Provident Living FAQ: Cooking old dry beans

[KF7EEC]

Question:
How do I cook old dry beans?

Answer:


The longer dry beans are stored, the longer they may take to cook. First, sort and rinse the beans. For each cup of beans, bring 3 cups of water to boil, add the beans to the boiling water, and boil for two minutes. Next, add 3/8 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for each cup of beans, cover, and soak for 1 hour or more. More baking soda may be required for older beans. Next, drain and rinse the beans thoroughly, cover with water, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours or until tender. Do not add salt or other ingredients until the beans have softened adequately. See All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage Basic Recipes for additional information.



http://www.providentliving.org/question/result/0,12973,2929-1-87-2,00.html

[thomasusa]

Forget all that.

Go buy a pressure cooker. Get a good one.
<O:p</O:p
For chili I need three cups of beans. Add water.
There is a water line in my pressure cooker that is about 3 quarts (I never really measured it.)
More water is better than too little water.
Cover. Lock the lid. Place on high heat.
<O:p</O:p
When the pressure release valve starts to hiss, look at the clock.
(I turn the heat down to medium at this point.)
Boil another 30-35 minutes.
Turn off the heat.
Let stand a couple of minutes (The hissing fades off.)
Release the pressure at the valve.
<O:p</O:p
That’s it.
<O:p</O:p
35 minutes at 5000 feet works for me every time.
Didn’t your Mother teach you this stuff?

[KF7EEC]

Didn?t your Mother teach you this stuff?


Nope. SWMBO & I are trying to figure it all out ourself.

[signseeker]

DH has just gotten into pressure cookers. We got two at the DI recently for around $4 each. We just had steak and beans last night. Tossed the steaks in frozen and added dry beans with some onions, garlic, water and gravy mixes (never cooking sherry, for heaven's sake! puh-leeze!) and presto! Half an hour later we had some awesome chuckwagon-like dinner and the steak was fall-apart tender like a slow-cooked roast. DH loves the pressure cooker. I can't believe how quickly the beans cook.

[thomasusa]

I understand that the pioneers would add some Apple Cider Vinegar to soak the beans.
Eight gallons of ACV was on the list of supplies for those starting the trek west.
I attended a seminar where the lecturer listed a 1000 good health benefits of ACV.
One of the benefits is that it is a tenderizer if you prefer the pioneer technique.

[prairiemom]

No, you do NOT want to add anything acid to beans before they are done cooking or they will never cook. No tomatoes, vinegar or lemon juice. Maybe that's just an old wive's tale?

[arbilad]

I've learned from personal experience that you do not add the tomatoes to the chili until the beans are already done. Because once you add the tomatoes, no matter how long you cook them, the beans aren't going to get any more done.

[signseeker]

I hate stupid old wives. :sneaky2:

[Buffie]

I'd love to try a pressure cooker, but Hubby is convinced I'll blow up the house. Are they really dangerous?

[Baconator]

I generally just soak them overnight before I'll need them. 12 hours in water does the trick. Then I crock pot them with a leftover ham bone or pork scraps with a tbsp or so of bacon grease during the day (okay, that went further than just prepping the beans, but I'm hungry). I've seen two pressure cookers that blew. They scare me, too. I'd never heard the acid thing either.

[thomasusa]

My mother’s pressure cook did explode once but it was an old pressure cooker without any of the safety interlocking mechanisms. That was 45 years ago.

The new improved version that I bought has a much better seal the mom’s and has a pretty robust dead bolt lock that pops into place when the pressure starts to build. When it is locked, there is no way to open it. It also has a fixed rubber plug that pops out if anything accidentally blocks the pressure regulator (like it it were over filled). The regulator is set to run a about 15 pounds.

I haven’t had any problems but I do make sure my tithing is paid up to date.

[Noahs ARK]

I'd love to try a pressure cooker, but Hubby is convinced I'll blow up the house. Are they really dangerous?

Not the newer ones. I remember my mom scraping tomatoes or something off our ceiling once, tho. She does admit it was her fault.

[Buffie]

What is it with tomatoes? My mom canned tomatoes one year, we did everything right, the lids went "pop", and mom put them in the cabinet. A few weeks later she opened the cabinet door and found they'd all basically blown up and tomato remains were everywhere. It was the biggest mess I've ever seen and thoroughly demoralized mom, who never canned again. We froze vegetables instead. And, wouldn't you know, the night she was on her knees cleaning out the dead tomatoes, the bishop stopped by.

[Highlandsunrise]

Pressure cookers deserve respect. My Mom took the lid off an old one without the pressure being down and the contents came out on the stove top and her hand. She had a nasty burn.

[prairiemom]

Every story I've heard about exploding pressure cookers, it was because someone tried taking the lid off too soon. All the newer ones I've seen have locks now that make that impossible.

[signseeker]

Speaking of old dry beans, I came into some 60s and 70s cookbooks lately and this one said that soaking beans was a total waste. And if that wasn't bad enough, the sin of all sins was tossing the soak water! All the vitamins down the sink! The horrors! Anyhow, he just recommended cooking them slowly all day, with no pre-soak at all. If you have to add water, fine, but do not throw out the soak water whatever you do.

[4evermama]

I have two kinds. One for cooking on a stove top or fire, and the other is my baby.

The Cuisinart Electric/digital Pressure Cooker.
LOOOOOOVE IT!
I am burning through my food storage, using it probably 4-5 times per week.
We have soup for snack after-school and it makes a champion lunch that is hot and ready when we walk in the door after church.
You can braise and saute in it as well.
Oh, and it keeps your food warm for 14 hours once the pressure releases.
Maybe this post should be on the "what I will miss at TEOTWAWKI." :l0 (17):