Freezing Runner Beans

[boxtops]

My neighbour is away and asked me to harvest her runner beans. I want to freeze them for her, but guidance is conflicting on t'internet - to blanch, or not to blanch? Help, please!

[nungate]

Blanch! have a bowl of iced water handy to plunge them into when you take them out of the hot water, it'll stop them cooking and retain the fresh green colour

[furrypusscat]

I freeze runner beans by blanching in pressure cooker. I use medium weight on my prestige cooker and bring just to pressure then cool quickly. Cool completely then bag and freeze. Been doing them for 2 years now. No problem. I understand they keep better after blanching.

[boxtops]

How long do you cook before plunging, nungate?

Furry - no pressure cooker, sorry.

[nungate]

A very short time barely over a minute - give me a moment and I'll go check for certain

[furrypusscat]

That's okay, it is the only way I know. Sorry.

[nungate]

Wrong timing. Slice thickly and blanch in boiling salted water for 2 minutes
Hope this helps

[boxtops]

Lovely - thank you.

Furry, not a problem - I'd do them in my steamer if I could :-)

[diddlydo]

Do NOT use a pressure cooker! Slice and blanch for one minute only and cool in iced water quickly.

[Buenchico]

I did a student job in a frozen-food factory processing vast quantities of runner beans. They blanched the beans (at normal pressure), immediately chilled them and then had them packed and in the freezer rooms within minutes.

[Clanad]

The blanching in boiling water kills the surface bacteria, so it should be for a full minute... a little longer won't hurt as long you (as suggested) immediately plunge them into cold water to stop the cooking.

Thereafter, we find that drying the beans slightly with paper towels and placing them on a tin sheet (used to bake cookies... err... biscuits here in the U.S.) and popping them into the freezer for couple of hours makes for a better bean than placing them all wet into freezer bags. After they're individually frozen place them in your freezer bags for further storage. As previously, I highly recommend investing in a vacuum sealer for extra protection of all frozen foods...

[boxtops]

well, they're done and bagged in her freezer - the test will be when she wants to eat them!

Thanks to you all for your tips and advice, AB at its best -)

[PP02]

I know I'm a bit late, but no need to blanch. Just chop in your preferred way, put in a freezer bag and freeze! We're still working our way through beans from 2 years ago - no probs.