This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?
--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On 16/10/2019 23:07, Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

You can always keep them for next years seed

In message , David Hill
writes
On 16/10/2019 23:07, Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.
My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a
lot of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried
(or maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

You can always keep them for next years seed

The only French beans I have grown have been climbers ('Seeded Blue
Lake'). Traditionally, you eat such things well before the seeds have
developed too far, but you get 'a lot more bean for your money' if you
let them go a lot further, so that the seeds are quite large. The pods
don't go leathery, and they taste just as good.
--
Ian

In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

Yes, definitely, or you can kill yourself. I soak them by pouring
boiling water on them, letting it cool, pouring it off, and repeating
until the water comes clear - that reduces the wind they cause. But
you then MUST boil them for 5 minutes (I do it for 10), to destroy
the toxins. After that, simmer them or put them into a slow cooker
until they are soft - the water you use for that is fine to use as
well as the beans. And never add salt until after that.

I grow Greek gigantes (actually a runner), borlotti, cherokee trail
of tears and (more by accident than design) shiny fardenlosa for use
dried. They keep for years when dry, but you must seal them against
weevils (airtight isn't needed).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2019-10-16, Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

Yes. Don't know how to freeze them, but I've saved them dried.
Or just pick and use to make a been stew.

On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 10:18:14 AM UTC+1, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

Yes, definitely, or you can kill yourself. I soak them by pouring
boiling water on them, letting it cool, pouring it off, and repeating
until the water comes clear - that reduces the wind they cause. But
you then MUST boil them for 5 minutes (I do it for 10), to destroy
the toxins. After that, simmer them or put them into a slow cooker
until they are soft - the water you use for that is fine to use as
well as the beans. And never add salt until after that.

I grow Greek gigantes (actually a runner), borlotti, cherokee trail
of tears and (more by accident than design) shiny fardenlosa for use
dried. They keep for years when dry, but you must seal them against
weevils (airtight isn't needed).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Its the boiling bit I needed to know, we thought it would be the same as other dried beans but I just wanted to check (and they are a climbing variety) Have to say I am impressed.

On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 12:00:45 PM UTC+1, Jim Jackson wrote:
On 2019-10-16, Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

Yes. Don't know how to freeze them, but I've saved them dried.
Or just pick and use to make a been stew.


It was just something my wife asked me and I didn't know the answer, ie if you freeze adult mature beans before they dry do you still have to boil them? I think we will boil them any way to be on the safe side!

On Thursday, 17 October 2019 10:18:14 UTC+1, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:
This was my first year growing these (normally grow runners) after a
shaky start they have grown well and cropped well, they are so much
easier to use than runners I shall stick to them for the future.

My question is having just got back from two weeks away, there are a lot
of large pods starting to ripen, can one use the ripe beans dried (or
maybe frozen) do they need boiling?

Yes, definitely, or you can kill yourself. I soak them by pouring
boiling water on them, letting it cool, pouring it off, and repeating
until the water comes clear - that reduces the wind they cause. But
you then MUST boil them for 5 minutes (I do it for 10), to destroy
the toxins. After that, simmer them or put them into a slow cooker
until they are soft - the water you use for that is fine to use as
well as the beans. And never add salt until after that.

I grow Greek gigantes (actually a runner), borlotti, cherokee trail
of tears and (more by accident than design) shiny fardenlosa for use
dried. They keep for years when dry, but you must seal them against
weevils (airtight isn't needed).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I have never had a problem eating large climbing french beans. One of the reasons I grow them is because they don't get tough and stringy like runner beans if they get large. I have never suffered from wind eating large climbing french beans.

Jonathan

In article ,
wrote:

It was just something my wife asked me and I didn't know the answer, ie
if you freeze adult mature beans before they dry do you still have to
boil them? I think we will boil them any way to be on the safe side!

Yes, definitely. The toxin is produced as they mature, and is not
plausibly destroyed by freezing, but you only have to keep them at
boiling point for 5 minutes or so, which you will be doing anyway.
The most toxic are red kidney beans, and they have harmed some people
who put them in slow cookers on low without boiling them first. The
US FDA is over the top, as usual, but it would be good advice in
places like Boulder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseo...garis#Toxicity


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 17/10/19 19:40, Nick Maclaren wrote:

The most toxic are red kidney beans, and they have harmed some people
who put them in slow cookers on low without boiling them first.

The first time I made chilli con carne I made it from dried kidney
beans. I didn't know you had to boil them for some time first before
simmering. I have experience of their toxicity - let's just say I spent
a lot of time with a bucket...

--

Jeff