Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: Chuffy on October 03, 2010, 19:40

Title: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Chuffy on October 03, 2010, 19:40

Hi all
I've just picked my borlotti beans and spent two hours shelling them. Trouble is, I have beans in a wide range of ripeness, from big fat pale green ones through to small, well dried ones.

I'm not quite sure how to deal with them now. Can I simply leave the lot to dry in the sun or should I freeze them and cook as fresh?

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Trikidiki on October 03, 2010, 21:27

I normally leave mine on the plant until the pods brown off. then I put them on a perforated baking tray and leave them on a non-sunny windowsill until bone dry, sometimes longer, I found some runner bean seeds still hidden on a windowsill in the attic lobby from last year.

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Madame Cholet on October 03, 2010, 21:59

left mine in a larg soup bowl in the warm kitchen until they were all the size of the small shrunken ones apart from a few less ripe ones, which I used over a couple of weeks from the fridge.

I then stored them in a kilner jar.
I never seem to have any space in the freezer although it would save time soakin etc.

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Chuffy on October 03, 2010, 22:30

Thanks. I would have left them all to dry on the plant but some pods were nicely browned while others were less ripe. I decided to pick the lot in case I ended up losing some.

Think I'll just freeze them and (hopefully) spare myself the faff of drying and soaking.

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Pip Judgeford on October 04, 2010, 08:37

Chuffy, the big fat green ones are primo eating beans.  As you say freezing would be the story: they cook quite fast.  Anythings that dry and hard is good for seed for next year (fat green pods not so good as a little imature) and of course for keeping as dry beans to soak/cook.

I would recommend separating fat green from dry as this would gie you the most options and give you the best use of the fresh shellout beans (ie the fat green ones).  The cafes here fight at the farmers' markets for fresh shellout beans - primo eating and hardly ever available.

pip

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: Pompey Spud on October 04, 2010, 10:33

I've had success by freezing than drying out.

This makes sure you don't have any visitors from tiny little white insects that might appear if simply left to dry.

Title: Re: Borlotti bean - picking and drying question
Post by: RichardA on October 04, 2010, 16:12

I left the pods as long as I could to dry first on plant and then laid in trays in utility room, soem when poddeed where much lighter coloured then others but all turned eventually and have kept well since last year
So leave the green onesunless you use them for something else --  I think they will turn
R