Comments on: Are dry beans worth it?

By: Joanna

Joanna — Sat, 29 May 2010 04:56:39 +0000

It’s a myth that adding salt to beans at the start of cook time makes the skins tough. What DOES toughen the beans is acids like tomato and tomato products and vinegar. Sugar also (especially molasses, which is how baked beans can cook for many hours and still retain their shape). If you want salt in your beans, it’s BETTER to salt early, as you need to add less salt because it takes a while for the beans to absorb the salt.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 18 May 2010 17:12:03 +0000

This is an older post but wanted to add my tip – I’ve always used dried beans, cook up a big bag now and then over the wknd, once they are cooked I freeze what we don’t use in quart freezer bags with some of the cooking liquid, ready for quick meals. A few yrs ago we moved to coastal Maine and all of a sudden my beans didn’t cook up well, stayed hard or got mushy and just didn’t have the right texture. Found out, it was the minerals in the hard water I was cooking the beans in – read the solution on a bag of Maine beans – if you cook in hard water, add scant 1/8 tsp baking soda per quart of cooking water (I add it to soaking water too). Now my beans are back to normal! CA bean board states that baking soda can destroy some of the thiamin in beans and that a better alternative is to use bottled water but frankly that’s not about to happen in my kitchen.

I usually cook beans on stove top but sometimes use crockpot. However, if your crockpot doesn’t boil it isn’t hot enough to cook beans properly. Mine does boil, but I find I get a much better end result if I soak then boil my beans for 10-20 min on the stovetop before adding them to the crockpot.

By: Esther

Esther — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 22:16:20 +0000

I think my mother-in-law cans beans just by putting them in a jar with water & some salt! I haven’t tried it yet but have been wanting to b/c that would mean I wouldn’t have to soak or cook them for so long!! I should ask her again what the amounts are and such.

By: brian

brian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:50:25 +0000

Old Beans? Always buy with freshest date. In a Mexican Market I told the bean guy I intended to soak his dired beans overnight etc and he said ” no senor, 2 hours only and then just 40 minutes cooking”.

Go to a reputable health food store and always look for a specific country of origin. Avoid anything not traceable, esp China!

I love the extra large butter (lima?) beans sold in Lebanese shops.

By: brian

brian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:43:24 +0000

I freese portions using a lovely silicone cupcake tray. Also Barley and Rice frozen. Beans AND grains are most healthy.

simply throw them into a soup or let defrost on the hob in a little water.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:19:50 +0000

You know what I would like to know is the savings after the water and electricity used to cook the beans and a/c to keep the house cool after having hot food going all day (I live in AZ)? Would it still be more economical than canned beans then?

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:02:36 +0000

Older beans do take longer, because they’re more dried out.

By: chef Juls

chef Juls — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:49:57 +0000

my single son puts his beans to soak in the morning before he leaves for work and then drains them and puts them in the crock pot when he get home to cook on low over night( he only sleeps 6 hrs)Says he doesn’t remember to soak the night before so he bumped everything.My dad doesn’t soak at all, just rinses and then cooks at a good simmer( not boil) for a couple hrs.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:23:35 +0000

Here’s my funny bean cooking story for you! I’ve been using your book lately, trying out different suggestions, and one of the items I tried was to cook dried beans in my crock pot. Your other related suggestion was to throw in an extra bunch in order to cook for more meals at one time. WELL, I thought, if one bag (yes, bag) of beans is good, two bags would be even better! (I can hear the chuckles already) A couple of hours later, I went back to check on them and suddenly had visions of my entire house flooded with 2 inches of beans all over the floor! If I’d had your number, I might have called, but instead called my mom who helped me figure out what to do. I even saved most of the beans, albeit in TWO batches rather than one. Ah, well. Who knew that beans would swell up so much?! Lessons learned…

By: cassie-b

cassie-b — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:50:23 +0000

I prepare and freeze dried beans in 2 cup amounts. The price is right, and – I know exactly what’s in them.
Cas
And I do the overnight soak and crockpot prep too.