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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] dry beans vs. canned beans.

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  • From: Pat Meadows <pat AT meadows.pair.com>
  • To: bockpa AT plesh.com, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] dry beans vs. canned beans.
  • Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:42:41 -0500

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:05:08 -0500, you wrote:

>hi,
> I use canned, dark red kidney beans in some recipes. I just tried using
>soaked red kidney beans, that started out dry, and they don't taste like the
>canned version. After I soak them do I need to boil them or something to
>get rid of the fresh bean taste. We tried making tofu from soybeans. you
>soak them overnight, grind them up and then strain the "milk" from the pulp.
>But that milk will taste "beany" until it is almost brought to a boil. Then
>it doesn't have much taste. Add the coagulant (Nigari) to the hot/warm
>soymilk and it will curdle into tofu. The soaked kidney's tasted like the
>way the fresh soy milk smells before it is cooked, so maybe I just need to
>boil the beans a bit. This probably sounds like I have no common sense, but
>it is a switch going from beans-in-a-can to dry-beans-in-a-bag. Eventually,
>I hope it will be dry-beans-from-my-field.
>

Yes, you *must* cook dry beans after you have soaked them.

Kidney beans need to be cooked *at least* 45 minutes to an
hour after they have been soaked, probably more. Older
beans (beans that have been stored longer) will require
longer cooking than fairly new ones.

Kidney beans, in particular, have some substance that is
actually toxic until they are thoroughly cooked. (For
details, see:
http://www.theyummyco.com/ingredients/storecupboard/kidney_beans.htm)
But I believe all dry beans have some degree of this
toxicity unless thoroughly cooked.

You can greatly shorten the cooking time of dried beans by
using a pressure cooker - which is what I do. Some people
use a crockpot, and let the beans cook in the crockpot many
hours - maybe as many as 16 hours. I find the pressure
cooker method more satisfactory.

If you want to investigate using a pressure cooker (terrific
energy saver!), I recommend Lorna Sass's book 'Great
Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure' (which is useful for
non-vegetarians as well). She has directions for cooking
dry beans and many grains, and times for cooking each
variety, as well as a lot of great recipes. Your library
can probably get this for you on inter-library loan if they
don't already own it.

Another great source of pressure cooker information is:

http://www.missvickie.com

Second-generation pressure cookers (usually made in Europe)
are very very easy to use and very very safe. I have two of
them, my favorite is a Magefesa.

http://www.magefesausa.com

I really do recommend the use of a pressure cooker to anyone
who is going to be cooking dry beans fairly often.

Pat





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