I usually use dried beans for most of my bean dishes, and depending on the freshness of the bean

K

karennoca

Well-known member
I soak for an hour or so then boil and simmer until the bean is finished. Then they are dumped into the other ingredients to finish off the dish.

Yesterday, I happened to come upon an episode of Pioneer Woman, and she was making her cowboy beans. She was using dried beans and simply rinsed, drained them, then mixed them in with the other ingredients to finish cooking for an hour or so.

I only do this with canned beans.......do most of you soak dried beans and cook separatley from the other ingredients?

 
Cooking Dried Beans

Like you, I always pre-soak dried beans and cook separately by pressure cooker or stovetop, depending on bean. I think the beans cook much faster when they are soaked overnight.

 
I soak overnight if possible. The beans cook up quicker and I think more tender.

An alternative is to bring them to the boil, boil for a minute, then cover and let sit for an hour.

I know beans will cook without soaking but they take longer. I use Julia's Baked Beans recipe in which you dump everything in a crockpot, dried beans included, and leave on low for 14 hours. Also, pinto beans are pretty soft and cook up well without soaking, so if Pioneer Woman was using pintos that would make sense.

 
You don't HAVE to soak beans, but it shortens the cooking time.

If you do as she did (LOOKED great) you just have to cook them 'til they are done.
I LOVE my pressure cooker just for that reason also. I don't have to soak, but may have to cook the beans longer even in the PC.

 
Thanks all, I was doing it right all along it seems. I do find that all beans

act differently. I used to keep notes on the different varieties, but I use so many that I got bored with the note keeping, Umm...maybe lazy is a better word!

 
And remember if you get old beans they may never get soft and tender. . .

AND if you cook the beans with something that is too acidic, the beans may not get tender.

Try to buy your beans from a store that sells a lot of beans so you don't get oldies.

 
I buy my beans from Rancho Gordo in CA and Purcell Mountain Farms in Colorado

All beans have their season, so you have to be quick to get some of the favorites from these places, because they sell out and then there are no more until next season. I'm getting a bean now from our Farmer's Market that I love. It is crinmson and white, gets very fat when cooked, skin stays intact and it is solid, with an excellent flavor. A meaty bean, one might say. It is called Missouri Bill

 
LOL! and he makes an awesome pot of beans---his family had a Popeye's franchise.good popeye's beans

 
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