There are two schools of thought on how to freeze broad beans – some people blanch the beans before freezing and some don’t.
Blanching involves plunging the beans into boiling water to stop all enzyme activity in the beans, so the beans stay exactly as they are without any deterioration. Therefore, the healthy vitamins and minerals will remain in the beans. After a couple of minutes at boiling point, the beans are dropped into ice-cold water, to stop the cooking process.
Podding Medes Broad Beans
To freeze broad beans by blanching:
- shell the beans
- plunge the broad beans into a very fast boiling saucepan, so the water just covers the beans
- return the water to the boil as quickly as possible
- after 3 minutes, drain the broad beans
- immediately put into ice cold water to bring temperature down quickly
- drain
- fill freezer bags with the cold, dried beans
- squeeze air out of bag – suck out remainder with straw- then seal bag
- freeze the broad beans immediately
Helpful tip: make large blocks of ice in margarine/yoghurt tubs to keep water cold when cooling beans
To freeze broad beans without blanching:
- shell the beans
- fill freezer bags with the shelled broad beans
- squeeze air out of bag – suck out remainder with straw – then seal bag
- freeze the broad beans immediately
It is worth trying both methods, to decide how to freeze broad beans to suit yourself.