Dried Beans

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2

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  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    Lentils don't really need pre-soaking...

    In my college days (before microwaves)
    I used to put up a pot of rice and throw a handful of lentils in it, cover, set the timer for 20 minutes.
    Chop carrots and onions, then throw them in, by the time the timer went everything would be done.

    Added other things depending on what I had on hand. Then serve and top with cheese.
  • harlanJEN
    harlanJEN Posts: 1,089 Member
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    You've gotten some good replies.

    I"m popping on to add my 2 cents. I'm a Kentucky girl, so that means PINTO beans. Cooking them from dry - absolutely the best.

    Here is what I do .. easy greasy.

    Soak them overnight. Rinse. VERY WELL. This removes dirt and debris AND what I call "bean gunk" - which is what gives some folks "gastric distress".

    THEN .. I either cook them on the stove or yes, I use a crock pot.

    Either way .. I put them in a pot first - cover with cold water. Bring to a boil on the stove - turn heat down a bit and cook for 5 - 10 minutes. Pour that water out. Rinse with cold. Then refill with cold water - covering the beans and then another inch or so above.

    If cooking on stove, bring to boil, then turn down heat to simmer. Simmer, stirring and adding additional water as necessary.

    Traditionally, cook with hamhock or some fatback. Hamhock is the BEST in my opinion. But .. don't have to. Don't salt until after the beans are cooked. Can add garlic, hot pepper flakes .. other seasoning to taste.

    OR if cooking in crock pot. Do the 10 minute boil, rinse, put beans in crock pot with water - cover with a bit above. Won't need as much water in the crock pot since it won't be cooking down as much due to the lower heat. Oddly enough - or prob it's just ME - but I don't like to put hamhock in my beans if I'm crock potting them. For some reason - just isn't "right". I've had some GREAT beans in the crockpot though. Sometimes, even better than cooking on the stove. Crockpot - I put on high temp - low just doesn't work well.

    When beans are done - salt to taste. Add other seasoning if desired.

    Oh! I NEVER have gastric distress with my beans :)
  • terri0527
    terri0527 Posts: 678 Member
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    Lots of Beans can be poisonous if cooked incorrectly. Be very careful. With Kidney beans for example they have to be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Be very careful of using them in a slow cooker. If the temperature doesn't get above 80 degrees Celcius they can get even more toxic.

    I never knew this about beans:noway: ...wow, glad I read this post
  • ldalbello
    ldalbello Posts: 207 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies. I am making black beans.
  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    I use a pressure cooker and low sodium veggie broth instead of water. Takes well under an hour and gets hot enough. Then I drain, rinse, and use. Pressure cookers can be dangerous if you don't know how to use one though, so be careful.
  • nigel061
    nigel061 Posts: 109
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    Lots of Beans can be poisonous if cooked incorrectly. Be very careful. With Kidney beans for example they have to be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Be very careful of using them in a slow cooker. If the temperature doesn't get above 80 degrees Celcius they can get even more toxic.

    The boiling part is the important thing not the soaking
  • jefflturn
    jefflturn Posts: 41
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    Try a pressure cooker. The electric ones are inexpensive and you can cook the beans in a fraction of the time. You can even set it up to cook them just before dinner with the delayed start up feature they have. Trust me on this it blows a slow cooker (Crockpot) away.
  • thaislcrd
    thaislcrd Posts: 76 Member
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    I don't recall ever eating beans from a can! I cook them in water with seasonings, bay leaf (that I later remove) and don't always soak them. To speed up the cooking time, I use a pressure cooker, but if you don't have experience with those, be careful, cause they can be dangerous if you forget and the water dries. When beans are cooked, on a separate pan, brown some ( I use lots) garlic and onions with some cooking spray and when very hot, add about a cup of the beans then mix them all up with the remaining beans that you cooked. It's very good and has a lot of flavor. I sometimes cook them with a whole beet root, peeled and cut into four pieces that I later remove since I can't stand to eat them. You can't taste them in your beans!
  • DPernet
    DPernet Posts: 481 Member
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    Lots of Beans can be poisonous if cooked incorrectly. Be very careful. With Kidney beans for example they have to be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Be very careful of using them in a slow cooker. If the temperature doesn't get above 80 degrees Celcius they can get even more toxic.

