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Help! How to cook beans?
Cynthia P wrote:
Well, I had planned to make a big pot of chili tonight and I thought I would try to cook my kidney beans from scratch. I soaked them overnight, rinsed and drained them this morning and put them in the pressure cooker, just covered with water. The directions said bring to a boil over high heat, put the cooker lid on, bring it to the second ring (high pressure) adjust heat to stabilize (nearly had to go to low heat for that) and cook for 10-12 minutes. I chose 10 minutes, because I wanted firmer beans, like what you'd get in a can. But what I got is VERY mushy beans. Oh, they taste OK, I mashed a half cup in a bowl with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as a snack, but they aren't suitable for chili or salads or anything I was planning to do with them! Where did I go wrong? Too much cooking time? Was a 10 hour soak too much? Should I not have used a pressure cooker? I use a little baking soda in the overnight soak, about a tablespoon for 2.5 cups of dried beans. I guess I need to go to the store for canned beans now. Any ideas for what to do with the mushy beans? I presume I can freeze them if anyone has any good recipe ideas. I just cook them in a pan so I can monitor the process. Beans seem to be really variable in required cooking time. Make Pasta Fagoli (pasta fazool) -- Del Cecchi "This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.” |
#2
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Help! How to cook beans?
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:05:36 -0800, Cynthia P
wrote: Well, I had planned to make a big pot of chili tonight and I thought I would try to cook my kidney beans from scratch. I soaked them overnight, rinsed and drained them this morning and put them in the pressure cooker, just covered with water. The directions said bring to a boil over high heat, put the cooker lid on, bring it to the second ring (high pressure) adjust heat to stabilize (nearly had to go to low heat for that) and cook for 10-12 minutes. I chose 10 minutes, because I wanted firmer beans, like what you'd get in a can. But what I got is VERY mushy beans. Oh, they taste OK, I mashed a half cup in a bowl with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as a snack, but they aren't suitable for chili or salads or anything I was planning to do with them! Where did I go wrong? Too much cooking time? Was a 10 hour soak too much? Should I not have used a pressure cooker? I use a little baking soda in the overnight soak, about a tablespoon for 2.5 cups of dried beans. I guess I need to go to the store for canned beans now. Any ideas for what to do with the mushy beans? I presume I can freeze them if anyone has any good recipe ideas. I cook my beans in a pan of boiling water, but you do need to boil them hard for 10 minutes to get rid of the poisons they contain, then turn the heat down and cook them for however long it takes. Or better still buy them already canned. janice |
#3
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Help! How to cook beans?
Well, I had planned to make a big pot of chili tonight and I thought I
would try to cook my kidney beans from scratch. I soaked them overnight, rinsed and drained them this morning and put them in the pressure cooker, just covered with water. The directions said bring to a boil over high heat, put the cooker lid on, bring it to the second ring (high pressure) adjust heat to stabilize (nearly had to go to low heat for that) and cook for 10-12 minutes. I chose 10 minutes, because I wanted firmer beans, like what you'd get in a can. But what I got is VERY mushy beans. Oh, they taste OK, I mashed a half cup in a bowl with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as a snack, but they aren't suitable for chili or salads or anything I was planning to do with them! Where did I go wrong? Too much cooking time? Was a 10 hour soak too much? Should I not have used a pressure cooker? I use a little baking soda in the overnight soak, about a tablespoon for 2.5 cups of dried beans. I guess I need to go to the store for canned beans now. Any ideas for what to do with the mushy beans? I presume I can freeze them if anyone has any good recipe ideas. -- Cynthia 262/244/152 |
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Help! How to cook beans?
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:05:10 +0100, janice wrote:
I cook my beans in a pan of boiling water, but you do need to boil them hard for 10 minutes to get rid of the poisons they contain, then turn the heat down and cook them for however long it takes. Or better still buy them already canned. I did read something about a particular toxin that kidney beans have... but I'm guessing I need not worry with THESE beans, LOL! I usually buy canned, but I was thinking it might be easier to learn to cook them myself, less sodium, possibly better flavor, less lugging of heavy cans while I recover from the plantar fasciitis, etc... I went web searching... 10-12 minutes seems to be the recommendation for pressure cooking, though I think one site mentioned 5-14 minutes. Some sites said avoid salt... another said add a little to toughen the skins. I'm thinking maybe I just need to try it for a little less time, say 7-8 minutes. I also saw some sites that recommended doing things like beans/rice/grains in something called an Ohsawa pot inside the pressure cooker. I did find a recipe or two for a red kidney bean curry... that might be tomorrows project with the mushy beans. That or making a bean dip. Could have been worse... I had no foaming troubles, no exploding beans, no exploding pot, LOL! -- Cynthia 262/244/152 |
#5
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Help! How to cook beans?
