Beans

[grahamhobbs]

Some bean seeds are definitely advertised for eating, such as flageolet, but with say some varieties of french beans this is mentioned but with others it is not and I've never seen it for any runner bean seeds. Does it mean that they are not worth eating, ok but not very tasty or is there a problem - I'm vaguely aware that with some beans they have to be cooked for a specific time before they can be eaten otherwise they are poisionous. Can anyone spread any insight into this?

[Odsox]

As far as I know all French beans can be eaten at any stage, either fresh or dried.
All the dried ones I've tried are worth eating although some are a lot better than others, some are a bit tasteless.
All dried peas are OK as are dried broad beans also runner beans are fine to eat.

As to cooking, yes you are correct .. they all need bringing to the boil and fast boiled with the lid off the pan for about 10 minutes, then turning down to a slow simmer till done.
Apparently there is a toxin that is destroyed by doing that.
I should also have said that they all need soaking in water overnight (or for 8 hours) to reconstitute them.

Every year I grow climbing French beans in the back of the greenhouse as they start producing masses of fresh beans from May onwards, but when the runner beans start they get left and allowed to ripen. That way I get several pounds of haricots to make baked beans from as well.

[grahamhobbs]

Thanks odsox, can you recommend any varieties for drying?

[Peggy Sue]

Some bean seeds are definitely advertised for eating, such as flageolet, but with say some varieties of french beans this is mentioned but with others it is not and I've never seen it for any runner bean seeds. Does it mean that they are not worth eating, ok but not very tasty or is there a problem - I'm vaguely aware that with some beans they have to be cooked for a specific time before they can be eaten otherwise they are poisionous. Can anyone spread any insight into this?

I was told... but can't honestly confirm this, that runner beans seeds are the same as Red Kidney Beans (or I guess one variety is). I know RKBs need an overnigth soak and TWO HOURS cooking, if not you will be sick again and again trust me it's happened to me

But when they are cooked right they are lovely, if not a bit windy

So just in case it's true of any runner bean it's worth a good boil not just 10 mins, which is fine for the tiny little french beans (I've tried many times with much happier outcome...but still windy )

[Green Aura]

I'm not sure that's right, Peggy Sue.

You'd only cook them in the pod for a few minutes and they don't make you ill then.

Does drying them create this enzyme? Government advice (which we all know to be honest and true) says boiling red kidney beans, and similar, for 10 minutes kills it.

[Peggy Sue]

Certainly the dried red kidney beans need to be cooked longer than this- they are bigger than french beans and more mature than runners as we eat them, but if you buy them dried packets tell you more than 10 mins (at least they used to I haven't bought any for a while)

I would assume fresh but very large kidney beans (rather than immature small runners) also need more than 10 mins but I don't know- lentils etc need 20 mins and they are tiny

I'd be happy to find out I ahd straight forward food poisoning all those years ago, but the dish was pretty much RKBs, a few spices and onions with rice cooked from dry.... thinking back my Mum was supposed to soak overnight, boil 2 hours then fry- she soaked overnight and fried. Dad & I thought they were crunchy- in both directions!!!
Ah so maybe you CAN do them for less but this recipe was for 2 hrs? Might have to google this...

[Odsox]

I think there might be some confusion here.
As I understand it you need to boil all pulses on a FAST rolling boil in a pan with no lid on for 10 minutes (or so), that destroys the toxin.
Then you turn the heat down and put the lid on and simmer till cooked, which can be as little as half an hour for newly dried haricots to an hour or more for chick peas and older beans ... by that I mean beans that have been kicking around in your cupboard for a few years.

Fresh beans that have not been dried like flageolets or even fresh peas and broad beans don't need this treatment of course.
I'm pretty sure it is the drying process that creates the toxin.

[Peggy Sue]

That would make sense I guess Tony, I do remember being taught never to use bean water for the gravy - maybe that was for 'digestive' reasons ?

[Millymollymandy]

You guys had me googling this morning but I couldn't find what actual plant red kidney beans come from - other than a Latin name which turned out to be the Latin name for nearly ALL beans.

As an aside my mother in law calls runner beans kidney beans, but I don't think they are one and the same as they don't taste anything like!

[Peggy Sue]

MMM runner beans and kidney beans ARE the same thing, my Dad and grandparents always called them kidney beans- he corrects me everytime I mention runners! I guess there is one type of runner that makes special red beans that are good for chilli, bit like borlotti and jsut one type of french bean as far as I can make out?

[Odsox]

Now then - I'm glad I read this and as we're on the subject of beans can anyone tell me the best way to dry borlotti beans? I have left them growing and the pods are looking quite fat but I don't want them to rot on the ground (I planted dwarf variety by mistake ) I haven't picked any at all yet. Should I pull them up and hang them to dry as they are or should I shell them? Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

Susie

Pull up the whole plant and hang them upside down in an airy place ... shed or barn or whatever, until they are really dry.
Failing that, shell them and dry them in a dehydrator.

[Millymollymandy]

Susie I am growing them and they are finished now, but as I guess I am ahead of you I have been leaving pods to dry on the plant and picking them off when the shells are brown and dried, leaving a bowlful to carry on drying on my kitchen table and have finally put some in an airtight container in the cupboard (whilst praying they don't go mouldy!!!).

You could put some straw under them as they do dangle on the ground a lot. Are your plants still green? Mine just started yellowing and the leaves all fell off whilst there were still some red pods. If they are still healthy and growing I don't see a reason to pull them up just yet.

Also what colour are your pods - if there is a hint of green on the pod they are immature and need to ripen more or they'll be green inside. When the pods are red they start to get that speckedly colour. When the pods start to go yellowish they should have the full lovely red speckled colour, but still be big and fresh. When they are crispy brown they're already starting to dry off and are much smaller but pobably need a bit more drying to be on the safe side for storing.

Also why not eat some fresh as they are lovely!

[Millymollymandy]

MMM runner beans and kidney beans ARE the same thing, my Dad and grandparents always called them kidney beans- he corrects me everytime I mention runners! I guess there is one type of runner that makes special red beans that are good for chilli, bit like borlotti and jsut one type of french bean as far as I can make out?

But why don't they taste the same, and if that really is the case why don't we grow runners for the beans inside - seeing as how much a tin of kidney beans costs!!! Think I'll do an experiment with the rest of the runner beans that are way past it on the plant - I only chuck them in the compost anyway.

[Green Aura]

I've tried growing red kidney beans - a variety called minny or mini - can't remember. Without much success.

But the beans you get out of varieties like butler or painted lady, look very much like borlotti and butter beans if you let them grow big enough. Which has never been a problem for us - the little buggers always seemed to double in size while we were out at work

[grahamhobbs]

All the different types of beans do seem very confusing, I ordered some white butter beans (Fagiolo di Spagna) from Franchi Seeds, the only place I could find them, only to have them delivered and described on the packet as bi-colour runner beans! I've obviously questioned that because I definately wanted traditional white butter beans.
However it does seem that there is little difference between beans, it is just that some varieties have been developed for eating as pods or as beans, with some being good eating for both purposes, but otherwise you might find the pods stringy or the beans tasteless.
The question about whether beans have to be boiled to remove toxins has not been fully clarified. Obviously dried beans have to be boiled to make them soft to eat, so the question is a bit academic; and some beans when fresh do not need boiling eg broad beans, but are their some (perhaps red kindney beans) that need to be boiled even when fresh.
Finally a quick tip, don't leave beans or peas to dry too long on the plant, you might come back and find a mouse has eaten the lot, it's happened to me.