Content
- Practical supply: freeze bush beans
- What are bush beans?
- Prepare green bean pods or fresh bean kernels
- Freezing raw bush beans
- Freezing blanched beans
- What should be considered during defrosting and processing?
Bush beans are best frozen blanched
Practical supply: freeze bush beans
Anyone who grows bush beans in their own garden often harvests too many at once. How to preserve and freeze your bush beans is explained below.
What are bush beans?
The term bush beans gathers numerous types of beans that have one thing in common: they do not grow higher than 60 centimeters and therefore do not need a climbing aid. So they face the other well-known and popular kidney beans, the runner beans. Both the green bean pods, which are harvested immature, as well as the mature bean cores are cooked edible.
Prepare green bean pods or fresh bean kernels
To freeze green beans, pre-wash them by washing them, drying them, cutting off both ends, pulling off any threads that may be present, and bisecting the beans diagonally or in thirds.
The preparation of the ripe bean kernels is limited to breaking up the bean pods and popping out the kernels.
Freezing raw bush beans
The quickest way is to freeze the bush beans raw. Keep in mind that the frozen beans in their raw state will lose their color, aroma and vitamins more quickly than previously blanched beans.
Put the prepared green beans or bean kernels in a suitable freezing container, for example freezer bags or plastic or stainless steel boxes with lids. Do not forget to label them with the date of freezing and the contents. From freezer bags, push out as much air as possible before closing. Put the wrapped beans in the *** freezer.
Freezing blanched beans
The blanching of the beans destroys enzymes that cause the bean to age, thus adversely affecting its taste, vitamin content and external appearance. Therefore, it is beneficial to freeze blanched beans.
- Boil plenty of salt water. Add the prepared beans to the bubbly boiling water. Drain it after two to three minutes of cooking. Put the beans in ice water for a moment to stop the cooking process. Allow the blanched beans to cool completely and dry. Put them in labeled freezer bags (before closing, push out the air) or appropriate boxes with lids and close them carefully before freezing.
What should be considered during defrosting and processing?
Beans must be thoroughly cooked before eating as they contain the toxic protein phasin. Heat destroys it, which makes the beans edible. This applies to both green beans and bean seeds.
Since the bush beans can not be consumed raw, you do not need to thaw them before processing. Simply place the contents of the freezer container in boiling salted water and cook the green beans for at least ten minutes, and beans for at least 15 minutes. These values depend on the thickness of the beans. For example, if you make a stew, you can put the frozen beans directly into the broth and cook there for a long enough time.
Frozen beans should be used up within a year.