Cooking For Engineers

[visiter]

The age of th beans tehmselves and thier handling may have as much to do with the final texture as the ph of the water. I have had beans that whether soaked over night, for days or even quick soaked by boiling for one minute then resting one hour, would never soften regardles of cooking time and temperature.

Here in FL I have a BIG problem with the texture of dried Black eyed beans after cooking. I have yet to find any that give the correct texture and taste when cooked. Finally I found a frozen fresh black eye (marketed as field peas, here in the south black eyes before drying are called peas many times). The purchase of these frozen fresh products has changed three things considerabley.

1. I never seem to have any gas from them
2. They cook in about 20 minutes from frozen
3. they always have the correct texture and taste.

I suggest that if anyone can, find frozen beans instead of dried beans. I Think they are worth the 1.25-1.65 per pound price tag.

Is the issue of the products that we cannot properly digest actually due to the drying process? Maybe there is another way to dry them such as par boil then dry, would that fixate the chemistry? Interesteing thought I guess?

[The Yakima Kid]

The issue with legume digestibility is the complex carbohydrates known as stachyose which are part of the structure of a legume.

[skramy]

I have had really good luck using the crock pot method. The evening before I sort and rinse the beans. I cover the beans with water and simmer them for 30 minutes on the stove. Transfer the water and beans to a crock pot and cover and cook on low overnight. It is time efficient for me when working especially if I add ingredients for chili, bean soup, etc. directly to the beans in the crockpot and slow cook dinner while at work during the day.

[pbone]

I got sick of soaking beans for hours and hours and tried rinsing the beans (sorting for sticks and stones) and then putting them in a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. This cut the soaking time down significantly, like by half, I think. I'm talking about black beans, which seem to remain hard just forever...objections to or support for this method are welcomed.

[danicamoore]

The purpose of soaking is to begin rehydration before cooking, thereby reducing cooking time. Unsoaked beans take longer to cook and require more attention so they won't cook dry. Upon cooking it I can suggest that lowering the flame to avoid over cooking it.

[braveturtl]

The myth that's come down through my family with regards to cooking beans is to never add salt til the beans are tender. This may have something to do with the ph of the liquid as mentioned in previous responses. Many family gatherings and many servings of delicious baked beans may give some credibility to this method. [/b]

[Lovestocook]

A wonderful chart Which shows how long each type
Of bean should be soaked for:

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

[yocona]

Thanks for that link, Lovestocook.

[Jim Cooley]

[kali1952]

Soaking beans overnight, simply menas that since they have to soak for 6 - 10 hrs, do it at night when you're asleep...then you can begin the cooking process anytime during the day that you like. If you are using a crockpot..it will take a while!

Don't use baking soda when they are cooking...soapy taste. Soak with baking soda, then rinse.

[clothstor]

Baking soda and a good sausage... It sounds awefull but it works
Best regards,

[enzian]

One problem with "soaking overnight" is that often you're not ready to cook until the following evening - so the beans end up soaking for 24 hours. Which is too long. As a rule, I soak the beans in the morning for about 8 hrs. That's it. Yes, change the water as it will have skins and crud and be discolored. And yes a pinch of baking soda.

[haynahu]

boil the water first then add the beans or boil the water with the beans then put of the fire... let it cool for a few minutes.. then simmer hehehe sori for my english... try it.

[Diane B.]

A few things to add about dried beans (some mentioned already):

SOFTENING:
The don't-add-salt advice that's been around a long time has actually been disproven. Things that actually *can* keep beans from softening in the usual amount of time (during the soaking/softening stage) are:
...adding a sweetener (sugar, molasses, etc)
...adding an acid (tomatoes, vinegar, wine, etc)
...using "hard" water
...using beans that are too old

GAS:
...I never pour off my soaking water and find that many beans produce no gas or very little; some do. I'd heard some "good chef" say somewhere that discarding the soaking water may get rid of some of the indigestible stuff but also loses a lot of the flavor (which I noticed when I tried it--not worth the trade off).

QUICK IDEAS:
...For many dried beans I'll do the softening in big batches, then store the drained beans in ziptop bags in the freezer; the time then required for cooking at dinnertime will be only the normal cooking time (whichever that is).
...For even quicker, I'll do one or both in a pressure cooker.

RANDOM STUFF:

The "quick soak" method is great for speeding things up. The beans are boiled for 1-2 minutes, then allowed to sit off-heat for an hour (rather than 6-10 hrs of regular soaking, or even less for some):
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+quick+soak+beans

Soaking will make some beans wrinklier than others. Here's some info from RogueChef about wrinkling:
"...Water first seeps into the bean through the hilum, or scar, where the bean was attached to the stem in the pod. At this stage, the seed coat, or skin, begins to wrinkle, but wait until most of the beans have wrinkly skins. A few beans won’t ever get wrinkled, and some will only get partially wrinkled but most of the beans should show some wrinkles. This will take… well, as long as it takes, because every package of beans is different.
When the beans are wrinkled they are rehydrated enough to cook. The wrinkled skins will smooth out as the beans swell during cooking."

Black beans will color the water a little.

After quick-soaking or after overnight no-heat soaking, most beans will still take at least 1 1/2 hours to fully cook in the regular way. (However, some legumes like lentils don't need pre-soaking of any kind and will cook completely in about 45 minutes.)

If you don't want to quick soak (or overnight-4-8-hr soak), a pressure cooker can be used both for the soaking and the cooking steps, saving a lot of time.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+pressure+cook+beans

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[welsleyjames]