Preserving beans

[grahamhobbs]

We don't have freezer just a freezer compartment so we have to keep freezing vegetables to a minimum. So as an alternative we are trying salting our glut of runner and French beans. It is a simple process of preparing the beans, top and tailing, etc and laying them in alternate layers of salt.
With the runner beans it seems to have worked fine, but within a couple of days the French beans were swimming in water, why?
Our French friends preserve them in Kilmer jars, but they are not to our taste because they are too overcooked. We are thinking of whizzing them first and then bottling them, to be used as a basis for soup.
Anyone else got any experience of preserving French or runner beans other than freezing? I've heard of storing them in oil, but it sounds expensive and I'm not sure they would be that pleasant to eat with all that oil.

[MKG]

It's the water content of the beans themselves, Graham. Salting pulls the water out of whatever's in the salt, and French beans simply have more water in them than runner beans (it actually happens with runners, too, though to a lesser extent).

As long as there's enough salt in there, the resultant brine acts as a preservative, so you probably don't need to worry too much.

Mike

[grahamhobbs]

It's the water content of the beans themselves, Graham. Salting pulls the water out of whatever's in the salt, and French beans simply have more water in them than runner beans (it actually happens with runners, too, though to a lesser extent).

As long as there's enough salt in there, the resultant brine acts as a preservative, so you probably don't need to worry too much.

Mike

Thanks MKG, I thought as much, but nice to be reassured.

[gregorach]

I mostly pickle runner beans, using one of Delia's recipes: Spiced Pickled Runner Beans. It's really quite a lot more delicious than you might expect.

This year, I'm experimenting with a "dual purpose" dwarf French bean called Canadian Wonder - any surplus will get left on the plant to mature and dried.

[MKG]

That looks good, Dunc - and I wouldn't mind betting the addition of a couple of chopped red chilis wouldn't go amiss. Runner bean surplus here I come

Mike