Bean stock

[skilletlicker]

If you google bean stock you get stuff about bean soup or yuppie coffee places. If you cook beans very often you know sometimes there's more liquid than you need. That liquid is bean stock and I can't understand why it is so under appreciated. The cooking shows say strain your canned beans and throw that disgusting liquid away. That's the kind of stuff that really irks me.

Last night I made a stew that turned out to be variation on jambalaya. Among the substitutions/additions were pinto beans and the stock it was cooked in.

So nearly every recipe calls for chicken stock. What's wrong with bean stock? I've previously asked the same question about pork stock. All these cooking shows and forums are great, but there seems to be a tendency to fads, leaving a lot of good stuff out of the conversation.

 

[Dawgluver]

I think it's because the gaseousness (is that a word?) has long been believed to be in the bean water/stock, and discarding it has long been thought to reduce the musical side effects. I rinse my canned black beans, but apparently it's not necessary.

 

[Addie]

When I used to make my own baked beans, I first would rinse and then soaked them overnight. That water got drained. I then cooked them in fresh water until the skins would burst upon blowing on them. Those too got drained but the water was saved. When I layered and placed the beans in the bean pot, once everything was in the pot, I then took the cooking water and used that in the pot until the beans were covered. I saved any that was left over and replenished the liquid as needed during the rest of the cooking time. That cooking water was never wasted. There are a lot of nutrients in that water along with flavor.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I always use the liquid from home cooked beans to make a small pot of soup. The bean liquid makes a nice base for minestrone. I try not to buy canned beans, I prefer to cook a pound or two and freeze them in two cup containers. When I do use canned beans sometimes I rinse them and sometimes I don't. Rinsing the canned beans helps to remove some of the sodium. When I use canned beans in a salad I give them a quick rinse with boiling water and a squirt of lemon juice or vinegar to remove the tin can taste that some brands of beans pick up. I use the liquid from canned beans when I make chili or beans & greens.

I never make fresh pork stock, but the bones and scraps of pork always go into something.

I really make an effort to use everything I buy. It really bothers me to see how much of the food we buy gets tossed into the trash for one reason or another. At my house it's mostly eggshells and coffee grounds! I've got my eye on those eggshells, in some cook books they talk about freezing the eggshells and adding them to the stock pot.

 

[Addie]

Many moons ago, I read a question that stated, "What are the two healthiest things in your home?"

The answer was so simple, yet so true. The kitchen sink, think of all the liquids we pour down there. Liquids from canned veggies, leftover soup, etc. And the trash can. Self-explanatory. What doesn't fit down the drain, goes into the trash can.

 

[larry_stewart]

I try to use a lot of the ' left over liquids' in soups and stocks. For example, the water after boiling corn on the cob, the water after boiling the cabbage for making stuffed cabbage , bean water , The mushroom water after marinating portobellos with garlic and other herbs ( makes a great mushroom stock).

I agree that the cooking shows usually tend to the fads, which is kinda why I've cut back from watching many of them. I find the older, less trendy cooks/ cooking shows to be more frugal with their ingredients. And I also get similar advice from this forum due to the large demographic differences of people here ( Age, experiences, Geographic, cultural...)

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I always use the liquid from home cooked beans to make a small pot of soup. The bean liquid makes a nice base for minestrone. I try not to buy canned beans, I prefer to cook a pound or two and freeze them in two cup containers. When I do use canned beans sometimes I rinse them and sometimes I don't. Rinsing the canned beans helps to remove some of the sodium. When I use canned beans in a salad I give them a quick rinse with boiling water and a squirt of lemon juice or vinegar to remove the tin can taste that some brands of beans pick up. I use the liquid from canned beans when I make chili or beans & greens.

I never make fresh pork stock, but the bones and scraps of pork always go into something.

I really make an effort to use everything I buy. It really bothers me to see how much of the food we buy gets tossed into the trash for one reason or another. At my house it's mostly eggshells and coffee grounds! I've got my eye on those eggshells, in some cook books they talk about freezing the eggshells and adding them to the stock pot.

Hmmmmmm...egg shells, how much was that last bottle of calcium tablets I bought?

 

[larry_stewart]

My eggshells either get fed to the chickens ( they love them), or placed in the ground when I plant tomatoes to add calcium to the soil and hopefully reduce the risk of blossom rot. Most of our unused scraps also get sent to the chickens, which in turn gives me fresh eggs and fertilizer for the garden

Last year there was an exhibit on food at the Museum of Natural History in NYC. It covered many things from many different countries and cultures. USA sure does waste a lot of food. But , when the tour guide tried to guilt us on wasting food, my daughter gave him our chicken reply. He was impressed.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

No chickens, no garden...

