# cooking dry beans from scratch



## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

I have lost track of how many times I read recipes for any dry beans, and they start with "Take a can of beans and add....."
Cooking the beans from the dry state is so easy, and so much less expensive that you might want to consider it. So in the interest of how to make edible the various and sundry rock-like nuggets called 'dried beans' here are several ways to make then nice and soft, and ready to insert in that recipe you have been eyeing. All it takes is time.


OVERNIGHT SOAK METHOD 
Just as the name says. Pick over the beans and remove broken ones, pebbles and debris. Wash then soak the beans overnight in water to cover at least twice. I usually go overboard with the water because I don’t know for sure how much they will swell up. 
The next day, drain the water (cuts down on the gas). Replace with fresh water to cover, bring beans and water to a boil. Cover and lower heat to simmer. Simmer until beans are as soft as you want. Check after an hour. Pintos & Great Northerns take 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

For most recipes, they should be soft; if you are adding tomatoes to them they should be mushy-soft, as the tomatoes toughen them back up. Don’t salt until they are done cooking, Like tomatoes and other acidy ingredients, salt toughens them up again. 

QUICK SOAK METHOD
I use this one a lot, because I always forget to set them to soak the night before. Take your basic pebbles, put in a pot with plenty of water. Bring to a nice rolling boil and boil about 2 minutes. Cover, remove from heat, and soak, at least 1 hour. I like 2 hours better, myself. Then drain, replace the water and start them boiling again. When they come to a boil, cover and simmer until cooked, just like you soaked them overnight. 

CROCKPOT METHOD
Take washed & sorted beans, and pour into boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain. Put in crockpot with 6 cups HOT water per pound of beans. Cook on low for 12 hours. I usually go overnight, and drain and put in other ingredients the next day for dinner.

THERMAL HEAT METHOD
I have fallen in love with this one, it takes very little fuel or electricity to cook the beans to suit. Soak the beans by one of the above methods. Drain, then replace the water, as you would to cook them normally. Bring to a nice, rolling boil for about 10 minutes. Cover tightly, remove from heat, and wrap up at least 3 inches thick in a wool or polyester blanket, quilt, coat, etc. Be sure you cover the entire pot 3 inches at least thick. Let sit off heat for several hours. The beans will cook themselves on the stored heat (kind of like a thermos). For pinto beans, you boil 10 minutes and wrap 3 hours. Check, and if not done to taste, re-boil and re-wrap. Soybeans usually take me two boil and wrap sessions. Red beans boil for 30 min, wrap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Lentils, soaked, boil 10 min and wrap 3 to 4 hours. Lima beans I make same as pinto beans. This technique also works with rice (boil 5 min, wrap 1 hour for white; boil 10 min, wrap 1 to 2 hours for brown), and pasta (boil 5 min, wrap 20-30 minutes) as well as meats and vegetables. But I use it mostly for beans to save energy and pot monitoring. 

If you are handy with the pressure cooker you can make your own CANNED beans:
Soak your beans 12 hours or so, or quick soak them as above. Drain and rinse. Put beans back in pot, add hot water to cover and boil 30 min. Pack hot into hot canning jars, leaving 1 inch head space. Add 1/2 tsp salt per pint or 1 tsp salt per quart if you want. Cover with hot cooking water to 1 inch of top of jar. Remove air bubbles and put on jar lids, screw down hand tight, and process at 10 pound pressure. Pints for 1 hr 15 min, quarts 1 hour 30 min. (If you can get a copy of “Country Beans” by Rita Bingham, it has bean recipes for canning!)

Now for some ways to give those morsels some flavor!
You may interchange many kinds of beans, except maybe lentils, which have a stronger flavor (but a magical affinity for tomatoes in any form).

BUTTER BEANS are easy. Soak, then cook up 1 pound of lima beans (I like large ones, but small will do also), until mostly done. They will smoosh in the fingers, but still have just a little firmness to them. Drain out half the cooking water, replace with a stick of butter or margarine, and add some chicken bouillon powder to the pot. I use a tablespoon of powder for each cup of water in the pot. You should end up with water to barely cover the beans. Let the beans finish cooking As they finish cooking, they will soak up the chickeny, buttery sauce, which tastes great as a sauce with the beans, or as a soup on the side. They have a mild flavor, and I use these instead of potatoes in my meals quite often. They cook up nicely in a crock pot with little fanfare. 

