A bag of bean tricks
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A bag of bean tricks to help you buy soak cook & store dry beans.
Canned beans do not require additional cooking since they have been
thoroughly cooked in the canning process but there are several ways
of preparing dry beans for cooking. All start with a thorough
inspection for damaged beans and foreign material then washing in
cold water. The next step which is highly recommended is soaking the
beans. This not only helps make the beans cook faster it also
improves flavor texture appearance and digestibility. For maximum
improvement of these factors it is recommended that the soak water
be discarded and the beans rinsed and cooked in fresh water. SOAKING
TIPS: Hot-soak (preferred) and Quick-soak method. For every pound of
dry beans any variety add 10 cups of hot water. Remember beans will
rehydrated to at least twice their dry size so be sure to start with
a large enough pot. (Note: up to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of
beans *may* be added to help the beans absorb water more evenly.)
Heat to boiling let boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat cover
and set aside for at least 1 hour (quick-soak method) but
*preferably* four hours or more. The longer soaking time is
recommended to allow a greater amount of the gas-causing properties
to dissolve in the water thus helping the beans to be more easily
digested and lessening the aftereffects. Whether you soak the beans
for an hour or several hours remember to DISCARD THE SOAK WATER.
COOKING TIPS: (for each pound of dry beans) Standard method: Drain
and rinse soaked beans; put into a good- sized kettle. Add 6 cup of
hot water 1 to 2 Tablespoons shortening and 2 teaspoons salt. Boil
gently with lid tilted until desired tenderness is reached. Savory
Method: Use standard method (above) but use 2 teaspoons onion salt
and 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt instead of plain salt. Add 1 Tablespoon
chicken stock base or 3 to 4 bouillon cubes and 1/4 teaspoon white
pepper. * Simmer beans slowly. Cooking too fast can break skins. *
Acid slows down cooking. Add tomatoes vinegar etc. last. * Add 1/8
to 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (no more) per pound of beans when
cooking in hard water to shorten cooking time. * At high altitudes
beans take longer to cook. A pressure cooker helps but follow
manufacturer's directions. [Personal note: Tom says 1/2 hour in the
pressure cooker at 15 lbs pressure is equivalent to cooking them
overnight. Don't put too many beans in the pressure cooker as they
expand: you don't want to plug up the vent hole.) * Refried beans
are made from freshly cooked pinto pink red or kidney beans mashed
and cooked in a skillet with bacon drippings lard oil butter or
margarine. [ California Dry Bean Advisory Board ]
Recipe
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