    The boiling part is the important thing not the soaking

    True, but ewwww, unless you like your beans extra crunchy.....
  • mamamudbug
    mamamudbug Posts: 572 Member
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    Lots of Beans can be poisonous if cooked incorrectly. Be very careful. With Kidney beans for example they have to be soaked for a minimum of 8 hours and then boiled for at least 10 minutes. Be very careful of using them in a slow cooker. If the temperature doesn't get above 80 degrees Celcius they can get even more toxic.

    The boiling part is the important thing not the soaking

    Must be. I've never had a problem with any beans and I've never soaked them overnight.
  • mamamudbug
    mamamudbug Posts: 572 Member
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    Curiosity got the better of me and I don't ever have a problem admitting when I'm wrong. I did some digging and found this info...
    The syndrome is usually caused by the ingestion of raw, soaked kidney beans, either alone or in salads or casseroles. As few as four or five raw beans can trigger symptoms. Several outbreaks have been associated with "slow cookers" or crock pots, or in casseroles which had not reached a high enough internal temperature to destroy the glycoprotein lectin. It has been shown that heating to 80°C may potentiate the toxicity five-fold, so that these beans are more toxic than if eaten raw. In studies of casseroles cooked in slow cookers, internal temperatures often did not exceed 75°C.
    from http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety/foodborneillness/foodborneillnessfoodbornepathogensnaturaltoxins/badbugbook/ucm071092.htm#disease

    I do think that it makes the case (again) that proper food prep and cooking procedures make a world of difference in our health. Red beans and rice are a staple in La. I boil the tar out of them and therefore, have never had a problem. :wink:

    Eta: Nigel and DPernet, thank you for bringing this up. I, honestly, had never heard of this before.
  • kate_n_pjs
    kate_n_pjs Posts: 86 Member
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    Crockpot

    I soak my beans overnight, Then in the morning drain the liquid. Add to the beans and a diced onion in the crockpot, cover with water, so there is about 2 inches of water over the beans, cook for the day while at work. (I also have added carrot) The beans freeze well in baggies and then just run under tap water to defrost. I preportion these baggies of frozen beans in 2 cup portions. about how much is in a can.
  • simplyeater
    simplyeater Posts: 270 Member
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    I like cooking them in a pressure cooker. They come out nice and soft with a creamy texture. Plus it takes less than half of the usual cooking time. I got a cooker on sale this year for $25. So worth it!!!
  • skullik
    skullik Posts: 142 Member
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    bump!
  • andyxbear
    andyxbear Posts: 269 Member
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    Bump. I didn't know all of this about beans! Thank goodness I decided to read this before cooking them myself.
  • booyainyoface
    booyainyoface Posts: 409 Member
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    wash, soak over night, change the water in the morning and soak a little more

    rinse, boil until soft enough for you- usually like 30-60 minutes.

    i drain them after boiling, season em, and throw them im in the freezer.

    yummm :)
  • julie9200
    julie9200 Posts: 62 Member
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    We use dried beans in meals several times a week. Typically, I just rinse them, sort out the baddies and foreign objects and then put them in the crockpot, usually overnight and part of the next day, until they get as mushy as I like them. If I'm in a real hurry, I throw them in the pressure cooker. I make a bunch at a time and freeze the extras in approx 2 cup servings.

    These days, I don't pre-soak, rinse, or anything like that. I know that it's supposedly better if you do, but I also know that I never plan that well, that I'm busy and that I'm lazy and that I will skip steps in a lot of recipes. And I used to have a habit of leaving the beans soaking so long that they sprouted before I remembered them. I've also got a few pots that are forever blackened on the bottom because I let beans boil dry on the stove. I'm pitiful, I know, lol, but that's why the above method works for me.
  • julie9200
    julie9200 Posts: 62 Member
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    Crockpot

    Not sure if I am right, but some dried beans need to be boiled to destroy lectins that can cause bad stomach upsets - crockpots don't reach this high temperature I recall.

    I've had beans start boiling in the crockpot when it's on high and they've been cooking all day. Not a fast boil, mind you, but they are boiling.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    i buy the mixed medley, i have them every single day!
  • Leigh14
    Leigh14 Posts: 871 Member
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    Beans? Toxic? Wow. I've been making chili with ground turkey and kidney beans. I brown the turkey, throw it in the crockpot, add a jar of hot salsa, rinse a bag of dried kidney beans and throw 'em in, cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8-ish. Other than the beans being a little bit al dente (lol), I've never had a problem! I guess I'll boil them from now on ... just in case!

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