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6:04 pm
Supreme Being
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Sun 30-Jan-11
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I vaguely recall when I was a child (so it is a VERY vague memory 
) my mother (or it may even have been my grandmother) used to preserve sliced runner beans by layering them with salt in jars. I fancy trying the same with our yellow French beans - we have some of them blanched and frozen, but wondered if salt preserved ones would taste any different. Clearly they'd have to be rinsed very well to get rid of the salt before cooking.
Has anyone done this? And does anyone know if other veggies can be preserved in the same way.....i.e. layering with dry salt, as opposed to steeping in a brine solution?
Ta muchly 
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
6:19 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Crikey, throw down the gauntlet why don't you?
I'll try that again!
6:24 pm
Supreme Being
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Sun 30-Jan-11
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You're not picking it up then, TA? 
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
6:26 pm
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Nah. I did have a look on t'interweb but everything that starts off as a dry salt cure ends up by adding brine...
I'll try that again!
6:45 pm
Supreme Being
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Mon 21-Sep-09
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I can remember both my mother & grandmother doing it but only to runner beans.
Here is how it is done¦.I looked it up on Google¦. 
http://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-preserving-beans.htm
Hope it works for you Sue, can't see why it wouldn't work fo your yellow French beans but I think you might have to slice them first so the salt really gets into them. 
I can remember that if you didn't keep them in a cool & dark place they went slimy.
Good luck.
***Added later
I also found this discussion on the merits of various types of salt used in the process
http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=63982.....;topicseen
Obviously my mother wasn't the only one who made them go slimy.....!!! She never was good at following directions or recipes. That's what drove me to learn to cook....self preservation. 
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
7:01 pm
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Thank you for that Hattie, I just realised that I was searching via AVG not Google. Silly girl.
I'll try that again!
7:16 pm
Supreme Being
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Mon 21-Sep-09
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Me again !! 
A more detailed description of the method. I always over-research......especially when it comes to methods of preserving food.
How to Make Salted Green Beans
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
7:21 pm
Supreme Being
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Sun 30-Jan-11
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Thanks for those links, Nadine. Never occurred to me that the type of salt (i.e. not ordinary table salt) would be a factor. That 1900s site is quite a fascinating one, have bookmarked it to have a proper read later.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
7:42 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Sauerkraut and fermented pickles like cucumbers are layered with salt. Here is a recipe that adds other things to sauerkraut
8:23 pm
Supreme Being
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Sun 30-Jan-11
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That's interesting, Joanna, thanks. I knew a Polish lady who used to add grated carrot to her homemade sauerkraut, but I've never heard of adding anything else to it before. I like the sound of the apples with it, I like apple cooked with red cabbage to serve with pork.
I'm going to make a start on salting my yellow beans in the next couple of days. I'll report on how it goes.
learning to love veg…..except celery :-O
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