Freezing broad beans »How to make your broad beans durable

Harvest and pulp broad beans

the Harvest time for broad beans starts about 12 weeks after the sowing. The broad beans are not harvested all at once, as they gradually ripen. Therefore, the harvest period usually lasts two months. Broad beans are usually harvested when they are large and plump. The tough pods are then no longer edible, so they have to be removed. This process is called pulping. The broad beans in the green pods are still green and crisp and fresh. They should be processed as soon as possible.

Freeze broad beans

If you are going to harvest a large number of broad beans, it is advisable to freeze them for the winter. To do this, proceed as follows:

Wash your broad beans under running water.
Bring salted water to a boil in a large enough saucepan.
When the water is boiling, add the pulsed and washed broad beans to the water.
Let the broad beans cook in the bubbly water for two minutes.

Then drain the broad beans and rinse them with cold water.
Let the broad beans cool down.
Put the broad beans in freezer bags or containers. Mark the freeze date on the bag or container.

The frozen broad beans have a maximum shelf life of 12 months.

Alternatives to freezing

If your freezer is already overfull, there are other ways to preserve your broad beans.

Reduce the broad beans

Broad beans are simply boiled as normal with salted water to keep them soft. Fill the boiling hot broad beans into previously boiled mason jars and close the jars tightly. You can of course refine the broad beans as you like with spices such as onions, herbs or the like before canning.

Dry broad beans

Dried broad beans can be kept for up to a year, often even longer. The dried beans look nice and have a very good aroma and crunchy texture after cooking. The best way to dry your broad beans is to let them ripen on the plant. That means, you just let the broad beans in the pods hang on the plant until the pods are completely dry and the seeds rattle in the shell.