Got a question about dried beans.

[freethought]

Lately I tend to favor various soups, stews, and dishes made with beans. They're nutritious, lots of fiber, filling, and above all....cheap. At least for now.

Given that I am starving student, yet again, I am also looking for ways to trim that weekly grocery bill. One of them is to use dried beans as opposed to ones that are canned. The extra convenience costs you.

I read recently that when one is cooking pre-soaked chickpeas that it helps to add a little salt and a small amount of baking soda to the cooking water. (1/2 tsp salt adn 1/4 tsp baking soda per quart cooking water) As I understand it, this helps makes the chickpeas less grainy and smoother in texture. Pretty nice if your making a batch of hummus or something. Something to do with the water chemistry I guess.

Does anyone know if the same technique would apply to other beans as well? Say, pinto beans, red kidney, great northern and the like?

Always looking for tips and hints. Thanx in advance!

[Warpy]

1. Salt helps the flavor. Baking soda is supposed to cut the gas

but doesn't. I don't bother since water is already alkaline here and I cook without salt.

The best hints I know for cooking beans are using a crock pot or pressure cooker to do it. And if you want your chickpeas creamy, you need to cook them until they're completely done.

Canning is a pressure cooking process, so that's the most efficient way to do it. Just be careful with split peas, those can foam and clog the vent and need to be monitored closely.

[freethought]

2. A pressure cooker

is a little beyond me right now. I have to rely on my pots and stove top. Sounds as if I should do a little side by side comparison.

Thanks man!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. I just watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen, an excellent PBS cooking show

On this very subject. Apparently, brining the beans (salting the water you soak them in) has some kind of effect on the skins that allows the skins to cook at the same rate as the insides. Without brineing, you have to cook the beans to mush to get the skins fully cooked. I'll try to go through my Tivo tomorrow and find the episode with all the scientific explaination but that seems to be the bottom line. I tried it. It works.

[freethought]

4. You know something?

Alton Brown would know the answer to this!! Too bad he's retired from Food Network.

[Major Nikon]

5. I've never heard this, but I've been making legumes on a regular basis for 30 years

... and I've never done it. I don't remember ever having a problem with grainy chickpeas. Graininess would be the result of uneven cooking, which leads me to believe they weren't soaked long enough.

I generally don't soak black-eye peas, split peas, lentils, or most white beans like lima/great northern. The reason is because the outer layers on these beans are thin and easily breached while cooking, so there's no real need to soak them.

Gas is produced by the indigestable sugars from the legumes fermenting in your gut. Parboiling for a couple of minutes and then soaking overnight will activate the enzymes which break down these sugars better than just soaking alone.

[Retrograde]

6. I just soak the beans in plain water overnight

In general, chickpeas need a lot of soaking - I cover them with water to about twice their depth and let them sit overnight. Then I pour off the soaking water, and cook with a lot of additional water: I adjust the seasoning when I'm using them in the final dish. I haven't noticed any graininess: if I wanted them ultra-smooth I'd probably run them through a food mill after a trip through a blender or a food processor.

I will sometimes cook pinto or black beans with various flavorings - chiles, onions, garlic, spices - if I'm making a particular dish, but for prep just do the basic overnight soak in water. The baking soda sounds like an attempt to make the beans less gassy, but if you eat enough beans and other high-fiber foods you'll encourage the intestinal flora to deal with that.

BTW, cooked beans freeze well, so it's easy to make a big batch, then parcel it out in portions suitable for one or two meals and freeze them until needed.

[GoCubsGo]

7. Everything you ever wanted to know about cooking dried beans here:

http://christopherkimball.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/cooking-beans-101/

Somebody already mentioned freezing cooked beans. I do that, as well. You can freeze them with or without some of the cooking juice. If you are freezing chickpeas that will eventually become hummus, you'll want to save some of it.

[NJCher]

8. did you know that....

Canned beans produce a high glucose response? Yeah, I learned that on one of those low-glycemic diets.

I think canned beans are ridiculous. OK, maybe once in awhile for convenience, but fresh and dried are the way to go with beans, IMHO.


Cher

[MichiganVote]

9. been using them 4 years, yes to both

[Le Taz Hot]

10. One tip I adopted a couple of years ago

is, when you soak beans, add garlic, onions, and bell peppers (I add cumin as well). As the beans soak up the water overnight, they also soak up the other flavors.

I also discovered "Sofrito" which is good for a lot of things but especially beans. Essentially, you find aromatic items such as garlic, onions, peppers, tomato etc., cut them into small pieces and slow-saute them in olive oil. You end up with a sort of slurry which is added to the dish, in this case, the beans. I add it about 1/2 hour before the beans are done. It sort of supercharges the dish with flavors.

[april]

11. Don't add salt ...

[freethought]

12. WOW! Thanks much folks! n/t

[SoapBox]

13. I always thought that

it helped to reduce the gas (from the sugars) by soaking in a LOT of water and changing it a few times.

I wonder if that was just a cooking myth?!?

[HopeHoops]

14. The general rule is put them in cold water, bring to a boil, cover, and let sit for 1 hour.

After that hour, it's your choice whether to strain off the cooking water or not (less flatulence if you do as well as less nutrition). Then bring them back to a boil and mostly let them cook undisturbed (covered) for an hour.

There are a lot of exceptions in there, but that's the basic rule. Chickpeas need about 2 hours to soak, as do navy beans. You can also soak any kind overnight in cold water. That's really the best way to do it, but you have to think ahead.

Split peas and other dahl legumes like lentils do not need to be soaked. Just cook them until they're soft.

The only real way to tell if any type of legume is done is to taste it for consistency. This may take a few samples.