Preserving Green Beans- Leather Britches

Green beans are a staple food here at One Ash.  They seem to go with almost every meal and we really enjoy them.  They are also something that we grow really well in our garden that was prepared with Mags’ horse-drawn power (you can see her here).

When we get to the couple of weeks of peak green bean harvest, the question each summer is “how do we preserve all this goodness for winter”?  While I enjoy canning, I am not well versed on using a pressure canner, so having a shelf full of mason jar green beans isn’t something we do.  I always freeze our extra green beans and that works just fine.  But this year I wondered about alternative methods for preserving green beans and came across the method called “Leather Britches”.

I first heard of this method when researching how the Amish preserve their food and shortly learned that this is an old southern method as well.  The beans are strung up on some kind of strong string, hung to dry for a few weeks until they rattle but are still leathery, then tossed with some salt and stored in a flour sack or pillow case until ready to re-hydrate and cook. I have read stories of folks lining their porch with drying beans or filling little used rooms in the house with these strings of green goodness!  I made good use of the hooks on the pot rack and that seems to work well. The beans won’t look as fresh and green as these do once dried, but the intense concentration of flavor from drying allows you to overlook the brownish color. When you are ready to cook them, the beans are soaked in simmering water for an hour or so to re-hydrate them, drained, and cooked as normal (see our recipe below) with a little water, spices, and some bacon grease or ham hocks until tender.  

If you are looking for a new method for preserving food this one doesn’t use any electricity and will keep your green beans until you are ready to cook them.  Hope you enjoy!