HOW TO: Cook Dry Beans
Dry beans are less expensive and much easier to buy in bulk than canned beans. With a little planning, they are also just as easy to use. Here are a few standard methods to prepare dry beans for use in any recipe that calls for canned beans.
Note: 3/4 cup dry beans is roughly equivalent to one (15 oz) can
3/4 cup dry beans, rinsed
2 cups water
1/4 tsp salt (add after cooking)
Pressure cooker . . .
In Brenda's opinion, the pressure cooker is an essential small appliance for someone who enjoys cooking with beans, as it efficiently prepares perfect cooked beans with little advance planning.
Directions: add ingredients to the cooker's insert bowl, select the pre-set "bean" option or "manual" and adjust the timing for the type of bean. Allow natural release and you've got perfectly cooked beans to serve hot or add to any recipe.
Par-boil + cook . . .
It takes a little more time, but dry beans can be pre-boiled and then simmered to be ready for use in place of canned.
Directions: add rinsed beans and water to a pot, bring to boil, cooking for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to med-low to simmer until done. Time differs by type of bean but expect 1 to 4 hours. Make sure pot doesn't boil dry.
Soak + add directly . . .
Alternately, dry beans can be soaked overnight and added to recipes. Lengthen the recipe’s cooking time to adequately offset using the soaked beans in place of canned and they work just as well. Expect cooking time to be longer by 2 to 4 hours.
Directions: add beans and water to a bowl, set aside for 8-12 hours. Drain and rinse. Add to recipe. Cook 2-4 hours. Additional liquid may be required. Test beans to ensure cooked through.
Par-boil + soak . . .
This is another method for soaking, but faster. Basically you're speeding up the soaking process significantly.
Directions: add rinsed beans and water to a pot, bring to boil, cooking for 10 minutes. Shut off heat and leave beans to soak for 1-2 hours. Rinse and add to recipe. Cook 2-4 hours. Additional liquid may be required.
Brenda’s tips:
For recipes calling for multiple bean types, compare the cooking times. If similar, cook varieties together using any of the methods. If not, it's best to prepare them separately so that the beans retain their structural integrity.
Beans will continue to "dry" as they are stored. This means that the water content continues to decline and it will take longer to revive the bean and for it to cook. If you know the beans you are using have been stored, consider the following when pressure cooking:
Add 1 minute for every year in storage.
Example: Black beans 8 years stored, add 8 minutes for a total of 28-33 minutes pressure.
Stove or soak directions have flexible time tables.
Eventually, beans do age though their shelf life is generally considered "indefinite." From the kindness of others sharing stored beans, Brenda has experimented and determined that dry beans stored longer than 20 years are extremely difficult to revive. So like all food storage . . . rotate dry beans for continual quality.
