Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it.
Green bean
Thin young pods: about 5–7 min.
Ordinary green or yellow pods: about 7–10 min.
Wider or more mature pods: about 10–15 min or longer; texture takes priority over the clock.
For home freezing: 3 min water blanching as pretreatment.
Diagnostics
Common problems and solutions
Stringy pod — Stročji fižol je po 7–8 minutah še trd.
Cause: Green bean — Strok je debelejši, bolj zrel ali potrebuje daljši čas za želeno mehkobo.
Solution: Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Kuhajte še 1–2 minuti in ponovno poskusite najdebelejši strok.
Stringy pod — Meso stroka je mehko, vendar ob robu ostane trda vlaknasta nit.
Cause: Green bean — Strok je zrelejši oziroma nitast.
Solution: Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Nit odstranite pri pripravi; daljše kuhanje je ne bo zanesljivo spremenilo v nežno tkivo.
Stringy pod — Fižol ostane zelo čvrst tudi po daljšem kuhanju.
Cause: Green bean — Poleg zrelosti lahko vplivata zelo trda voda oziroma kislo okolje.
Solution: Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Pri naslednji seriji uporabite mehkejšo vodo in večino kisline dodajte šele, ko je fižol že dovolj mehak.
Stringy pod — Fižol je kašast in izgublja obliko.
Cause: Green bean — Predolgo kuhanje oziroma nadaljevanje kuhanja z lastno toploto po odcejanju.
Solution: Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Naslednjič začnite preverjati prej; za hladno uporabo ga po kuhanju hitro ohladite.
Stringy pod — Zamrznjen fižol je hitro medel in premehak.
Cause: Green bean — Izdelek je bil pred zamrzovanjem že blanširan in je bil nato kuhan kot popolnoma surov svež fižol.
Solution: Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Upoštevajte navodilo na embalaži in teksturo preverite zgodaj.
Technical terms
Terms worth understanding
- Green bean
- Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it.
- Blanching
- Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it.
- Pectin
- Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it.
- Stringy pod
- Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to common questions
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 1
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Thin young pods: about 5–7 min.
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 2
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Ordinary green or yellow pods: about 7–10 min.
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 3
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. Wider or more mature pods: about 10–15 min or longer; texture takes priority over the clock.
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 4
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. For home freezing: 3 min water blanching as pretreatment.
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 5
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. For home freezing: 3 min water blanching as pretreatment.
Green beans: how long to cook them so they are not tough or stringy — 6
Cook fresh green beans in boiling salted water and start checking after about 5 minutes. Thin young pods often take 5–7 minutes, ordinary pods about 7–10 minutes, and wider or more mature pods 10–15 minutes or longer. If the flesh is soft but a hard string remains along the seam, longer cooking will not reliably fix it. For home freezing: 3 min water blanching as pretreatment.