Topic: drying beans

[ACE]

I have picked a bucket of shelled French beans. They are in the dehumidifier to dry out for storage, so we can use them in chillies etc. High heat/ low heat/ how long?  Don't need advice on boiling out the toxins , just how long I should dry them for.

[squeezyjohn]

I tend to leave mine in the pods hung up somewhere dry and then pod them and give them a few weeks just sitting on newspaper in a single layer - I'm afraid I don't have any experience of a dehumidifier.

However - knowing when they're ready should be the same test ... I only store them when they're so dry that they have absolutely no spring in them at all - i.e. rock hard!  The only difference is that yours will probably be ready miles before mine!

[ACE]

It's one of those 'funny weather' situations. I was doing  some weeding around the plants when I noticed some of the lower pods were splitting and the beans had started to germinate. So instead of letting them dry on the vine, I stripped the plants out and podded them all. We have the dehydrator, so I might as well use it. Only next years seed is still in pods drying naturally.

[Digeroo]

I stick mine on the radiators or on the window sill.   At the moment the windowsill is full of broad beans they will be boxed up soon and replaced by others.  I leave mine in the shells until next year though this does attract earwigs.   Then in the spring they go into the freezer to get rid of any bugs.

I get very high germination.   One of my plot neighbours remarked about how all my beans germinate.

I wait until the shells are really crispy.

[ancellsfarmer]

Harvest the whole plant when they get that pallid yellow look and the lowest are just thinking of splitting out. Tie the whole plant up in bundles of a dozen or so , with a single loop around the lower stems. Hang up on a nail in the fence so that the wind can dry them .After a week or so, move into  shelter, below the shed roof  eaves or similar. Dry further and then pick pods into a netlon net (such as onion sets arrived in) and place away from hungry mice. Gradual drying allows the beans to do it as nature intended. Before storage, seperate any that have succumbed to mould and dump.(Pigeons will eat them, irrespective)

[ACE]

These beans are for eating, not keeping for seed.  I am not leaving them out to mould or ripen for seed and they will go straight to the kitchen when dried. I reckon the dehydrator is the most hygienic way of doing it. Just not sure how fast I should dry them in there.

I have a load still in pods for seed, they will dry naturally with the perils of mould, mice and 50% failure.

[Digeroo]

i did the hanging the whole plant up to dry one year.  The mess of drying leaves was a huge task to clear up. 

I doubt you will have 50% failure with your own beans.  Only had one batch which went mouldy and they were in a box next to the radiator and something got put on top. 

I try to ensure that the beans have not had any frost on them before they are dry.

I suggest you try and contact Chriscross he must be an expert on drying beans.  Grows loads of them.

[ACE]

All dry and rock hard this morning. Ready to go into the larder. No messy pods littering the place, no worries about the damp this morning, no vermin getting fat at my expense and no spoilt crop. Think I might even have a chilli con carn for tea.

 Marvelous things these dehydrators when freezer space is at a premium. Four buckets of apples last week reduced to one Tupperware box. The rugrats eat them instead of sweets, crunch them into dust to sprinkle on their cereal or just soak a handful in any fruit juice overnight and they are ready for a tasty apple pie.

[Hector]

Ace, I am so glad you posted this. We eat lots of beans, so I'd wondered if dehydrator good for this.

[lottie lou]

As Ace says advantages outweigh disadvantages.  With air drying beans are best hung where there is relatively free flow of air.  Sadly I also left a pile in a basket and they went manky.