Cooking dried beans

[Lorien]

How do you cook dried beans so they come out soft and edible?

 

I've tried an overnight soak, then cook them. I've tried a quick soak and then cook. Every time - and I've tried several times each way - the beans come out sort of soft on the inside, sometimes a bit chalky, and sometimes the skins pop between your teeth. We have a set grocery budget this year and I need to bring our spending down. One of the ways I'm trying to do this is by using dried beans....but we just don't enjoy the meals as much!

 

So, if you could please help me....... how do I cook dried beans so they taste like canned beans? :bigear:

 

A step-by-step recipe would be greatly appreciated! I've looked online and directions like "use 3x as much water as beans" kind of leave me wondering if I'm doing it right. Thanks ahead of time for sharing, if anyone is willing to share!

[Blueridge]

Be sure not to salt them while they are cooking, or they will stay tough. Also be sure they are fresh beans...I tried cooking some that had been in storage for too long and they stayed hard despite all-day cooking. I rinse and cook beans all night on low in the crock pot, and in the morning they are usually nice and tender.

[melissad2]

I just dump them in a pot and cook them. All day. Hasn't failed me yet. I season my beans with fatback or ham hock so that is the only thing that goes in the pot while cooking. I add water when they cook down until the final hour or so then I let them get thick.

[alef]

I've heard of adding baking soda to the water, don't know how well it works. I haven't had good luck with beans either.

[dbmamaz]

So, its hard water. thats why hard water was called hard water, because the beans stayed hard. Baking soda can help, but it depletes the nutrition. When i finally saw the answer, i was totally flabbergasted - filtered water. I have a water filter on my fridge that we use for drinking water, but i cook with water from the tap. using the filtered water from my fridge made all my beans soft! quickly! of course, the filters are expensive. if you dont have a filter i supposed you could try bottled water. or the baking soda.

[Jayne J]

Here is my hint--cook them, freeze them and then thaw them to use. I cook up huge batches of several pounds at a time, freeze them *in their cooking liquid, plus water to cover* in can-sized portions, and when I thaw them they taste just Iike canned beans, minus some salt. I generally add salt when I use them rather than when I cook them, so I have more flexibility.

 

So, soak overnight. The next morning drain, add water to cover by several inches, and cook, adding water when needed so the beans are always covered. When they are done, cool them a bit, spoon into freezer containers (I use 2C. tupperware containers), cover the beans with the cooking liquid, adding water if needed, and freeze.

[three4me]

I do pinto beans most often. Sort out the bad ones, rinse them off, and put them in the crock pot with quite a bit of water, cook on low for 6-7 hours. There's a fine line between crunchy and broken skins. Then AFTER they are cooked, I add salt, onion powder, and a little garlic powder (all to-taste). I freeze in quart-size bags whatever leftovers there are.

[Amira]

I agree that the water can make a huge difference. I'd been told that beans cook better in soft water, but I didn't really think it would make that much of a difference. Then I moved to a city with soft water after cooking beans in hard water areas for years and I was stunned at the difference in cooking time and the quality of the cooked beans when the water wasn't so hard. I've switched back and forth now between hard and soft water towns for the last few moves and I just have to get used to cooking the beans a lot longer in some places and the quality isn't quite as good. Filtering is a great idea if your water is hard.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I put mine in a crockpot and walk away. After a few hours check them. Seems to work but we tend to like a bit of a 'mushy' bean.

[redsquirrel]

Well, they can easily be cooked until finished, but they won't taste or feel like canned beans. Canned beans have 'stuff' in them that gives them a particular firmness etc. I think they are also pretty salty. So, if you cook them and then salt them more they will taste more like canned. After cooking So Many beans for So Many years I can also tell you that part of what tastes different is the taste of the can. We eat us a lot of beans in this house and I cook them from dried. When I eat canned beans I can taste the can. Really.

 

I have done beans lots of different ways. I have dumped hard beans into the pressure cooker and brought them to pressure for 5 mins and then let them cool and they are cooked. I have soaked them overnight and cooked them in a pot. Lately I am liking cooking them in a slow cooker. I have also soaked them overnight and then cooked them in a slow cooker.

 

They don't need an exact ratio of water, not really. When they are very dry they need a lot. Just keep an eye on them as they soak and make sure they don't get exposed. Once they have soaked enough to be rehydrated but not cooked (I think of them as raw at that point) they can be cooked in water to cover. I always change the water between soaking and cooking. Sometimes I change it even if I am starting with dry in the slowcooker.

 

 

I always cook at least a full pound at once and then I bag up the extra into 2 cup portions. I freeze them and pull them out when needed. That way I can cook what I need on the weekend. I always have plenty. I get roughly 6 cups of cooked from one lb of dry. That makes 3 'cans' worth for every pound of dry beans.

 

If your beans are chalky inside then they aren't cooked enough. The solution to that is to cook them more. Every now and again I have a batch that needs lots of cooking. I am not sure why that is. But undercooked beans are the cause of stomach upset, so make sure they are cooked!

 

Just thought of something: It can help to let them cool in their cooking liquid. Cook them to pretty much done and then let them sit to room temp. That might get rid of the chalkyness.

[Orthodox6]

Agreeing with the caveat against using old beans.

Recently read something disagreeing with the advice to avoid salt while cooking beans. I have no opinion about that.

Often have read to cook beans with a strip of kombu in the water to increase the digestibility. I have done that for the flavour; however, beans never have been a source of indigestibility for me to know whether this works.

My guess is that canned beans "feel" as they do because they are stuck for months or years in an unchanging water bath in the can, which keeps the beans plumped up.

[TammyinTN]

I pop my pintos in with chicken broth and let them cook for 8 hours. They are delicious. :)

[Lorien]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll definitely be trying your methods. How can you tell if your water is hard? The Castile soap I use as shampoo lathers up very, very well here, but at my in laws it will barely lather at all. Which is hard, and which is soft?

 

Thanks again!

[Amira]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll definitely be trying your methods. How can you tell if your water is hard? The Castile soap I use as shampoo lathers up very, very well here, but at my in laws it will barely lather at all. Which is hard, and which is soft?

 

Thanks again!

 

 

If you're on city water, you should be able to find a water quality report online that should indicate water hardness. If I'm remembering correctly, water is considered hard if the calcium level is more than 100mg/liter. Soap generally lathers better in softer water, so your water might not be too hard. You could just try some bottled or filtered water to see if it makes a difference.

[Laura Corin]

Are you salting the cooking water? Wait until after they are soft to add salt.

 

Laura

[Jennifer3141]

I can them and then they are soft yet not mushy! :)