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:11:10 -0500, Del Cecchi wrote:
I just cook them in a pan so I can monitor the process. Beans seem to be really variable in required cooking time. Make Pasta Fagoli (pasta fazool) Well, I didn't want to have to be on my feet monitoring them so much, that's why I tried the pressure cooker. We don't eat much pasta around here, given that hubby is diabetic, otherwise, sounds good. -- Cynthia 262/244/152 |
#6
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Help! How to cook beans?
"Cynthia P" wrote in message ... On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:11:10 -0500, Del Cecchi wrote: I just cook them in a pan so I can monitor the process. Beans seem to be really variable in required cooking time. Make Pasta Fagoli (pasta fazool) Well, I didn't want to have to be on my feet monitoring them so much, that's why I tried the pressure cooker. We don't eat much pasta around here, given that hubby is diabetic, otherwise, sounds good. -- Cynthia 262/244/152 I suppose you could use whole wheat pasta. And the diabetics I know still eat pasta. Besides pasta fazool doesn't really have that much pasta in it. |
#7
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Help! How to cook beans?
On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:33:19 -0500, Del Cecchi wrote:
"Cynthia P" wrote in message ... On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:11:10 -0500, Del Cecchi wrote: I just cook them in a pan so I can monitor the process. Beans seem to be really variable in required cooking time. Make Pasta Fagoli (pasta fazool) Well, I didn't want to have to be on my feet monitoring them so much, that's why I tried the pressure cooker. We don't eat much pasta around here, given that hubby is diabetic, otherwise, sounds good. -- Cynthia 262/244/152 I suppose you could use whole wheat pasta. And the diabetics I know still eat pasta. Besides pasta fazool doesn't really have that much pasta in it. Oh, I would definitely do whole wheat pasta... I actually prefer it to regular pasta! I'm not saying we never eat pasta, it's just a fairly rare item on the menu and I think I am out of whole wheat pasta right now anyway, as it is hard to find around here. I might actually have to mail order it if I want it. I think my current plan is to try the kidney bean curry tomorrow morning... and freeze it for later. Besides, it sounds like a good recipe to try out in the new electric wok hubby bought me for my birthday and which I haven't used yet, LOL! -- Cynthia 262/244/152 |
#8
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Help! How to cook beans?
"Cynthia P" wrote in message ... Could have been worse... I had no foaming troubles, no exploding beans, no exploding pot, LOL! -- Cynthia 262/244/152 Never make dumplings in a pressure cooker. You will have foaming and exploding problems. Don't ask how I know this Beverly |
#9
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Help! How to cook beans?
On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 07:19:49 -0400, Beverly wrote:
Never make dumplings in a pressure cooker. You will have foaming and exploding problems. Don't ask how I know this I will endeavor to avoid that... I've made a lovely butternut squash soup with the pressure cooker, but I really don't have a ton of experience with it yet. Hubby claims his mom cooked various beans in a pressure cooker successfully, but of course, he has no idea what she did. I'll try again at some point. Meanwhile, I get to try and make rajma, the kidney bean curry this morning. If successful, at least I'll have an out for future bean experiments gone wrong! -- Cynthia 262/244/152 |
#10
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Help! How to cook beans?
Cynthia P wrote:
Well, I had planned to make a big pot of chili tonight and I thought I would try to cook my kidney beans from scratch. I soaked them overnight, rinsed and drained them this morning and put them in the pressure cooker, just covered with water. The directions said bring to a boil over high heat, put the cooker lid on, bring it to the second ring (high pressure) adjust heat to stabilize (nearly had to go to low heat for that) and cook for 10-12 minutes. I chose 10 minutes, because I wanted firmer beans, like what you'd get in a can. But what I got is VERY mushy beans. Oh, they taste OK, I mashed a half cup in a bowl with a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as a snack, but they aren't suitable for chili or salads or anything I was planning to do with them! Where did I go wrong? Too much cooking time? Was a 10 hour soak too much? Should I not have used a pressure cooker? I have cooked beans in a crockpot but not a pressure cooker. I have done either over night soak or bring to boil but not both and either method worked fine. My best guess is the same applies to pressure cooker use - Either/or over night soak or bring to a boil first. I guess I need to go to the store for canned beans now. Any ideas for what to do with the mushy beans? I presume I can freeze them if anyone has any good recipe ideas. Bean soup by diluting them thin. Bean paste thickness and use them as a dip (blend in some fresh green herbs, cool over night for the flavor to marry in, should be great). Use as a thickening agent in a stew. |
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