SWEET BEANS are my generic term for beans cooked with molasses, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, etc. (the whole ‘baked beans’ family) I cook up 1 pound of beans for 2 people. I use great northern beans if I have them, they cook up faster than navy beans in my experience, and hold their shape when cooked. But I have also used pinto beans, black beans, red beans, and soy beans. Pinto beans are a softer bean, but at my house we like them soft, so that is OK. Soak and half cook the beans. Then drain off but save the hot cooking water. To the 1 pound of beans in the bean pot, I add 1 chopped onion; some chopped bacon, ham, pork or cooked hamburger if I have it either as left overs or cooked fresh; and seasonings to taste. Depending on my mood and who I am cooking for I add salt, pepper, cloves or allspice; if I want it hotter I add chili powder, Tabasco sauce, or salsa to taste. Pour about 1/2 cup of honey, corn syrup, maple syrup or molasses into a cup, and add some of the hot cooking water to thin it out so it pours out easily over the beans. Add cooking water enough so the beans are just submerged. Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer until done to suit. If you don’t have any of the syrupy things on hand you can use brown sugar and hot water. The idea is to give the beans a sweet twang. I have been known to add a splash of vinegar if the beans tasted overly sweet. 

OTHER BEAN SAUCES: If you want short-cut barbecue beans, throw in some bottled barbecue sauce into your basic cooked beans, thinned down a bit with hot water so it does not overpower them. It’s even better with your home made secret BBQ sauce. Ketchup is a time honored way to dress up plain beans. For chili beans, dump in a good amount of salsa (my husband likes Pace), some chopped onions and some chili powder. Stewed tomatoes make a milder bean sauce if the Pace is too hot. My husband likes to throw cans of vegetarian vegetable soup into the pot for a sort of bean stew! Italian beans are made with (you guessed it!) pasta sauce and parmesan cheese. 

OTHER BEAN DISHES: Beans are a good way to stretch your meat and add fiber to any casserole. You can smoosh them up and stir them in (if you have bean skeptics to feed) or simply add them whole for about 1/4th to 1/2 the meat. You can mash them up and add to hamburger patties, meat balls, or meat loaf. You can mush them up, mix them with bread crumbs and make totally meatless patties. (1 lb beans, cooked and mashed up, 2 eggs, a little chopped onion, and bread crumbs to make it easier to patty them up. Mix well, make patties, and roll in more bread crumbs. Fry in a fry pan, serve in a bun with lettuce and tomato, and who misses meat?? ) Try adding sage for a bean ‘sausage’ patty for breakfast. Whole beans are drained and marinated in a vinaigrette dressing, for three-bean salad. Feeling uninspired? Marinate them in Italian salad dressing, with some minced onions and chopped green pepper if you like. You can mix cooked beans with mayonnaise type dressing, too and either leave them whole or mash them up for a sandwich filling that is fiber rich and satisfying. Don’t forget bean-wiches, made of cooked beans spooned over bread, topped with a slice of cheese and broiled. Beans make a good sloppy-joe, a tasty stir-fry, and of course all manner of chilis.

If you grind up some raw beans into BEAN FLOUR (use a metal burr on your grinder, the stone ones need cleaning if you grind beans with them) they cook faster, almost instant. They make wonderful ‘instant’ refried beans. 
Take 2 cups water, bring to a boil. Whisk in 1 cup bean flour, and cook and stir 1 min until thickened. Lower heat to med-low cover and cook 6 min, stirring occasionally. This makes a nice, thick refried bean style dish. Just top with grated cheese and chopped onions and eat with a spoon. For a bean dip, use 2 1/2 cups water and 3/4 cup bean flour. Cook and stir 1 min until thickened, then lower heat and cook 4 min longer, stirring occasionally. This is also good as a sandwich filling. If you are feeding bean skeptics a white bean flour can be used to thicken sauces and snuck (sneaked??) into macaroni and cheese or other casseroles handily, as well as thickening soups and adding to wheat flour to complete the protein (add 1/4th as much bean flour as wheat flour). 

Beans are a fun food to experiment with, and cheap enough that if you don’t like the results, you didn’t break the bank.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

I might have to give that thermal heat method a try. Thanks.


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