Bean Question

Kate Connally said:

I try cooking dried kidney beans. ;-)

I need to cook some dried kidney beans to confirm my bean theories. I
dislike kidney beans due to the tough skin. But, I used to dislike
lima beans for the same reason. But, it's that whole skin thing that
made me realize it's how they are cooked. Fresh and frozen lima beans
will always have a tough skin due to the fact the interior cooks so
quickly relative to the skin. But, with dried beans and not soaking
them, the skin cooks as quickly as the hard center and by time the
center is cooked, the skin has become soft and diaphanous. The skin
on pinto beans all but disappears. I need to try some kidney beans.

nb

In article <[email hidden]>, "James
Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> says...

Quoted message said:

c> they are not cooking them long enough, or adding salt
c> before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
c> beans.

This is a myth, adding salt has no effect on beans other than to make
them salty.

See http://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm, scroll down to Myths About
Dried Beans

--
Peter Aitken

On Thu, 3 May 2007 08:14:24 -0400, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I am the Bean Queen. 🙂 No kidding.

I AM saying

Quoted message said:

that when someone says, as Mr. L. I. said here, that they never have
beans turn out right, I know they are not cooking them long enough,
or adding salt before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
beans.

This myth has been debunked by Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times,
and who also wrote a book called How To Read A French Fry.

I cannot find the exact article in the Los Angeles Times, but I did
find a blurb about the article from a discussion on beans, from

eGullet. This is what it said:

In January, 2003, the LA Times did an exploration of the big "bean cooking" conundrum.

Regarding salting:

"Salting: Conventional wisdom dictates that dried beans should only be salted toward the end of cooking, because the salt draws moisture from the bean, producing an unpleasantly dry texture. But exhaustive tests done by Times columnist Russ Parsons showed that beans cooked with a teaspoon of salt per pound compared to beans cooked without salt cooked to exactly the same degree of softness in almost exactly the same time. Moreover, the beans salted during cooking required half as much salt."

You may or may not regard this is as scientific, but I wouldn't make
blanket statements about this until you have tried this experiment
yourself.

Christine

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I need to cook some dried kidney beans to confirm my bean theories. I
dislike kidney beans due to the tough skin. But, I used to dislike
lima beans for the same reason. But, it's that whole skin thing that
made me realize it's how they are cooked. Fresh and frozen lima beans
will always have a tough skin due to the fact the interior cooks so
quickly relative to the skin. But, with dried beans and not soaking
them, the skin cooks as quickly as the hard center and by time the
center is cooked, the skin has become soft and diaphanous. The skin
on pinto beans all but disappears. I need to try some kidney beans.

nb

Cooking beans with an acid (tomatoes, e.g.) tends to keep the skins
intact. Omitting any acid and perhaps adding a little baking soda tends
to make the skins break down faster.

--
Peter Aitken

Mr Libido Incognito said:

So I was wondering how many 14 oz cans of navy beans I'd need to equal
the 2 and 1/2 cups of dried beans required in this recipe; as I have a
jonesing for bean and bacon soup that just won't stop. I'm thinking 2.

General rule of thumb;
Dried beans absorb 2X their volume in liquid.

2-1/2 cups of dried beans should produce 7-1/2 cups of soaked beans.

( beans + absorbed liquid )

To convert to/from canned product, work backwards.

<rj>

On Thu, 3 May 2007 08:14:24 -0400, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I am the Bean Queen. 🙂 No kidding. And while Christine may be right,
I have never, ever had this problem. Perhaps one reason is that I do not
keep old food around. And yes, someone else said at some point that the
beans might be old when you get them. It has never, ever happened to me.
Maybe because I have always lived in large cities and shopped at high
volume groceries. I am not saying that it doesn't happen. I AM saying
that when someone says, as Mr. L. I. said here, that they never have
beans turn out right, I know they are not cooking them long enough,
or adding salt before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
beans.

I am rereading the discussion from eGullet about beans and cooking
methods, etc.

