Dried beans- Recipes and prep advice?

[Winnie]

Not your fault dear,these guys lured you into a trap!

Actually Nell, it was the other way round! Muahahah

[Winnie]

Actually, we were all wobbly long before she showed up.

Perhaps you need to take more water with it! LOL

[2dumb2kwit]

Not your fault dear,these guys lured you into a trap!

Actually Nell, it was the other way round! Muahahah

RUN AWAY GUYS!

It's a...

[Pict]

OK, here is all you ever wanted to know about beans and pressure cookers.

http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/beanframe.html

She recommends pre-soaking beans to cut cooking times to 8 - 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. We never do this, in fact I don't know any Brazilians that do, we put them in the pressure cooker and let them go about 40 minutes.

If you are going to cook up more beans than you plan to eat in one sitting then don't season the beans in the pot. Cook the beans unseasoned, put away the portion you don't plan to eat and then season the beans in another pot for dinner. They keep longer if they aren't seasoned.

Mac

[Durtyoleman]

Wash day cookin'.... Back home in louisiana we did red beans n rice on mondays cause that was wash day...when laundry got done. Beans are best as a slow cook meal and that left time to tend to the other time consumin' chores. On sunday night a big pot of red beans was left to soak and drained off monday mornin', a slab of salt pork and ham hock or three were added along with a few bay leaves, cayanne pepper, basil, black pepper, oregano, chili pepper, sassafrass, cayanne pepper, paprika, and some pepper for flavor were put on for a short boil then left to simmer all day while the wash was done, then just prior to supper a big pot of rice was cooked up and the resultant flame shooting beans spooned over top. I had asbestos diapers as a kid and hot sauce in my bottle.

D.O.M.

[LowKey]

The only way I know how to make beans is to soak them overnight then slow bake em 5 or 6 hours with sugar, molasses, onion, a little dry mustard, and a sliced chunk of salt pork.
No, I don't have a beanpot. Corningware works just as well though.

[Dink]

Soaking some tonight for cooking tomorrow...

2# pinto beans will soak overnight covered in a big bowl of water with 3 tablespoons of baking soda and SLOWLY added 1 cup of apple cider vinegar...be careful it will foam at first...this kills the gas in the beans...at least most of it! LOL!!

At about 6am, I will drain and rinse the beans thoroughly. This time I will be using pork spine with lots of meat on it, sometimes I chunk up pork steak or ham steak, sometimes large chunks of smoked jowl or even pork ribbs...ANYTHING pork works for me!! I butcher my own hogs, nothing is wasted, so there is always a large amount of joint and odd bone pieces with large amounts of meat on them for beans and stews.

I layer the bottom of my 10 quart slow cooker (kind of like a giant crock pot-just never found a crockpot big enough) with the pork, add 2 large chopped vidalia or other sweet onions on top of the pork, as well as a 1# bag of baby carrot (each cut in half). On top of this I will add the rinsed beans. I leave the meat in the large pieces, it will be off the bones and fall apart tender by the time its done cooking...GAURANTEED!

Finally I will add a several tablespoons of Lawry's seasoned salt, a few table spoons of Mrs Dashs Original Table blend and a couple large 3 finger pinches of dried chopped parsley flakes. I then fill the slow cooker with water, put the lid on, turn it on high and let it cook on high for 12 hours, stirring it a couple times through the day. At about 6pm I will turn the heat down to low and at 6-7pm make a big skillet of fried taters with onions and a couple pans of homemade (not boxed) cornbread.

We will be eating between 7 & 8pm. Which for us is fine since we don't eat till all the farmwork is done and the animals are taken care of.
Sorry my measuring isn't real technical...but everyone will adjust it to suit them anyways! LOL!! And beans always seem to need a lil more salt anyways...but then I AM a salt-aholic!

[Sparky93]

Man that makes me hungry .....
ham and beans with a side of turnips and mashed patatoes mmmm......
doesn't get much better than that

[1stimestar]

Yep we always have friend potatos with onion with our beans.

