# Dehydrating green beans



## amyfromak (Nov 3, 2014)

I don't know what I did wrong.... I tossed some fresh green beans in olive oil and salt and put them in the dehydrator on 125 and they shriveled up to little vanilla bean pod lookin things! I was imagining crispy green bean snacks, anybody have any tips?


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Dried green beans (aka "Leather Britches") are easy to do, although I've never put olive oil on them - seems like you're inviting rancidity. When I dried mine, I just strung them on heavy kite string (sort of like how you do popcorn for the Christmas tree) and hung them up in the bedroom to dry. I didn't have a dehydrator back then. They shrivel up and become brittle but when you re-hydrate them, they become edible. I've never heard of making snacks out of them.


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## northergardener (Dec 12, 2007)

Just like Sally said, your green beans are "leather britches" which is what green beans are suppose to do when you dehydrate them. 

You didn't do anything wrong! Dehydrated green beans need to be reconstituted before they are edible, I use them in soups, but some people put boiling water on them and let them soak, and then use them.

The only way to get "crispy green bean snacks" that I can think of would be to freeze dry green beans.


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## Horsecreeker (Dec 23, 2012)

Definitely don't put olive oil on them. I simply dehydrate them and use them in soup or vegetable mix.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I have blanched and not blanched green beans before drying the only thing I can see is a color change difference, and not that much at that. Yes they shrivel up. Oil will probably go rancid although olive oil may not taste as bad as some other oils when it does go rancid.


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## ncchickenmama (Aug 21, 2013)

You can dry green beans by stringing them up to make "leather britches" like the folks above said but they are also known as "shuck beans." These are really good once dried if soaked and then cooked down all day with some type of backfat. They are sort of a traditional Appalachian delicacy you could say. I dried mine this year in the dehydrator and they still made pretty good shuck beans. Half runners are the best to use for this.


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## Vickivail98 (Sep 26, 2014)

The snack product you are looking to make are freeze dried green beans, a process that, unfortunately , is not able to be duplicated at home. It requires mega equipment which is too bad because freeze dried food is delicious!


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Vickivail98 said:


> The snack product you are looking to make are freeze dried green beans, a process that, unfortunately , is not able to be duplicated at home. It requires mega equipment which is too bad because freeze dried food is delicious!


There actually is a home freeze dryer. It runs somewhere around $4,000 though.


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