Cooking and preserving beans.

[Widdershins]

Having broken my foot I have been unable to get out into the garden for some weeks. I now find that my green beans are all like luggage straps and completely inedible. Heartbreaking as I have the best crop I've had for some years. I have used some for making wine, but would like to salvage the beans themselves. Can anyone give me some advice on cooking them and can they be frozen?

Thanks in advance for your help

[grahamhobbs]

Some beans and have to be boiled for about 15 minutes first and the water thrown away, but that doesn't apply to french or green beans, so you can just cook them as part of a stew or casserole. You can freeze them, but why not store them dry? If storing them dry you need to first freeze them for a couple of days or put them in the oven for, I think 15 mins at 170degC. This is to kill any bean weevils, which will take over your beans stored in a jar otherwise.

[Green Aura]

The easiest way to preserve beans is to dry them - just lay them out on a tray, or similar, in a warm place. They'll dry out nicely, bung 'em in a jar and they'll keep for a long while.

You then have a choice - plant them next year or boil and turn into whatever. If you cook them now to store you'll have to buy more to plant!

[Widdershins]

Thanks for your advice, much appreciated