Hi and help with beans

[Gretchen]

Maybe I missed it but I didn't notice anyone mentioning beans need to be presoaked. You shouldn't just throw dried beans in a pot and expect them to cook up nice and tender. I do the 10 minute "quick soak" most of the time, but if I'm planning ahead I soak them overnight.

Fraidy

While the quick soak or overnight soak will shorten the cooking time, beans will eventually cook. The presoaks just shorten the time.
Salt does not affect the cooking except for flavor--it is better to salt while cooking so the salt is incorporated into the bean.
Age does matter as many have mentioned. Buy your beans where there is a turnover of product.
AND I love my pressure cooker for beans!!!!

 

[petey]

While the quick soak or overnight soak will shorten the cooking time, beans will eventually cook. The presoaks just shorten the time.
Salt does not affect the cooking except for flavor--it is better to salt while cooking so the salt is incorporated into the bean.
Age does matter as many have mentioned. Buy your beans where there is a turnover of product.
AND I love my pressure cooker for beans!!!!

A pressure cooker is a must for beans. Ask anyone living south of Texas and they'll tell you "Use a presssure cooker" . Every house in latin america has a pressure cooker for beans. You can get one for about $25 and they last a life time. Forget about pre-soaking and all of the science projects. With a pressure cooker the beans go from the bag to the pot and cook completely withing 30 - 40 minutes depending.

I make a fresh pot of black beans about 2 times per month. Good stuff!!!!

 

[Robo410]

oh ya, made crispy bean soup once...old buggers...never again. a fresh bag each recipe...and yes, old beans from the pantry get used for blind baking (pie weights).

I have never presure cooked old beans...does it help??

 

[petey]

oh ya, made crispy bean soup once...old buggers...never again. a fresh bag each recipe...and yes, old beans from the pantry get used for blind baking (pie weights).

I have never presure cooked old beans...does it help??

Well, i dont really know how to determin how old beans are. They dont sit in my house long enough to get old i guess. I somehow think that a pressure cooker will cook them completely no matter how old they are.

 

[jennyema]

Well, i dont really know how to determin how old beans are. They dont sit in my house long enough to get old i guess. I somehow think that a pressure cooker will cook them completely no matter how old they are.

Not even a pressure cooker will properly soften really old beans.

 

[jeterlover]

Dried beans

Thank you everyone for all of your input about my chili bean dilemma. Needless to say I finally threw those beans out. I bought some new ones, boiled them for an hour, threw them in the crock pot and made the best chili I have made in years. I will be back soon.
Jeterlover

 

[petey]

Thank you everyone for all of your input about my chili bean dilemma. Needless to say I finally threw those beans out. I bought some new ones, boiled them for an hour, threw them in the crock pot and made the best chili I have made in years. I will be back soon.
Jeterlover

Glad you cooking experience was a success

 

[Candocook]

I cooked some cannellini the other day that were just delicious. And I had had them for a LONG time. I even overcooked a bit, unfortunately--30 minutes.
It is almost impossible to tell if beans are old or not--the advice is to buy beans where there is a large turnover is probably best.

 

[karadekoolaid]

It's pretty obvious from all the other posts and the fact that your beans didn't cook after 5 hours... I'm surprised no-one's pointed it out.

You had "Has-Beans"!

 

[yankeefaninseattle]

Learned that one the hard way too, jeterlover (can't stand that boy). I cooked some that were near that no softening point, but was lucky enough that they had consistency to the bean, rather than like rocks. I think the age of the bean does have a lot to do with it.
Keep on trying, though, they are versatile, good to freeze, and better if they are red w/ some rice over cornbread.
B.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

While it's true that bases will cause breakdown and therefore softening of food, it may prove somewhat dangerous to do. Strong bases such as sodum hydroxide would be dangerous if used beyond a certain amount. The amount the human body can tolerate is very small. Weaker bases such as calcium hydroxide (lime water) may be marginally safer but still dangerous. In addition, calcium hydroxide will give an unpleasant taste to the food. It is better to experiment with very weak bases which pose a much lower health risk. But is saving some old beans worth all this trouble? Finally, please bear in mind that breaking food down through the action of a base is the process that is foreign to the human body which breaks down food by the action of acid (hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach).

Actually, the acid in hte stomach merely starts a part of the digestion process. Foods are actually broken down in the small intestine by bile salts, which are strong bases (alkalyes). The bile release is triggered by the acidic food entering the douodenum, if I recall correctly. The sugars, starches, and fats are then broken down into digestible materials that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Think of Dawn dishwashing liquid and what it does to grease. It is a very effective base. And also notice that most drain cleaners, and oven cleaners are positive PH as well. They break down the foods and make them easier to get off of surfaces.

But still, strong bases are very caustic and will quickly destroy body tissues if gotten into the wrong areas of the body. But YT is correct in that there are food products that have been treated with such things as lye to make them pallatable. The first example I can think of is hominy. Hominy is a tough corn that is inedible until treated with lye to soten the hulls. I believe that pretzels are also treated with a base. Baking soda, though not as strong as many alkalies, is still a base and reactes fairly violently with acids.

Foods that are treated with alkalies are then rinsed to remove them from the food.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[skilletlicker]

...
But still, strong bases are very caustic and will quickly destroy body tissues if gotten into the wrong areas of the body. But YT is correct in that there are food products that have been treated with such things as lye to make them pallatable. The first example I can think of is hominy. Hominy is a tough corn that is inedible until treated with lye to soten the hulls. I believe that pretzels are also treated with a base. Baking soda, though not as strong as many alkalies, is still a base and reactes fairly violently with acids.
...

Well Goodweed, the tough corn that hominy is made from is not necessarily different than the corn from which your polenta or corn meal is milled, hulls and all. Furthermore, although I can't say for certain why folks started treating maize with alkali 3 or 4 thousand years ago, ordinary ashes were originally used, I bet they kept it up, in part at least, because the ones that didn't died young. That was an unfortunate fate shared by no small number of Europeans and Africans who tried to live off the maize the conquistadors sent back with the plunder. Had the primary motivation been to make their staple grain more palatable, why did the folks from the old world resist?

Of course, I'm no expert and would appreciate corrections of any misunderstandings.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well Goodweed, the tough corn that hominy is made from is not necessarily different than the corn from which your polenta or corn meal is milled, hulls and all. Furthermore, although I can't say for certain why folks started treating maize with alkali 3 or 4 thousand years ago, ordinary ashes were originally used, I bet they kept it up, in part at least, because the ones that didn't died young. That was an unfortunate fate shared by no small number of Europeans and Africans who tried to live off the maize the conquistadors sent back with the plunder. Had the primary motivation been to make their staple grain more palatable, why did the folks from the old world resist?

Of course, I'm no expert and would appreciate corrections of any misunderstandings.

I don't know the history of using alkalyes to help process foods. I know much more about the body and its processes. I just know that the substances were used to process corn (maize). So, I can't really engage in any meaningful discussion on the topic. I did, however, want to set the record straight when I read Boufa's post about stomach acids digesting food. That's all my freinds.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North