broad beans, best way to store ??

[confused]

is freezing the only way to store them ? i have already frozen about 15lbs and was looking for some tips ?

[ina]

My mum used to bottle them - but that's ages ago, and I can't remember how she did it (i.e. how long to cook etc).

[contadina]

Dry them on the plant - then store in airtight containers for winter use.

[ina]

Dry them on the plant - then store in airtight containers for winter use.

Confused lives in Scotland - so drying on the plant may not be a viable option...

[contadina]

How about in a well ventilated room on top of some newspapers then?

[ina]

We've had around 100% humidity recently, and temperatures around 12 - 14 degree C - my washing took 3 days last week to get anything near dry, but it still feels damp... There are better days in between, but never for long enough. I think drying in Scotland, especially anything with as much flesh to it as broad beans, would have to happen in a heated dryer.

[contadino]

Yes, we're pretty close to 100% humidity too.

Solar dryers do the job a lot quicker than just leaving them on the plant. Even with just a few hours of sun you'd be able to dry broad beans. See the designs here:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Co ... htm#Drying

The advantage of these is that you can adjust the angle of the screen to suit your longitude/time of year. They'll work in Scotland for sure. Materials shouldn't cost more than a few quid.

The advantages of drying them is that the storage uses no electricity, and what you don't eat during the year you can use as seeds the following year.

[Brod]

re Drying of beans, leave the pods on the plant for as long as you can they should dry naturally, we do that for runner beans (to collect the seed) even leaving them overwinter without any rotting.

(All my bottling and canning books dont recomend bottling broad beans saying they turn into a mush at the bottom of the jar, there must be a way to do it properly afterall you can buy tinned broad beans, though they dont taste a patch on fresh or frozen beans, very leathery)

[ina]

Good idea, the solar drier! I agree, I would love to dry beans (if I ever grew enough ), precisely because of not needing electricity to store them afterwards...