If they're really dry, just keep them as you do the ones for seed, then soak and cook when you're ready to use them. Yes, I do this, using them in soups and just cooked and seasoned as a side dish. If they're not completely dry, either finish drying them or freeze them. No blanching is necessary.

 

And just cook them till their tender as if they were regular green beans -- no long cooking and soaking time like other beans?

 

My experience with dehydrating beans is that they aren't quite as tender once cooked, but they work. I blanched mine and dried them. Cooking them took a bit longer and they weren't the same as frozen or canned, but they were edible. I prefer to use them in stews or casseroles.

 

I grow several types of beans specifically for drying - Purple Hull beans, cranberry beans, black eyed peas, Dixie butter peas, Speckled butter beans (I think some people call them Christmas beans)and after picking all the Kentucky Wonder pole beans that I want, let the rest dry on the vine.

If the hull is dried out, the beans are ready for harvesting. You need to get them before the pods split open and the beans fall to the ground. No blanching is required for dried beans. As far as soaking goes, the smaller the bean the less it requires soaking.

 

Ok, I think we're talking about two different things here - - - dried GREEN beans with shell still on and shelled dry beans. What I was discussing was dried shelled beans, like we would save for planting next year, or for cooking as dry beans. What I wrote above still applies to them. The dried green beans, we usually did while the beans had not developed to the "beany" or "shellie" stage. These are good but actually aren't at all like canned or frozen beans, do require long cooking and are best, as some one pointed out, in soups or cooked with ham or sausage and potatoes and simmered for several hours. Some southerners call the latter, shucky beans. They're good cooked all day with sausage and served with fresh skillet cornbread. Yumm. These can be dried in a dehydrator or strung on a thread or heavy string and hung. I actually used to string them and hang them in the attic to dry. Now, I use my dehydrator which is quicker; the color stays much greener and I think the flavor is a bit better. When I strung them, I did not blanch them but I have when I was going to dehydrate them. That seems to keep the flavor a bit more true to green beans.

 

Last week, I steamed some green beans that I harvested the week before, they were very tough. Today, I harvested more green beans. How do I save them till tomorrow night? also, the plants have many that are past the green stage, so should I leave them till they are completely dry?

 

They need to be fresh and tender when picked. Put them in a closed plastic bag or container and refrigerate, wash and use as normal. Dry beans need shelled and stored, soak and cook same as other dry beans. Dry bean shells are not edible....James