 

[Addie]

I try to use a lot of the ' left over liquids' in soups and stocks. For example, the water after boiling corn on the cob, the water after boiling the cabbage for making stuffed cabbage , bean water , The mushroom water after marinating portobellos with garlic and other herbs ( makes a great mushroom stock).

I agree that the cooking shows usually tend to the fads, which is kinda why I've cut back from watching many of them. I find the older, less trendy cooks/ cooking shows to be more frugal with their ingredients. And I also get similar advice from this forum due to the large demographic differences of people here ( Age, experiences, Geographic, cultural...)

So right Larry. When you soak to rehydrate mushrooms and then strain the liquid, you have such intense mushroom flavor. The only time I watch any of the TV food shows now are on Saturday morning. ATK, Cook's Country, and Jacques Pepin are the only ones I now watch.

 

[GotGarlic]

Pouring out the soaking water may not be the best idea: http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/soaking-black-beans-faq.html

 

[Addie]

Pouring out the soaking water may not be the best idea: So You Like Flavor? Don't Soak Your Black Beans! | Serious Eats

I have never cooked black beans. Only navy beans for Boston Baked Beans. And every recipe I have ever read said to toss the soaking water. Actually there really isn't that much water to toss anyway. A whole bag of beans can soak up a lot of water.

 

[jennyema]

Pouring out the soaking water may not be the best idea: So You Like Flavor? Don't Soak Your Black Beans! | Serious Eats

Kenji says not to soak them at all, so there wouldn't be any water to pour out.

Plus Kenji is comparing beans which are not soaked at all with beans which are cooked in their soaking liquid. In both cases, he's ingesting the dissolved olgiosaccarides which give people gas and other digestive issues with beans.

People throw away bean soaking and cooking water because the water makes them fart or have stomach issues.

 

[GotGarlic]

I guess I misremembered the article. I figure the advice would work with any kind of beans, though.

Addie, old recipes aren't always the best. Times, ingredients, equipment and desired results change. It's not a bad thing to try a new way once in a while.

 

[bethzaring]

I have always thrown out the soaking water. But today I looked in my bean bible, an old pamphlet put out by the Michigan bean commission 40 years ago, and they make no mention of discarding the soaking water. I was surprised. A few recipes mention draining the cooked beans but always reserving the liquid. I will gingerly try keeping the soaking water next time I make (pinto) beans, which is a weekly chore now days.


uh-oh, I see now the bean commission is currently recommending discarding the soaking water


Michigan Bean Commission | COOKING TIPS

 

[skilletlicker]

Thanks to all for your sharing your knowledge and experience. There are at least two conversations going on. My original post had to do with the liquid after beans were fully cooked and that was what I called bean stock. I think the discussion of the soak water before cooking is another question. Actually I think the necessity, or even utility, of presoaking beans is debatable, let alone the question of disposal, or not, of the remaining liquid. I don't have hard opinions on the matter. Consensus is that it is usually not recomended for split peas, lentils or other small legumes, but usually recomended for "normal" beans, like those larger navy or pintos.

Sometimes I presoak, quick or overnight, sometimes not. I never save that water. Maybe I'm throwing out some nutrition, and I'm willing to change if convinced, but the liquid remaining after cooking is different. You know it's nutrient dense just by the look and feel of the stuff. Plus it deglazes just like any other stock, and most importantly, it tastes good and improves the flavor of almost anything it's added to.

 

[jennyema]

The cooking water or broth can make you gassy and irritate your bowels unless you soaked and tossed the soaking water several times. Some people are susceptible to that and others are not.

That and lack of space is why I toss the cooking water (unless I'm making soup).

 

[Addie]

The cooking water or broth can make you gassy and irritate your bowels unless you soaked and tossed the soaking water several times. Some people are susceptible to that and others are not.

That and lack of space is why I toss the cooking water (unless I'm making soup).

There is a reason they call beans the "musical fruit!"

 

[jennyema]

There is a reason they call beans the "musical fruit!"

Beans are merely musical for me, while sunchokes are the full-on Boston Pops!

 

[lyndalou]

I think it's because the gaseousness (is that a word?) has long been believed to be in the bean water/stock, and discarding it has long been thought to reduce the musical side effects. I rinse my canned black beans, but apparently it's not necessary.

Gaseousness is a word I have been known to use on occasion...so it's a word!