Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans. I
was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.

On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 +0000, jamps wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which,
in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Bob Flowerdew's 'gourmet choices' are Desiree, Kelvedon Marvel and (the
nearly stringless) Butler. Pick small for best flavour, whatever the
variety.

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

In article ,
Spider wrote:

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.

My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Modernist! I tend to grow Polestar :-) More seriously, I don't find
that there's all that much difference, and the key is to pick them
before they start to go lighter in colour and less 'furry'. It's
hard to describe, but fairly easy to see, and typically happens at
c. 3/4" in width.

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps" wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans. I
was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour, how
were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?


--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)

®óñ© © ²°¹° wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps" wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour, how
were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?

Thank you for your replies - something to think over! I hope to get more
flavour this year.
I had a lot of beans and picked them when they were quite small - one
stringy bean will ruin a panful of good beans!
--
Jamps.

In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

jamps writes
®óñ© © ²°¹° wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps" wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour, how
were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?

Thank you for your replies - something to think over! I hope to get more
flavour this year.
I had a lot of beans and picked them when they were quite small - one
stringy bean will ruin a panful of good beans!

I'm wondering whether too much water makes for less flavour? On the
other hand, is it actually possible to give to much water to a runner
bean?
--
Kay

Gopher wrote:
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.



My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.

I also give them away as fast as I pick them. Frozen beans can be purchased
at any Supermarket but good fresh beans are hard to come by.
--
Jamps.

K wrote:
jamps writes
®óñ© © ²°¹° wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps" wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour,
how were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?

Thank you for your replies - something to think over! I hope to get
more flavour this year.
I had a lot of beans and picked them when they were quite small - one
stringy bean will ruin a panful of good beans!

I'm wondering whether too much water makes for less flavour? On the
other hand, is it actually possible to give to much water to a runner
bean?

I rarely watered them - only when there was a long dry spell and that was
rare last year!
--
Jamps.

wrote in message
...
In article ,
Spider wrote:

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.

My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Modernist! I tend to grow Polestar :-) More seriously, I don't find
that there's all that much difference, and the key is to pick them
before they start to go lighter in colour and less 'furry'. It's
hard to describe, but fairly easy to see, and typically happens at
c. 3/4" in width.

Dried, ripened runners are good, too, and make excellent winter fare.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You're certainly right about picking them younger; we try not to let them
get too tough. We always miss one or two, though :~(. It's my mouth
that's the modernist, btw; the rest of me is fairly old fashioned ... yup,
including the body, before anyone else says it:~). When you say 'dried'
runners, do you mean the entire pod, or the inner seeds?

Spider

"Gopher" wrote in message
...
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans.
I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered which, in your
opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.


My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they freeze
well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such abundance
that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems such a waste
not to put them to good use.
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

Yes, they certainly freeze well. We've frozen them both blanched and
unblanched, and found it doesn't make a lot of difference, although we don't
keep them beyond a few months. I don't feel that the flavour is
significantly altered, though it's important not to store them next to
anything strong-flavoured. I used to be served home-grown runners by my
m-i-l when visiting, and they always tasted of gooseberries :~(.

Spider

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Gopher wrote:
In message , Spider
writes

"jamps" wrote in message
...
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.
--
Jamps.


My favourite is 'Enorma'.

Spider

Mine too! But don't leave them hanging too long. Nine - ten ins. just
about perfect, usually. Never really tried to freeze them - do they
freeze well? And if they do, is the taste affected? They come in such
abundance that I usually give them away by the bag load and it seems
such a waste not to put them to good use.

I also give them away as fast as I pick them. Frozen beans can be
purchased at any Supermarket but good fresh beans are hard to come by.
--
Jamps.


Having scoffed both, I must say I disagree. Store-bought frozen runners are
usually woody and taste of cardboard:~( We save some of our runners to
have with our Christmas dinner. It's positively joyous to eat summery beans
in the depth of winter. Yummy! :~)

Spider

Spider

"jamps" wrote in message
...
K wrote:
jamps writes
®óñ© © ²°¹° wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps" wrote:

Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time, runner
beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and wondered
which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour,
how were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?

Thank you for your replies - something to think over! I hope to get
more flavour this year.
I had a lot of beans and picked them when they were quite small - one
stringy bean will ruin a panful of good beans!

I'm wondering whether too much water makes for less flavour? On the
other hand, is it actually possible to give to much water to a runner
bean?

I rarely watered them - only when there was a long dry spell and that was
rare last year!
--
Jamps.


Begs forgiveness for asking, but could they have been cooked in too much
water ..or overcooked? (Dives for cover).

Spider

Spider wrote:
"jamps" wrote in message
...
K wrote:
jamps writes
®óñ© © ²°¹° wrote:
On Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:11:57 -0000, "jamps"
wrote:
Last year I grew very successfully, and for the first time,
runner beans. I was disappointed with the lack of flavour and
wondered which, in your opinion, have the best flavour.

Don't call me picky, but if there was a distinct lack of flavour,
how were you very successful? loads of tasteless greenery?

Thank you for your replies - something to think over! I hope to
get more flavour this year.
I had a lot of beans and picked them when they were quite small -
one stringy bean will ruin a panful of good beans!

I'm wondering whether too much water makes for less flavour? On the
other hand, is it actually possible to give to much water to a
runner bean?

I rarely watered them - only when there was a long dry spell and
that was rare last year!
--
Jamps.


Begs forgiveness for asking, but could they have been cooked in too
much water ..or overcooked? (Dives for cover).

Spider

Never!! Tender beans require little cooking or steaming!
--
Jamps.