[Rick]

Dink - I think you're wasting your time on the baking soda and vinegar (never put the two in a closed container. It can explode!). Beans cause gas because they form a large chain sugar once the body starts digesting them. Enzymes in the intestines break down our food and allow the body to absorb it through the intestines. Sadly, we don't have an enzyme that breaks down the large chain sugar. But we do have bacteria in our intestines and they love sugar. It's like party central for the bacteria and as they eat, grow and divide a by product is they produce gas. So you don't have to blame it on the dog. It's really the bacteria's fault. The soda and vinegar have no affect on the bacteria or on the long chain sugars. That's why some products such as Beano do work. They actually add the enzyme that can break down the long chain sugars and allow your body to absorb the "beans" in the intestine.

I understand Beano has caused extensive unemployment in the bacteria community and Congress wants to fund a study to find ways to retrain the bacteria. Meanwhile some of the stimulus money was earmarked to put them back to work in laboratories.

Your Minister of Science at work.

[crashdive123]

Besides - you can always blame it on the dog.

[Dink]

I never soaked tehm in anything but water...until I started cooking at Jim & Carols house. Its something they want done. And since I am not good at argueing with people in their 70's who are set in their ways...I will continue to soak them in an OPEN bowl of bakingsoda, vinegar and water mixture. Besides....Being a girl, I don't have the gas problems guys have!! 8-}

[shiftyer1]

I haven't made a pot of beans since spring, now I have the craving. I've never soaked beans, does it shorten the cooking time? I normally just sort them, rinse them and throw them in a crockpot on simmer before I go to bed....I stay up pretty late. Unless i've had a campfire in which case I throw them in a dutch oven and simmer over the coals. I also throw in some pork I have layin around and serve with cornbread.

[Rick]

Dink - I think this is a case of soaking being the better part of valor. I would, too.

Soaking softens the outer membrane on the bean. You can cut your cooking time by about 70% if you soak them. They will expand nearly 3Xs their size, too, as they absorb some of the water.

[shiftyer1]

hmmm i'll have to remember that if I ever decide to make beans quicker. Mostly when I make beans it's more of a it's 3 am and i'm bored and may want beans tomorrow type a thing.

[Sparky93]

Beans are always better the second day, don't know why. They just are.

[Cast-Iron]

I realize this is an old thread, but I just happened across it today. One thing I noticed was that most recipes here called for salt (or some variation of salt) to season the beans before cooking. I too used to prepare them that way until a few years back when an old camp cook told me it was best to add the salt at the end of the cooking process. He claimed it cut the cooking time down considerably and he's correct. It's not as fast as a pressure cooker, but it can cut an hour or two off your simmer time if you wait to add the salt until the beans are done.

I've only used this with method pinto beans, your results with other legumes may vary.

[Tami/TX]

I also can beans this way! I fill my jars about 25% of the way full of sorted and washed beans, add salt and water. Can pints for 75 minutes, quarts for 90 at proper pressure for altitude. I have been known to add jalapeno's, ground beef and onion to the jar before canning (reduce amount of beans a bit!). YUM! Some folks like to presoak the beans first and just leave about 1" of head space before adding water up to 1/2" headspace (canning time is the same).

[Old Professor]

We have been butchering pigs--both wild and domestic. Most of the people we butcher for do not want the hocks, so we have been smoking the hocks. I think that smoked ham hocks make the best bean soup or baked beans I have ever made. Since I live alone, I pressure can both baked beans and bean soup and can have it just by opening and heating up a jar. (Although I do like cold home made baked beans)

[WeekendWarrior]

We cook smoked ham hocks or ham shanks overnight in the crock pot with a few cups of water, debone the next day and add the soaked beans.
Serve with cornbread.

My wife didn't soak the beans once and we both had extreme gas pains, so now she knows to soak them overnight.