For those of us whogrow dried beansin the garden , harvest time is upon us . Once the pods move around dry and begin to break through assailable , it ’s clip to pick , thresh and store them for winter exercise . Learning how to thresh dry beans is not a hard task , but it ’s one that can be made easier if you apply one of the two bean - threshing methods below .
What Is Bean Threshing?
thresh is the act of take out the individual beans from the pod husk , a task that command a good moment of brawn . If left outdoors on the plant , the seedcase will preserve to dry and the bean will drop to the grime , naturally diffuse the industrial plant . But , because we want to harvest the beans for consumption , they must be harvested before the pod fully open and the seeds are lost .
How To Thresh Dry Beans
There are many unlike ways to jactitate wry beans . If you ’re just grow a few plant , it ’s promiscuous enough to pluck the dry pods from the plants , crack them loose , and habituate your thumb to scoot the beans out of their pod . But , if you ’re acquire a big harvest , that ’s not how to thresh juiceless beans . Hand - jactitate so many bean would gobble up a short ton of wanted time . Instead , I prefer to habituate one of the two method of flail dry out beans you ’ll find below .
For both methods , allow the bean pod to turn browned and almost fully juiceless . As before long as some of the beans begin to crack up open , get out them from the plants . seek to do this project on a juiceless day , after a period of dry conditions . Put the pods into brown paper grocery bags , placing about eight cups of the seedcase in each bag . Let them sit down in the bags , stirring them around inside the bag with your hands every few days , for about three to four week before using one of the survey two method acting to thresh them . The pods should be very “ crispy ” before you attempt to separate the beans from the seedpod . If they are n’t , refund them to the bags and ascertain again in a hebdomad or two .
Method 1: The Tarp Method Of Bean Threshing
When the bean pods are fully dry , spread a uninfected tarpaulin out on a two-dimensional , sturdy surface . We apply our concrete terrace . Empty all the grocery bags full of bean pods on half of the tarp . fold up the empty one-half of the tarp over the dome so they ’re full report . Make certain no pod are near the boundary of the tarp .
Now it ’s time to put some medicine on and dance on top of the tarpaulin ; it ’s a corking job for grown - ups and kids alike . As you stomp on the tarp , the seedpod beneath your base will crack candid and the hard , dry out seed will be free of their straw . The bean plant seeds themselves are very operose , so do n’t be afraid of squishing them as you thresh about the beans . The dried husks , however , are more brittle and will easily crumble open .
Method 2: The Bag Method Of Bean Threshing
For this method acting , alternatively of using a tarp , I use arepurposed birdseed bagto thresh the edible bean . I like to use one of those waver formative provender bags that reserve about 35 Egyptian pound of ignominious - oil sunflower seminal fluid .
only channel the dry out fuel pod from the newspaper grocery bags into the empty birdseed bag , filling it about midway . Tie the purse closed , pressing out as much air as potential before sealing it . Once it ’s closed you may either stomp on the enwrap seminal fluid pods as bring up above or cull up the dish and thwack it repeatedly into a fence mail , rampart or other hard aerofoil . Flinging the bag of beans to lam them is cracking aggression therapy — and good utilization . It will take a few dozen salutary smacks to divide the dome from their carapace , but it works well .
Winnowing Dried Beans
No matter which way you thresh your dry beans , winnowing is the next step . This involves split up the squeeze husks from the seed , usually using the power of the wind . Though you canwinnowby putting a few cups of the crushed straw and beans into a basket and tossing the hoop ’s content up into the air repeatedly , letting the breeze blow away the chaff , there is an easier way .
I place an oscillating buff next to the mixture of beans and trounce husks and apply my hands to ruffle around the beans and pod fragments as the fan move over them . The flatus from the fan well whisks away the pieces of pod while will the heavier beans behind . Then I sweep the beans to the nerve centre of the tarpaulin and collect them .
How To Store Dried Beans
After gathering the attic , diffuse them out on a flat airfoil in a cool , wry elbow room for another week or so . Once they ’re full dry , wad the bean into screw - top jars , plastic lidded containers or other zephyr - proof vessel . Label them carefully and lay in the containers of noodle in a cool , dry room .
