We know you didn’t think it was possible, but this week, we’re even more full of beans than usual. (Dried beans, specifically, though we like canned, too.) We’re tackling some of life’s toughest questions: to soak or not to soak, to salt or not to salt, and what happens to Matthew when he eats happy brownies? We’re also spilling the beans about our favorite cooking methods. Hurry up and click “Play” already, before we find a way to work another bean idiom into this description. www.spilledmilkpodcast.com
April 28, 2011
Slow-cooker beans have made me a much better bean cook. That firm yet melting texture that John Thorne talks about happens almost every time, and the pot likker is amazing. I never got exactly the result I wanted before I embraced the slow cooker.
Beans! I am one of those people who insists on dried beans, mostly because I’m kind of a texture freak. The canned ones are just so mushy and non-food-like. My housemate swears by pressure cooking beans – no soaking, no waiting. But beans don’t really require a “method.” Soaked or not soaked, just boil them in salted water. You get flavorful, not-overcooked, basic beans that you can keep on hand and dress up however you like.
Salt isn’t an issue in terms of cooking time, but acids are, so keep the tomatoes, vinegar and lemons out of the mix until the beans are cooked. Adding a base to your cooing water can speed up the cook time, but kind of leaves them mushy and the skins all come off. Perhaps that might be part of the answer to the radically different cook times Molly has experienced?
I can’t get over how beans are a mystery, lol! To me dried beans can suffer all sorts of abuse and still be great! ITA with the previous poster about the acid, though.
For me it’s a combo of 2 things whether I use fresh or canned- time and the bean’s role in the dish. If it’s chili or something where the bean is part of something bigger and not the star, I’ll use canned for convenience. But for a pot of beans by themselves (pintos and cornbread, like I had growing up), I’ll use dried every time, bc like Matthew said, you can flavor them during the cooking process and really turn them into something special. Dried beans are cheaper as well. But I’m not a purist by any stretch…
The only thing I really didn’t agree with (and I don’t know why, so if someone does have the correct answer, I’d really like to hear it) was about the dried beans being fresh and not old. I use ‘old’ dried beans (pintos, kidneys, lingots, black beans) all the time and haven’t noticed any difference, but again, it may just be my perception.
Here’s my pretty foolproof method- I do a quick soak- 10 minute boil in the microwave in a lot of water, drain, rinse. Put in a dutch oven (I have a cast iron one I love), cover with water, a 2-3 oz bit of bacon and a handful of salt. If you’re using it for Mexican food, add in a head of UNPEELED garlic. Put all that in a 300 degree oven for a total of 2-3 hours, verifying the water level every 30-45 minutes or so. That’s it. I’ve never had overcooked beans from that (with any of the varieties I mentioned above). The only time I’ve ever had bean probs was when I tried to cook them on top of the stove for cassoulet- once, they got mushy, no clue why bc I’ve used the same recipe all along. Bizzaro!
I have heard (and tend to believe) that to eliminate the gas, you have to dump the soaking liquid, rince the beans well and then cook them in new liquid. But I haven’t done any fart-collecting research to support that.
Love you guys!
I am also a John Thorne lover, and slow-cooker bean convert. I have found that a ten-minute boil of soaked beans before going in the crock for the whole day reduces the “musicality” issues for my partner. For this fool, it’s been nearly foolproof. I can do get them going during breakfast.
I dislike canned beans because of their sodium content and because I’m afeared of ye olde BPA in cans. I just make extra of whatever type I’m crockpotting and freeze them. It’s worked well.
That said, I just got my hands on my very first enamel dutch oven and we will be attempting oven beans before the weather heats up.
I really need to try this. I use canned beans but that’s because every time I’ve made them they’re a disaster – usually in that they fall apart not from being overcooked and mushy but just losing their shape. My mum, however, is the queen of dried beans. I follow her instruction – soaking overnight – cooking to a boil then simmering – hers are always perfect mine not. She doesn’t use salt during cooking either.
When I bought a bag of Yellow Indian Woman beans at the SF Ferry market last year, the woman told me to soak them only for a couple of hours because they were so fresh.
I then followed Steve Sando’s method for cooking them (http://www.chow.com/food-news/55413/how-to-cook-beans-with-steve-sando/) and they were the most delicious beans I’ve ever made!
Until recently I always thought pressure cookers were some scary piece of equipment from the 70′s, but I’ve come around when I discovered they’re bascially just a big pot with a sealed lid, and that they’re ideal for cooking dried beans. Like you, I could never make dried beans that were consistently good, and I was always concerned that I was wasting a lot of energy by having the oven or stovetop on for that long. With the pressure cooker the beans only take 5 minutes and they’re always perfect. I highly recommend giving this method a try– and this is coming from someone who is very resistant to having specialized kitchen equipment (though to be fair there are lots of other things you can make with a pressure cooker, including the best rice ever).
Hello! Thanks for yet another entertaining and enlightening episode. Aptly timed since I endured a mediocre pot of beans last week (what a tragic fate for my Vaqueros). It was so funny because I just wanted to reply back and interject when you were talking about….everything. I feel like I endured everything you touched upon. BUT! Last night I made a pot of Good Mother Stallards (salting the water first, yikes!), cooking them over the stovetop and it was AMAZING. YES! I am STILL excited about those beans and can’t wait to dig into them for lunch
Hi!
In my family (we’re Mexican)we always always always use dried beans, if not then you’ll be accused of forgetting your heritage. We wash the beans a few times and then put them in a pot of water to boil. You have to keep an eye on the beans so that you can add more water to the pot when the water gets low, you do this until the beans are cooked. We add salt when they are ready.
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