Russ Parsons contributed to that thread, and from this page for which
I am giving the link, he posts his article. You have to scroll down
towards the bottom of the page for him to post his article, but it is
there in his post.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s=df3367984bda53ab7d0000a8bb09609b&showtopic=36312&st=30

Christine

Ms P wrote on 03 May 2007 in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

"Mr Libido Incognito" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I can't cook beans to save my soul...Hello my name is Mr Libido
Incognito and I can't cook dried beans. They are always tough...I've
tried the overnight soaking...adding baking soda, adding salt, the
boil twice method...no acids...standing on my left leg , drinking
from the other side of the glass and many other folk lore methods,
alas nothing helps.

I don't do any of that stuff. I never soak. I pick them over and
wash them. Dump them in a large pot with a chunk of ham and enough
water to cover, put the lid on and stick in the oven at 350 degrees
for four hours. Perfect every time. They never boil dry or burn and
they're always cooked perfect. You need to check them after about
half an hour and make sure there aren't any stuck to the sides or
above the water level.

Ms P

This I haven't tried yet...Ok so bean and bacon soup will start in 4
hours.

Peter wrote on Thu, 3 May 2007 11:44:41 -0400:

PA> In article <[email hidden]>,
PA> "James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not>
PA> says...
c>>> they are not cooking them long enough, or adding salt
c>>> before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
c>>> beans.
??>>
PA> This is a myth, adding salt has no effect on beans other
PA> than to make them salty.

PA> See http://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm, scroll down to
Myths About
PA> Dried Beans

Thanks for the "correction" but it was *not* me who suggested
salt!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Peter A said:

Cooking beans with an acid (tomatoes, e.g.) tends to keep the skins
intact. Omitting any acid and perhaps adding a little baking soda tends
to make the skins break down faster.

I'll keep that in mind, Peter, although I never add baking soda to
anything but baked goods. I add cannelloni beans to my ministrone
(with tomatoes), but I used canned or cook them beforehand.

nb

"Christine Dabney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 3 May 2007 08:14:24 -0400, "cybercat" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I am the Bean Queen. 🙂 No kidding. And while Christine may be right,
I have never, ever had this problem. Perhaps one reason is that I do not
keep old food around. And yes, someone else said at some point that the
beans might be old when you get them. It has never, ever happened to me.
Maybe because I have always lived in large cities and shopped at high
volume groceries. I am not saying that it doesn't happen. I AM saying
that when someone says, as Mr. L. I. said here, that they never have
beans turn out right, I know they are not cooking them long enough,
or adding salt before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
beans.

I am rereading the discussion from eGullet about beans and cooking
methods, etc.

Russ Parsons contributed to that thread, and from this page for which
I am giving the link, he posts his article. You have to scroll down
towards the bottom of the page for him to post his article, but it is
there in his post.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s=df3367984bda53ab7d0000a8bb09609b&showtopic=36312&st=30

If you tell me it happens, I have no reason to doubt you. It has just never
happened to me.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

David said:

On Thu, 03 May 2007 03:04:28 GMT, Mr Libido Incognito <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I can't cook beans to save my soul...Hello my name is Mr Libido Incognito
and I can't cook dried beans. They are always tough...I've tried the
overnight soaking...adding baking soda, adding salt, the boil twice
method...no acids...standing on my left leg , drinking from the other side
of the glass and many other folk lore methods, alas nothing helps.

One thing that you did not mention trying was cooking the beans in a
pressure cooker. I can pretty much guarantee that this methid will
work.

I really love the texture of my beans since I started
pressure-cooking them.

Serene

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kate Connally said:

I try cooking dried kidney beans. ;-)

I need to cook some dried kidney beans to confirm my bean theories. I
dislike kidney beans due to the tough skin.

You're really into this tough skin thing.

lol

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In article <[email hidden]>,

Serene said:

David said:

On Thu, 03 May 2007 03:04:28 GMT, Mr Libido Incognito <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I can't cook beans to save my soul...Hello my name is Mr Libido Incognito
and I can't cook dried beans. They are always tough...I've tried the
overnight soaking...adding baking soda, adding salt, the boil twice
method...no acids...standing on my left leg , drinking from the other side
of the glass and many other folk lore methods, alas nothing helps.

