Leather Britches Beans

Leather Britches Beans

(Phageolus vulgaris)

Leather Britches Beans or 'shucky beans' refers to an antique
technique of preserving beans that was closely associated with the
American South and particularly the Appalachian region.  Prior to the
widespread use of freezing or canning beans were preserved by
stringing them on a length of thin twine and then air-drying them over
several weeks.  Beans were picked at a stage when the seeds were well
developed but the outer hull remained green.  Leather Britches beans
were re-hydrated and cooked very slowly in an excess of water
containing a wedge of bacon or ham.

The beans used to make Leather Britches were quite specialized and
have been nearly lost from circulation.  Traditionally pole-type beans
were used and the favored varieties retained a tender hull at
maturity.  The hulls of today's beans all become very tough as the
bean matures.  Some gardeners will dry a commercial string bean as a
substitute for 'old time' Leather Britches beans but they risk
criticism from historians, Southern chefs and anyone who has tasted
the real thing.

By general acclaim the best heirloom bean varieties to make Leather
Britches include the Barnes Mountain Cornfield Bean, Pink Tip Greasy
Bean, Tobacco Worm Bean and the NT Half Runner Bean.  None of these
bean varieties are in commercial circulation but several hundred
heirloom beans once common in the American South have been saved from
extinction by a single collector, Bill Best.  He established the
Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center in Berea, Kentucky which now
has more than 400 varieties of beans in its collection.

These Leather Britches Beans were made from Barnes Mountain Cornfield
Beans that were organically grown on my farm in Northwest Iowa.

Seed source:  Mr. Bill Best


C Lindquist

Comments

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i don't like the shucky beans, i know you love the beans just like me, but i got to disagree on this little things!

[Jenannshea]

I am starting my first batch of leather britches this week and look forward to serving them at Thanksgiving. The first batch will be a tribute my Great Aunt Golden who informed me on a phone call I made to her Thanksgiving Eve 2003 that there is no way I could turn my new store-bought pole beans into leather britches overnight. And yes the beans are from my very own garden. Happiness.

[Debi]

Man, does this bring back memories!!! Grandma and Aunt Bonnie with tons of green beans piled in the middle of the living room floor, ready and waiting to be strung up. And mom picking beans at our Ohio home and the two of us sitting around the kitchen table stringing them up for the winter. I don't remember how they taste but I remember the good times associated with them.

[towerboy]

I grew up with shucky beans. They were great! My mom would hang them in our basement. She said got it from E Kentucky (my dad's mom). Pinto beans with a ham hock. Green beans, ham and new potatoes, mmmmm in hog heaven.

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[Evering2010]

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[Linda]

Could you please tellme where the name "Leather Britches" comes from, what does it have to do with beans? I don't see the connection.
Thank you.

[George Cole]

We had leather britches today for dinner with corn bread.
I dry my beans in the sun. Make sure they don't get wet, must bring in every night. If its humid I, then put a fan on them.
I strung up three (3) bushels this past summer.