How-To: Cook Dried Beans, 2 Ways
I could boil sugar before I could boil beans. Though boiling sugar still gives me anxiety, boiling beans used to as well. Each pound of dried legumes was practically guaranteed to become irreversibly undercooked trash at a time when funds were particularly tight.
Yet I persisted. To be sure, I love canned beans! They eliminate a layer of executive function and activity not everyone can access. However, no one can deny that they’re more expensive than dried – and I currently need to prioritize financial over mental and physical resources.
What was wrong with your technique?
At this point, I couldn’t tell you. (I’ve been successfully cooking dried beans for years now.) I think I simply wasn’t testing them. Instead of using a fork to determine doneness, I relied on packages to tell me when each variety should be finished cooking.
Consequently, I don’t recommend cooking beans in an oven. While it can be effective, sealing a heavy lidded pot inside a hot chamber turns a quick texture check into an ordeal. Visit NYT Cooking or The Kitchn if this method intrigues you nevertheless!
only 2 ways?!
I’m sharing only two ways to cook dried beans though there are not two ways only. I extol gadgets for increasing task availability! You may absolutely use a pressure cooker, Insta-pot, or even a beanpot to save invaluable time. I just don’t own them.
Rather, I have a regular pot, a stove, and a question: whole or puréed?
Whole
By asking “whole or puréed?” I’m wondering how you plan to use your beans. If you’re making one of the following recipes (or anything like them), skip baking soda.
- Park Street Deli (Aldi) Copycat Black Bean Salad
- Park Street Deli (Aldi) Copycat Chickpea Salad
- Cranberry Tarragon “Chicken” Salad
- “Tuna” Salad
Also skip baking soda if you’re not sure how you’ll use your beans. Baking soda weakens bean skins. You can skip baking soda and make bean skins softer, but you can’t use it and make them firmer.
Puréed
If you wish to give yourself an advantage on something like Creamy Whole-Lemon Hummus or refried beans, add baking soda after brining. The broken bean skins won’t look pretty after your beans are drained, but everything will blend beautifully!
Your beans will taste as expected too. Two tablespoons/thirty milliliters of baking soda may seem like a jarringly large amount, but in 3 quarts/liters of water, it’s only 1% of the cooking liquid.
How-To: Cook Dried Beans, 2 Ways
Description
In sum, start by brining beans in a 1% saline solution. For beans that will remain whole (in recipes like salads), drain and rinse, then simmer in fresh water; for beans that will be puréed (in recipes like hummus), drain and rinse, then simmer in a 1% alkaline solution.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a roughly 5- to 6-qt/L pot, dissolve salt in about 2 qt (2 L/kg) water.
- Stir in beans, then soak 8-12 hrs.
- Drain beans. Rinse pot and beans, then return beans to pot. Cover with about 3 qt (3 L/kg) fresh water.
- If cooking beans to be puréed, add baking soda; otherwise, skip this step.
- Bring to boiling over hi heat skimming and discarding foam as needed. Partially cover, then reduce heat to med-lo and simmer 20-30 min.
- Remove a bean with a fork, then smash or taste to assess tenderness. Continue cooking if necessary checking doneness every 5-10 min.
- Drain. Rinse thoroughly with cool water, then use or store in airtight containers. Cooked beans may be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 6 months.
Use a scale if possible. 20 g salt and 2,000 g water creates a 1% saline solution exactly (20 ÷ 2000 = 0.01).
Use a scale if possible. 30 g baking soda and 3,000 g water creates a 1% alkaline solution exactly (30 ÷ 3000 = 0.01).
Notes
- Suggestions for whole beans: Park Street Deli (Aldi) Copycat Black Bean Salad, Park Street Deli (Aldi) Copycat Chickpea Salad, Cranberry Tarragon “Chicken” Salad, and “Tuna” Salad.
- Suggestion for puréed beans: Creamy Whole-Lemon Hummus.
