Especially in Mexico and other Latin American countries, where the broad bean, also known as broad bean or broad bean, is a staple food, it is often sold dried in stores. Then it lasts for a very long time. Find out below what options there are for drying broad beans and when it makes more sense to freeze them.
Broad beans are best left on the plant to dry
Harvest broad beans green or dried?
Broad beans are ready to harvest after about 14 to 16 weeks, depending on the variety. Depending on the time of sowing, this date is between June and September. You can tell that the beans are ripe by the fact that the pods are about 15 cm long, bright green and bulging with juicy seeds.
If you miss this point in time, the pods will begin to dry out, which means they will first turn yellow and then brownish. If it's only now that you remember to harvest your broad beans, it's too late to harvest fresh green beans. But that doesn't matter. Broad beans can be harvested dry, especially if you want to store the seeds for a long time - for re-sowing or for consumption.
This is the best and easiest way to dry broad beans. Just leave them hanging on the plant until the pods are completely dry. Then the seeds are also much easier to remove from the pod and the time-consuming peeling is no longer necessary.
Dry broad beans
If you have already harvested the broad beans and want to preserve the seeds, you have several options:
- You can air dry your broad beans in a dry area with good air circulation.
- or you can dry the broad beans in the oven or dehydrator.
Freeze broad beans
If you've already gone to the trouble of shelling the broad beans, it's almost a shame to just dry them. In this case, it makes more sense to freeze the broad beans to preserve them. To do this, blanch the beans just before putting them in the freezer and pack them in airtight containers or freezer bags after they have cooled down.
tips
It is advisable to soak the dried broad beans in water overnight before cooking. This shortens the - anyway - very long cooking time significantly.
The garden journal freshness ABC
How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?
The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:
- as a free PDF file to print out yourself