Following up on a thread from earlier in the year.

I grew runner beans this year - they were absolutely wonderful - lived on
them for months. However I tried to freeze the excess, followed the advice
given in the earlier thread and *didn't* blanche them before freezing. They
are *horrible* - tough, bad flavour etc. - even after cooking for *much*
longer than the fresh ones !! They're all about to be thrown out :-(

I'm wondering what went wrong? Advice given by amongst others was from Alan
Gould (I think Alan knows what he's talking about grin). Could it have
been the variety? ("Best of all" - or something like that - I've lost the
packet). Did I misunderstand something the freezing process?

Ideas anyone?

TIA.
--
Regards,

John.

"John" wrote in message
...
Following up on a thread from earlier in the year.

I grew runner beans this year - they were absolutely wonderful - lived on
them for months. However I tried to freeze the excess, followed the advice
given in the earlier thread and *didn't* blanche them before freezing.
They
are *horrible* - tough, bad flavour etc. - even after cooking for *much*
longer than the fresh ones !! They're all about to be thrown out :-(

I'm wondering what went wrong? Advice given by amongst others was from
Alan
Gould (I think Alan knows what he's talking about grin). Could it have
been the variety? ("Best of all" - or something like that - I've lost the
packet). Did I misunderstand something the freezing process?

Ideas anyone?

TIA.
--
Regards,

John.


I too am amazed, any beans suitable for eating, younger is better simply
because they tend to be softer and sweeter, but any you'd eat freeze just
fine.

All we do is bring some salty water to the boil, drop in beans for about a
minute, pull them out, run them under cold water and then when cool stick
them in plastic bags and freeze them. They always come out of the freezer as
fresh and tasty as they went in.

Duncan

In article , John
writes
Following up on a thread from earlier in the year.

I grew runner beans this year - they were absolutely wonderful - lived on
them for months. However I tried to freeze the excess, followed the advice
given in the earlier thread and *didn't* blanche them before freezing. They
are *horrible* - tough, bad flavour etc. - even after cooking for *much*
longer than the fresh ones !! They're all about to be thrown out :-(

I'm wondering what went wrong? Advice given by amongst others was from Alan
Gould (I think Alan knows what he's talking about grin). Could it have
been the variety? ("Best of all" - or something like that - I've lost the
packet). Did I misunderstand something the freezing process?

Hi John, great to hear from you again.

We have been freezing runner beans successfully for many years - we only
today had some for lunch and they were delicious. Varieties do vary in
suitability for freezing, but the far more important factor is how and
when they are dealt with. Runner beans for freezing should be picked
very young, and thus tender, and they should be in the freezer within
minutes of being cropped (like the lorry-loads of peas which go hurtling
through your village in summertime!). We pick ours first thing in the
morning, string them whether they need it or not, then run them through
a bean-slicer, pack them loose and flat in freezer bags, then pop them
into the fast-freeze section of one of our three deep freezers.

We don't blanch any home produced crops for freezing now, though we did
do that years ago. If the goods are fresh, of good quality and dealt
with properly, there should be no need for blanching. Commercial growers
are obliged to blanch for freezing, but their plants are raised
differently from home growers.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Thanks to all for your replies.

I've frozen runner beans in the past (blanched) with success - not
brilliant but quite edible. This lot *were* picked young and tender (I've
learnt my lesson from past mistakes) and frozen very quickly after picking.

I guess it must be the variety - I certainly *will* be growing the same
variety again next year - they were *wonderful* non-frozen and I speak as
an almost non-veggie eating person, although I love growing them :-)

Think I'll try freezing them again next year - blanched and non-blanched
for a comparison.

Thanks again folks - and Hi Alan - how's that shredder performing ? :-) My
garden is in much the same "unfinished" state it was in when you saw it ;-)
--
Regards,

John.

In article , John
writes

Thanks again folks - and Hi Alan - how's that shredder performing ? :-)
It's working hard, so much so that I need a new set of blades :-( (£35)

My
garden is in much the same "unfinished" state it was in when you saw it ;-)
Like housework and bill-paying, gardening is never 'finished', but at
least it is more enjoyable and IMHO more rewarding. I hope that you've
used that great looking compost by now, and have the next lot on the go.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.