Shuck or Shuckey Beans

Here is a photo of my dried Shuck beans.

For all you who aren't Southerners or never been to Kentucky, you probably have not heard of Shuck beans. Or as my folks called them, "Shuckey Beans".

People in Kentucky and Tennessee (probably other states, too) who had gardens, canned most of their harvest, but they also dried a good bit,too. They didn't have freezers back when my grandmother and grandfather were gardening. So they would string beans up by taking a needle with a large eye, threading it with heavy string or thread and string green beans on the long strings. Then they would hang them out during the day to dry, usually on the clothes line, taking them in at night so the dew would not wet them. After they were completely dry, I remember my mother quickly dousing them in boiling water, in case any insects were present. Then they were put into a clean "feed" sack. This is a sack that chicken feed came in usually. They were stored in the pantry until such time as they were needed to eat. Usually about Thanksgiving, out they came and were cooked with water and "fat back" or salt Pork until reconstituted and tender. Yum and Double Yum! They are totally delicious. After cooked, they are a rich deep greenish color, almost brown.

Shuck beans probably got their name from the fact that when they are in the sack and dried, they make a dried sound when you shake them, sort of like dried corn shucks would sound. That is my guess only---I have no idea why they are called that. All I know is, the taste of them is great---quite different from fresh green beans---maybe more intense. You know how drying a fruit or vegetable enhances the flavor. Maybe one has to acquire a taste for them. I don't know because I can't remember life without "Shuckey Beans".

My dried batch was dried in the dehydrator and you can bet on Thanksgiving I will be enjoying them!