How to dehydrate fresh beans for storage

Enjoy your favourite veg anytime, anywhere.

Green beans are so many people's favourite vegetable - with the Breeze food dehydrator, you can Luv them all year-round! Once dried, they take up a fraction of the space, and store for months, if not years.  Beans can be easily re-hydrated or tossed straight into homemade soups, stews, curries and noodles anywhere, anytime.

There are many different types of beans and any variety of fresh pod bean (or string bean) can be dehydrated following this method. To get the best out of your fresh beans a simple blanching pre-treatment is essential. Blanching will stop the enzymatic activities that cause oxidation as well relax the plant fibres and help the beans dehydrate quicker.

Dehydrating frozen green beans

You can also dehydrate frozen beans. Store bought frozen beans have already gone through a pre-treatment so you can simple defrost and use the beans straight from the bag – no prep is necessary.

How to rehydrate beans

To use your dried green beans either re-hydrate them in boiling water for 15–30 minutes or add them directly to foods that have plenty of liquid and cook for at least 30 minutes. When rehydrated they won’t look as plump as fresh beans but they will deliver all the healthy goodness.

INGREDIENTS

Fresh beans

METHOD

1.   Choose the freshest beans
2.   Trim the ends of the beans then cut into uniform pieces depending on your preference. We cut our beans into 2 sizes for variety. The larger the segments the longer the dehydration process. Beans shrink in size considerably, so silicon mesh sheet liners will be required for small segments of bean so that they don’t fall though the wire racks.
3.   Boil a large pot of water, then blanch the beans for three minutes.
4.   After blanching, place them in an ice water bath or run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

5.   Drain well and pat the beans with a paper towel to remove some of the moisture
6.   Spread beans out on dehydrator sheets in a single layer to allow for plenty of air circulation
7.   To ensure uniform cooking time, arrange into similar size and shape on the trays.

8.   Set the temperature to 55°C and the time to 8 hours to see how they’re progressing to help you judge further timing. The drying time will vary depending on the variety of bean, the size of the segments and the humidity of your home. Green beans may take up to 14 hours. A low temperature prevents hard casing and moisture being locked inside. 
9.   Home grown beans will vary in shape and size. Young beans that are less fibrous will dry quicker. Beans with large seeds will take longer.  You may need to spend some time sifting through the trays for beans that are under done.
10.  Beans will feel tough and brittle when dried. They feel like dried pasta.

11.  Turn the dehydrator off and let them sit for another 3-4 hours.  This conditions the beans to your environment so that no condensation will build up in storage. It also gives you the opportunity to double check that the beans are thoroughly dried. If the beans are pliable, they still contain moisture and must be dried longer. If you plan to store beans for several months, it is essential they are completely dehydrated.
12.  Place them in airtight jars, (you can fit a lot of beans into a small jar) and store in a cool, dry, dark place for up to one year.

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