Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: DaveF68 on October 07, 2017, 00:06

Title: Borlotti Beans Question
Post by: DaveF68 on October 07, 2017, 00:06
Do they need to be dried/stored or can they be cooked and eaten 'from the pod'? (I know they need to be cooked! 😀)
Title: Re: Borlotti Beans Question
Post by: snowdrops on October 07, 2017, 07:58
When they are young I use them like runner beans, as the beans swell in the pods I pop the beans out & freeze them, then cook them, as they get older & the pods dry I either pick & let the whole lot dry, then pod them & continue to dry the beans longer or I just pod them & dry the beans. Depending on the weather you can leave them in situ to dry on the plant but I find they often go mouldy as the weather gets wetter here
Title: Re: Borlotti Beans Question
Post by: New shoot on October 07, 2017, 08:39
I use them fresh from the pod, but I cook mine before freezing.  This late on in the year when the weather is cooler and damper it is hard to dry them fully. 

The upside to this is that they are really nice with a great texture that you just don't seem to get from dried and soaked beans.  They also cook really fast with no pre-soaking.  Lovely in soups, in a homemade tomato sauce, made into a salad, as a taco filling .... as you might guess, they are pretty popular in my house :)
Title: Re: Borlotti Beans Question
Post by: jaydig on October 07, 2017, 14:34
I just pod mine, put them into bags and throw them into the freezer.  When I need them I just add to casseroles, soups etc. straight from the freezer and they're always good.  I tried to dry them, but obviously didn't dry them enough and they didn't keep very well, so the freezer method works best for me.
Title: Re: Borlotti Beans Question
Post by: madcat on October 07, 2017, 15:44
What I want I eat fresh and the rest gets dried.  Either on trays out in the open with a stir every so often, or this year I have put them in the dehydrator ...  (I dont freeze because there isnt enough room in the freezer!)  A wonderfully flexible crop.