of nothing after having been frozen. I don't bother, anyway, but freeze only French beans. I pick when they have only just swollen slightly. They are virtually eatable raw, at that stage, I find. -- Gordon H |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
On 05/08/08 12:52, Gordon H wrote:
Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) From a consensus, I propose to wash and slice diagonally into 1/2 " wide pieces, drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, drop in iced water for several minutes, then dry and freeze. The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... Your methodology is fine! The only difference to my practice, is that I dry most of the water off after blanching in the cold water with a tea towel and freeze them open on the quick-freeze tray in my freezer and give them a bit of a shake/stir every now 10 min or so to stop em sticking together. Then I bag them up and so I can pour out the quantity I need later. Ed |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
The message
from Gordon H contains these words: Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. Take care! Done properly, they're like fresh. The usual way, they end-up like strips of leather. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) You will. From a consensus, I propose to wash and slice diagonally into 1/2 " wide pieces, drop into boiling water for 2 minutes, drop in iced water for several minutes, then dry and freeze. Get a hand slicer. Spong make a good one. It's a disc with three stamped-out blades which you turn with a handle, as per mincer. You feed the beans in at a steep angle from the back (on your side, by the handle), and the blades cut the beans on the slant. The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) No! No! No! Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. No! No! No! Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... Right. Slice beans (on the slant). Put in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and keep boiling lightly for two or three minutes. Take saucepan off heat and sit it in a basin of cold water, changing the water if it gets very warm. DO NOT TIP OFF WATER Take portion-sized (or family portion-sized) quantities and put into freezerbags. Use the water from the saucepan to add to the bagged beans. Hold each bag upright, with the top of it held together and gently squeeze its bottom (Oo-er!) to get rid of all the air. Air is the nemesis of frozen food... Tie (Not with those wire ties, tie a knot in) the tops of the bags. (You don't want to let any air in, or any water out, as undoubtably you will, otherwise.) Place on a tray or similar, and freeze. If you just freeze the beans with airspace between them, water will be removed from the beans during storage, turning them leathery. This process isn't completely reversible. (I learnt this on a fish-handling course at Torry Research Station - you get 'freezer-burn' on the surface of the fish. This is as bad for beans as it is for benito.) Naturally, you don't waste the water when you defrost - use it to finish cooking the beans (except in stir-fry!) and then ase it to make the gravy. ALL my vegetables are frozen in this manner. TAAAW, when doing herbs, I chop them and freeze them with water in an ice-cube tray, or better, if I can get the gunge in, in ice-lump bags. -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In article , Rusty Hinge 2 writes: | | No! No! No! | | Right. Slice beans (on the slant). BIG error. If they are big enough to slice, you haven't picked them young enough! Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In message , Ed
writes On 05/08/08 12:52, Gordon H wrote: The last time I did this many years ago I bagged them after drying and put them in the freezer. When we used them, they were stuck together to some extent and iced up in the plastic bags. We learned to make up smaller portions... ;-) Today's reading suggests that I should leave them to dry more thoroughly, and place them in the quick-freeze compartment on a baking tray, rather than toss them in a bag. Any comments on the methodology? It is a given that they will not taste as they do when fresh, but in a stir-fry with corn fed chicken, some Chinese veg and my favourite sauces... Your methodology is fine! The only difference to my practice, is that I dry most of the water off after blanching in the cold water with a tea towel and freeze them open on the quick-freeze tray in my freezer and give them a bit of a shake/stir every now 10 min or so to stop em sticking together. Then I bag them up and so I can pour out the quantity I need later. Ed Thanks. I might try just chopping a few and freezing without blanching, to test the difference if any. However, unless you eat the beans on their own it must be difficult to taste the difference! -- Gordon H |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In message , Nick Maclaren
writes In article , Rusty Hinge 2 writes: | | No! No! No! | | Right. Slice beans (on the slant). BIG error. If they are big enough to slice, you haven't picked them young enough! Regards, Nick Maclaren. I just knew I would get a clear, explicit and definitive set of instructions here. In fact, several clear, explicit and definitive sets of instructions! I shall experiment with several. :-) Some interesting and varied theories. -- Gordon H |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
The message from Gordon H contains these words: Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. I have Googled and found as many contradictions about precise methods as there are pairs of contributors. ;-) I tried the non-freezing method out of curiosity a few years ago, and it was not very successful as they needed far more time to cook, so I reverted to my tried and trusted method which I have used very successfully for many years:- Pick them before they get too big (certainly not stringy) top, tail and slice them and blanch for 1 - 2 minutes, cool under cold water immediately, drain and place on a plastic tray, put straight in the freezer. After about an hour give them a toss around and then leave them until they are nearly frozen ( or completely - if you have forgotten about them, as happens often!) you should be able to scrunch them off the tray and into a bag for storage. Ros |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
Gordon H wrote:
Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. snipped You realise I hope, that this thread is about to cause more arguments and strife than the early Christian beliefs about how many angels can dance on the point of a pin. I hope you feel suitably guilty:-) Peter -- He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. P.G. Wodehouse 1881 -1975 |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
AriesVal wrote:
On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:15:12 +0100, Peter James wrote: Gordon H wrote: [3 quoted lines suppressed] You realise I hope, that this thread is about to cause more arguments and strife than the early Christian beliefs about how many angels can dance on the point of a pin. I hope you feel suitably guilty:-) Peter LOL After reading here last year that leaving runner beans whole rather than slicing makes them much sweeter I no longer slice mine. They are much tastier and sweeter that way. If you want to used larger ones just snap them in half, if they don't break cleanly they are stringy, yuck! |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
In message m, Peter
James writes Gordon H wrote: Now that I am picking more beans than I can eat, I have to resort to freezing some for later use. snipped You realise I hope, that this thread is about to cause more arguments and strife than the early Christian beliefs about how many angels can dance on the point of a pin. I hope you feel suitably guilty:-) Peter I am beginning to realise it... I will not disclose whose method I used yesterday to freeze the first 1lb of beans. :-) -- Gordon H |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Freezing Runner Beans
On 07/08/08 12:13, Gordon H wrote:
I will not disclose whose method I used yesterday to freeze the first 1lb of beans. :-) Gordon, Try different methods for each batch n so keep everyone happy! Then let us know if there were any significant differences. I bet there won't be much between them! Ed |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Freezing Runner & Broad Beans | United Kingdom | |||
help in freezing runner beans | United Kingdom | |||
help in freezing runner beans | United Kingdom | |||
Runner beans - freezing? | United Kingdom | |||
Runner beans - freezing? | United Kingdom |