One thing that you did not mention trying was cooking the beans in a
pressure cooker. I can pretty much guarantee that this methid will
work.

I really love the texture of my beans since I started
pressure-cooking them.

Serene

Amen! :-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

"Kate Connally" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe it isn't you, but the beans?

No. That is crazy. Cooking dried beans simply takes patience
And NEVER add salt.

This is not true. I always add salt and all the rest
of my ingredients for Boston-style Baked Beans when
I boil the beans. I use Great Northerns.

I've never made these, but I think they're in the 15-bean mix I
use.

I add salt,

Quoted message said:

Worcestershire sauce, molasses, prepared mustard, brown
sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vinegar, onion. When they
are done so that the skin wrinkles when you blow on
it - a couple of hours -

This is a really unique way of testing for doneness. 🙂

--
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"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cybercat wrote on Thu, 3 May 2007 08:14:24 -0400:

c> "kilikini" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
c c> said here, that they never have beans turn out right, I know
c> they are not cooking them long enough, or adding salt
c> before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
c> beans.

But you can add baking soda and it speeds up the cooking.

I didn't know that. Does it affect the flavor? Can you detect it?

--
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cybercat wrote on Thu, 3 May 2007 13:52:14 -0400:

c> "James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote
c> in message
news:[email hidden]...
??>> cybercat wrote on Thu, 3 May 2007 08:14:24 -0400:
??>>
c>>> "kilikini" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
c c>>> said here, that they never have beans turn out right, I
c c>>> know
c>>> they are not cooking them long enough, or adding salt
c>>> before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
c>>> beans.
??>>
??>> But you can add baking soda and it speeds up the cooking.
??>>
c> I didn't know that. Does it affect the flavor? Can you
c> detect it?

I've never noticed any effect on flavor and I use about 1 tsp
for a cup of beans. I use it too to cook lentils (dal) of
various sorts. For dal I also add 1/2 tsp of turmeric. It would
not be appropriate for beans and it may just be a legend but it
is supposed to reduce flatulence later.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Peter A said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "James
Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> says...

Quoted message said:

c> they are not cooking them long enough, or adding  salt
 c> before they are soft. You never, EVER add salt to hard
 c> beans.

This is a myth, adding salt has no effect on beans other than to make
them salty.

Seehttp://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm, scroll down to Myths About
Dried Beans

Your list of kitchen myths is a myth.

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've never noticed any effect on flavor and I use about 1 tsp for a cup of
beans. I use it too to cook lentils (dal) of various sorts. For dal I also
add 1/2 tsp of turmeric. It would not be appropriate for beans and it may
just be a legend but it is supposed to reduce flatulence later.

As is discarding the soak water, if you soak them, although
that is supposed to cut back on nutrients.

I love lentils. I find they cook (unsoaked of course) in about
twenty minutes. What a fine "meaty" flavor they have. I had
never heard them called dal before, I guess that middle eastern?

--
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cybercat said:

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've never noticed any effect on flavor and I use about 1 tsp for a cup of
beans. I use it too to cook lentils (dal) of various sorts. For dal I also
add 1/2 tsp of turmeric. It would not be appropriate for beans and it may
just be a legend but it is supposed to reduce flatulence later.

As is discarding the soak water, if you soak them, although
that is supposed to cut back on nutrients.

Wrong & more Wrong.

Quoted message said:

I love lentils. I find they cook (unsoaked of course) in about
twenty minutes. What a fine "meaty" flavor they have. I had
never heard them called dal before, I guess that middle eastern?

You know nothing of lentils but all about beans... you know
nothing[period]

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You know nothing of lentils but all about beans... you know
nothing[period]

Ahhh, look who's here on the cooking group. My numptie buddy, Sheldon.

You better do your Googling to understand "Numptie"

Google is always *your* friend, asswipe

Graeme