Runner beans

[Borlotti]

I have always frozen my runner beans, just a quick blanch, and they have been OK.  But today and last week I cooked some from the freezer and they were horrible.  I have just picked the beans out from the peas (Birds Eyes) and chucked them, they tasted like soap.  Well suppose it is time to clear out the freezer, and the raspberries I froze were OK, but tasted a bit sour.  Fed up from Enfield. Maybe better to eat fresh and not freeze.

[brownowl23]

thats funny beecause hubby has been moaning about  the taste of the beans this year.Wonder i fit had something to do with the grpwing conditions last year

[rosebud]

  My runners were awfull this year  threw them all out what a dreadfull waste but just inedible.   Wonder why always blanch& rinse cold freeze flat,   must have been a bad year.

[connectedcats]

I freeze my excess runner and french beans, although the family don't like them much unless I put them in a curry, so I don't worry about blanching etc. I did it all properly one year, it took ages, and didn't seem to have made much, if any difference.
Diced courgettes, tomato, chilli and beans are packed in meal size bags, then when we want a veg curry I just add some curry paste. Great veg idea with grilled meat or fish, avoids chips 

[Ophi]

I have been using my frosen beans as usual but always use them in a potato and bean curry so the flavour would not be noticeable under a lot of indian spices that I add.

I have not started on the salted yet as I have to get space in the freezer for the rhubarb when it starts producing.  My OH took the small front lawn up and replaced it with some really lovely rhubarb plants so we need to keep cropping 

[Jeannine]

Some varieties freeze better than othres, in fact some are reccommned fro freezing

XX Jeannine

[Melbourne12]

We find that runner beans, which are so delicious and with such a lovely texture when fresh, are a disappointment frozen.  They're one of the few veg that we don't freeze.

Not that we had much chance last season.  The early runners went tough and stringy before they'd properly developed, and the later ones weren't that plentiful.  Shouldn't complain, since 2011 was a bumper year for so many crops, but the runners? 'Fraid not.

[Debs]

Hi Jeannine,

Which varieties would you recommend for freezing?

I have grown runner beans once (when I had an allotment) & was a complete novice, left them on the plant too long & they grew into thick stringy monsters
Have been tempted to grow them this year, after sampling some that my F-I-L grew in his garden - so advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Debs ( runner bean novice )

[Alex133]

I freeze masses of runners every year, no blanching palaver. Find the cooking secret is to keep them well away from water - melt chunk of butter in a pan throw in the runners with a bit of salt, stir & fry for a couple of minutes, chuck a lid on and let them cook in their own juices for 10-12 minutes - delicious every time. (I grow white lady, stringless and apparently the white flowers are less attractive to predators)

[gavinjconway]

Hi Jeannine,

Which varieties would you recommend for freezing?

I have grown runner beans once (when I had an allotment) & was a complete novice, left them on the plant too long & they grew into thick stringy monsters
Have been tempted to grow them this year, after sampling some that my F-I-L grew in his garden - so advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Debs ( runner bean novice )

Hi Debs - I grow Blue Lake and they are a great freezer and green bean.. Nice and round and well worth it. I did some of the bigger varieties last year and once they grow too big they are stringy and tickle the throat on the way down!!

[Jeannine]

Blue Lake is an excellent freezer bean although not a runner.. do you want any tall growing beans or do you specifically want runner beans for freezing

If you overgrow them, you can use pod them and use as dried beans.

XX Jeannine

[gavinjconway]

Blue Lake is an excellent freezer bean although not a runner.. do you want any tall growing beans or do you specifically want runner beans for freezing

If you overgrow them, you can use pod them and use as dried beans.

XX Jeannine

Hi Jeannine - her in the UK Blue Lake is a runner or climber.. I assume runner is a climber?? Mine grow as tall as the trellis I have 6'-8'..  take a look at http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/vegetable_seeds/bean_seed_climbing_french_bean_blue_lake/

Regards Gavin

[Ninnyscrops.]

I grew and froze my old favourites, Scarlet Emperors last year and tried the microwave blanching method last year and they are still tasting good - not as good as fresh, mind you. The quick cooling in cold water after any blanching takes away a little of the flavour I think, so now I just blanch, bag, cool naturally then freeze.

Ninnys

[Debs]

Found this useful link which gives info on freezing veg

http://www.cookuk.co.uk/techniques/FreezeVegetables.htm

Its runner beans I want to grow & am looking for a good variety which does not become coarse

& stringy. Also want the runners to be good to freeze as my F-I-L's beans were prolific

Debs

[tricia]

As far as the keeping for 3 months advice goes - well! - I am still using sweet peppers and chillies I froze two years ago! Still have last year's sweetcorn, french beans, carrots, apples, rhubarb, plums, cherries, raspberries and gooseberries too.  Last week I made a blackberry (2010) and apple (2010) pie and used the last of my 2010 raspberries only a couple of weeks ago - lovely in a crumble or just defrosted and added to my breakfast cereal!

I don't blanch anything, just bag it, cool it in fridge overnight then freeze it when good and cold the next day.

Tricia

[Borlotti]

Good result with the last of the runner beans, tried frying them with onion, garlic, toms, mushrooms in butter and black pepper and OH asked for more runner/french beans.  Thought they tasted a bit watering myself, but next year will forget the blanching and just freeze.  Maybe I over blanched them.  Just trying to eat up all the stuff in the freezer, as it is snowing, and I have no money after Xmas.  Thanks for that advice to fry them, never thought of that before, also had fried cabbage the other day, cut up very fine, and it was good. Steak was good too. 

[Jeannine]

gavinjconway..re runners etc.

The term climber and runner is not the same. A runner  bean can climb but some don't.

Runner beans are a completely different family to Blue lake .Runner beans can climb and grow tall but also come in dwarf types. Family is Phaseolus  Coccineus

Blue Lake are French beans.. Family is Phaseolus Vugaris  or common beans.

Some well know runners are Scarlet Emporer, Lady di,  and Enorma all tall growing runners, Pickwick is a dwarf runner
Some well know common beans are Dragon Tongue.which is   bush and Fortex, Kentucky Blue,Romano which all grow tall(pole)

Just to confuse things Blue Lake come in a tall growing (pole type) and a dwarf growing(bush type.)

Most French beans do in fact freeze better than Runners as they are a differnt texture but it doesn't always work.

When sown, common beans come out of the ground with cotyledons showing and if climbing ytpes they twine anticlockwise when viwed from the top, runners come out of the ground differently, the first leaves are true leaves , the cotyledons stay underground and if they are the climbing types they twine clockwise.. when viewed from the top Usefil info it you have seeds and are not sure which family.

Runners are also self pollinating.

For more info look up P. Vulgaris and P  Coccineus on the net


XX Jeannine

[rugbypost]

Well you know your beans

[grannyjanny]

Good to have you back Jeannine. Rugbypost, Jeannine knows more than her beans .

[Jeannine]

Beans can be very confusing and we have all been there..just wait till you start the butter bean  or lima bean chat!!

I try to keep an open mind on descriptions at this side of the pond but I have to admit truly that the term pole for any bean that climbs (including runners) and bush for anything that doesn't(including runners) is easy to remember. Then save the word runner for the family of beans that it covers.

I have crossed the Atlantic several times now and grown for years in the UK, Canada and the USA so for me anything that makes it easy is better.

Now which side of the road do you drive on again!!!!

XX Jeannine