Topic: a daft question about runner beans

[gwynnethmary]

This may be really silly, but is it OK to eat the beans inside the pods?  Some have now gone past eating in their podded state but have lovely green beans inside with puple skins.  My OH was very suspicious and fished them off his plate, giving them to me to eat!  I'd steamed them, and they were very tasty, but now I'm wondering???????

[Fork]

Not a daft question at all and one thats been asked before I recall......however,I dont remember the replies but cannot see any reason why you should not eat them  :)

[Chrispy]

You can poison yourself if they are not cooked enough.

Have a read through this thread
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,55296.0.html

[Bugloss2009]

there was a thread about it - someone had eaten them and got sick

you can eat them but they must be properly cooked. Partly cooked beans my be worse than raw ones. Slow cooker temperatures may not be high enough

i think that was the gist

also remember we tend to call them kidney beans, but for everyone else in the world kidney beans are a type of french bean, something completely different

[Flighty]

Yes I eat them once the runners start getting stringy, find them rather tasty and have never had any problems!

[artichoke]

I do this a lot. Add the beans to casseroles or similar, and as long as they are cooked properly they are safe and delicious.

I go round our plots later in the year asking to have people's dried out pods. The seeds are as good as any other dried beans, and runner bean seeds are particularly large and "meaty". Lots of people let their beans wither on the vines and don't do anything with them, which is a great waste of food.

In French markets I have seen fresh bean seeds being sold at quite high prices.

[goodlife]

Yes..I've notice in American sites runners seeds are sold to use as a shelled bean..I wonder if they even use it green..GrannyAnnie....do you ???

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I go round our plots later in the year asking to have people's dried out pods.Ohh...you are clever one ;D ;)..now then..I our site some old chaps grow runners by the plot..hmm...I might do 'Artichoke trick' ;)
No doubt I'll be shelling some runners still in January.. ;D ;D..

[DaisyDot]

We eat them raw and cooked, with no problems. I would keep some though and dry them, in the airing cupboard, for next years crop. The fatter they are the better for sowing in January. If you use the inside tube of a toilet roll with some multi-compost per bean in a green house you will have a lovely crop. You can use the same method with broadbeans. Just make sure you remove the tube before putting into the soil or make sure the bottom is open. :) :) :)