runner beans;

[richard p]

i was brought up to slice runner beans into thin strips, you can even buy a little gadget to slice them. tonight we cooked in a hurry so the runners were cooked whole.
why do we normally slice them ??

[Diane]

I just chop them up into halves.

[oldherbaceous]

Richard, i think this probably goes back to some of the older varietes, if they weren't picked very young they would soon go tough, so to save wasting the beans, they sliced them up so they cooked easier.
Of course this might not be the right reason at all.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

[Jenny Green]

I think when the fashion was for growing them as long as possible so you could show them off to your allotment fellows, if you didn't slice them up they wouldn't fit in the pan!
Wouldn't they cook quicker sliced - greater surface area exposed to boiling water?