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/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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18085734 No.18085734 [Reply] [Original]

Every time I cook dried beans, they stay hard, dry, and mealy. Yes i'm soaking them over night. Am I just buying old ass beans? Should I just buy canned beans instead?

>> No.18085753

>>18085734
If you're boiling them in an acidic medium like chili with tomato then they'll never cook. They have to be cooked in only water first before being added to things like chili

>> No.18085754

>>18085734
Cook longer or use a pressure cooker

>> No.18086578

>>18085734
>they stay dry
>i'm soaking them over night
are you taking them out of the package first?

>> No.18086591

>>18085734
Post exactly what you've been doing. How long you're cooking them, what you're cooking them with, etc.

>> No.18086617
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18086617

Are you pre-cooking them after soaking or as a quick soak? You need to boil them a few minutes, then leave them on low heat until they soften. An hour on low heat after a ten minute boil is the suggestion, but it's down to personal judegment. Salting your water helps.

It's hard to fuck up beans by over cooking unless you literally fall asleep. Just cook on low them until they're done.

>> No.18088041

>>18085734
Boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for 40 minutes. Only add salt AFTER they're soft, salt keeps them firm.

>> No.18088303

>>18088041
>Only add salt AFTER they're soft, salt keeps them firm.
False, salt breaks them down

>> No.18088366

>>18088303
Try it yourself, you fat fucking retard.

>> No.18088618

Through trial and error, I've settled on the following for black beans:
> Use filtered water
> Soak overnight
> Bring to boil in same water soaked in
> Lower to simmer/ rolling boil
> Throw in chopped onion, whole garlic cloves, chilli flakes, cumin, olive oil or other fat, bay leaves
> Check every 10 or 20 minutes, stirring each time. Important to stir if doing a big batch as they will not cook evenly
> Once soft enough, raise heat, add salt to taste, mash the garlic cloves and some beans against the side to help thicken, stir as the water boils off and reduces to gravy consistency

People argue over whether or not to soak. In my experience, it absolutely makes a difference and must be done if you don't want to be cooking beans for 4 hours. People also argue about salting before or after cooking. In my experience, salting after helped keep the cook time down. As for the water, I have fairly hard water here and this apparently slows the cook time down. Used filtered water last time I soaked and cooked (got a brita knock off filtered water dispenser in my fridge), and was caught off guard at how quickly they cooked.

If you want to save yourself the fuck around, sure just get canned, but it works out to be like 5-10x the price per weight.

>> No.18088619

>>18088618
Presoaking the beans will save stove time which will save you money on your gas or electric bill.

>> No.18088622

>>18088618
>> Use filtered water
Retarded
> Soak overnight
Smart
>> Bring to boil in same water soaked in
Very retarded. Soaking is also meant to remove chemicals you don't want to eat.
>> Lower to simmer/ rolling boil
Smart
>> Throw in chopped onion, whole garlic cloves, chilli flakes, cumin, olive oil or other fat, bay leaves
Ok but probably pointless.
>> Check every 10 or 20 minutes, stirring each time. Important to stir if doing a big batch as they will not cook evenly
Smart
>> Once soft enough, raise heat, add salt to taste, mash the garlic cloves and some beans against the side to help thicken, stir as the water boils off and reduces to gravy consistency
OK

>> No.18088635

>>18088041
>>18088303
THE DUALITY OF BEAN

>> No.18088657

>>18088622
Disagree with all criticisms except using the soak water, as these all work best for me. Filtered water made a difference as explained, and cooking with the aromatics certainly makes for a tastier end product, and the onion and garlic also help to pad out the beans. To be fair, you could just cook them bland and season at the end, but less effort and good result by just including them in the cooking process. Cumin and chilli at a bare minimum for flavour imo.

Regarding the soak water, I used to soak, then rinse, then cook in clear water but found it to be much more bland tasting vs cooking in the soak water. However, hadn't considered the potential harm of keeping pesticides etc in the soak water. Will do a bit more reading on it before deciding for next time. Maybe a half soak, then rinse in the morning, and soak in fresh water through the day before cooking in the second lot of cleaner soak water. Thanks anon