Recession Recipes .Net

     Beans are an excellent way to get more protein into your diet inexpensively.  Many people avoid them though, because of their infamous side effects.  These problems can be easily avoided with proper preparation and cooking.

There are three main rules when cooking beans:

• All types of beans must be soaked for at least 8 hours before cooking.
• Beans must be boiling well throughout the cooking process.
• Beans must be eaten with some sort of starchy grain or vegetable.

The Basic Steps for Cooking Beans

1. Check the beans and remove and discard any stones or off-color or bad looking beans.  If a bunch of moths fly out or there are any weevils, the beans are infested, so throw them out.  If not, then they’re good.
2. Rinse the beans to remove any sand, soil, or mill dust that might be lingering.
3. Soak the beans for 8 hours in a large pot of water.  Keep in mind that they will likely double in volume during the soaking, so you want to make sure there’s enough water to cover them even after they expand.
4. Pour out the water, and rinse the beans again.
5. Put enough fresh water into the pot to cover the beans plus twice over.  That means that if the beans go up to 2 cm. in the pot, there should be 5-6 cm. of water in the pot.  DO NOT ADD SALT at this point.  Adding salt now will make the skins tough, and cause the beans to take much longer to cook.
6. Cover, and bring it to a boil on high heat.
7. If there is any froth on the top, remove it with a slotted spoon and discard it.
8. Reduce the heat to the point where it is boiling slowly, but not too slowly.  You want more than one bubble per second.
9. Continue boiling until the beans are soft.  This should take an hour or two.
10. At this point, you may add salt or whatever other seasonings and additions you like.

Beans FAQ

Frequently asked questions about cooking beans.

Question:  Why do beans need to be soaked?

Answer:  Beans of all sorts including peas, chickpeas, and lentils, and even peanuts that will be boiled rather than roasted, should be soaked for 8 hours to leech out the excess phytic acid and break down the sugars.  Phytic acid can be good for you in reasonable amounts, but too much will give you gas.

Beans also have sugars that are, like the sugars in grains, harder to digest if they are not broken down by fermentation.  Soaking beans leeches out the excess ogliosaccharides (a type of simple sugar) that lead to gas, and makes the other carbohydrates easier for the body to use as energy.

Question:  What if I’m making cholent or cassoulet, and have to put salt or acidic ingredients in before cooking?

Answer:  The beans should still be soaked for 8 hours, and rinsed well.  Because they are going to be slow cooked for more than 6 hours or so, the salt and/or acidic ingredients won’t lead to tougher beans.  However, to make sure the beans won’t lead to gassiness, they must be boiling for at least an hour during the cooking process.  So make sure your oven or slow cooker is cooking them at 218 degrees Farenheit or more.  You can check this by using a cooking thermometer or by simply looking at it to make sure it is boiling.

If you have any more questions, feel free to contact us.