Pinto help - Stove batch, great, crockpot not

[momee]

Any idea how to soften this second batch? I added salt thinking they were both done. The batch on the stove cooked faster so the salt worked great for them.

 

But for the second batch in the crockpot, they must not have been done when I added salt yesterday. I left them in the pot o/night thinking they'd be a steaming mushy mess of goodness this am. NOt so.

 

Do I just keep cooking them for a while and they'll soften with time?

I need these beans :) help???????

[Mad Jenny Flint]

Well, regardless, I would dump them into a pot on the stove and finish them up. They shouldn't take long at this point.

[momee]

That was my thought, they needed to come out of the crockpot and onto the stove. Hopefully the salt won't have ruined them.

Yep, Jenny, they were in the crockpot all day yesterday I salted them around dinner time and left them in the crock all night.

 

Still crispy this am. On the stove they go.

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I always add several cubes of chicken bouillon to the water before I ever turn on the heat. My mother in-law claims it "toughens the skins" to add salt so I don't add salt, but I assume that bouillon is pretty salty. MIL also says my pintos are wonderful. I don't make them very mushy nor are they hard; rather they are well-defined and soft.

 

Hope yours turn out great!

[JFSinIL]

For future reference - any crockpot recipe involving beans (chili, etc.) I ALWAYS use precooked beans! I think the heat and amount of liquid in a crockpot just is not enough to cook dried beans.

[sandellie4]

Sometimes I use canned beans (rinsed well). But if I want to cook dried peas I always soak them overnight in water in the refrigerator, so they are pretty soft by the next a.m. when I put them into the crockpot. (Rinse the overnight-soaked beans well, before putting into the crockpot.) There is a quick soak of the beans you can do, rather than overnight, but I find it convenient to just soak them overnight and start the pot of beans the next a.m. I'm not sure how to do the quick soak, but maybe someone else can tell you.

 

Sandy

[TammyinTN]

I've never had hard pinto beans. I cook them in chicken broth and on high for 5 hours and medium for 3 more hours. Stir once every hour and check the liquid.

[StaceyinLA]

and I put it in with the beans (RAW beans) before I turn the crock pot on. In 8 hours I ALWAYS have good, soft, mushy beans for turning into refrieds. Could the beans possibly be old?

 

FWIW, I have never heard this thing about not salting the beans. I always salt mine in the beginning and the only time I have a problem with beans getting mushy is if my beans aren't fresh.