Guest guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 hi liz, there are several reasons beans don't always cook as they should, including: if the beans are old, if the water is hard, the altitude, if salt is added too early, etc... sometimes if you add some kind of acid (beer, vinegar, tomatoes) to the beans (esp. if your water is hard), it will aid in cooking. sometimes they just need to be cooked longer. my mom always put a lid on the pan while cooking beans. i always use filtered water when i cook beans. some people swear by pressure cookers. it comes down to alot of trail and error. i'm a big fan of canned beans....they are always perfect. lol! susie --- Elizabeth Blake <stinky_harriet wrote: > I always buy beans in a can. I cook only for myself > and cans are convenient. But, the other day I was > in > a store and saw every kind of dried bean you could > think of. I bought some dried green chick peas. I > looked up info on how to cook them but I managed to > mess it up. I did a quick soak method and then > drained them, added fresh cold water and cooked. I > found different times to cook them for and I ended > up > cooking them longer than any of them said but they > still didn't seem done. Maybe I didn't soak them > long > enough (3 hours, after boiling for 3 minutes first, > turn off heat, cover pot). > > So, a few questions for a beginner dummy bean cook: > > 1. Is it much better to do an overnight soak, and > should you put them in the fridge if you do this? > > 2. Should the skins of the beans (chick peas in this > case) come off? Mine didn't, and the skins were > very > tough and awful. The insides also seemed very > grainy > and not quite done. > > 3. Is there a good web site that has tips/times for > cooking various dried beans? > > Thanks! > > -- > Liz ______________________________\ ____ Take the Internet to Go: Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile./go?refer=1GNXIC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 Cook's Illustrated actually says to add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the cooking water to preserve color and aid in the ph issue. I do it with my black beens and they stay pitch black (not purple) and cook wonderfully. ~Liudwih On 7/30/07, artichoke72x <artichoke72x wrote: > > hi liz, > there are several reasons beans don't always cook as > they should, including: if the beans are old, if the > water is hard, the altitude, if salt is added too > early, etc... sometimes if you add some kind of acid > (beer, vinegar, tomatoes) to the beans (esp. if your > water is hard), it will aid in cooking. sometimes > they just need to be cooked longer. my mom always put > a lid on the pan while cooking beans. i always use > filtered water when i cook beans. some people swear > by pressure cookers. it comes down to alot of trail > and error. > > i'm a big fan of canned beans....they are always > perfect. lol! > > susie > > --- Elizabeth Blake <stinky_harriet <stinky_harriet%40>> > wrote: > > > I always buy beans in a can. I cook only for myself > > and cans are convenient. But, the other day I was > > in > > a store and saw every kind of dried bean you could > > think of. I bought some dried green chick peas. I > > looked up info on how to cook them but I managed to > > mess it up. I did a quick soak method and then > > drained them, added fresh cold water and cooked. I > > found different times to cook them for and I ended > > up > > cooking them longer than any of them said but they > > still didn't seem done. Maybe I didn't soak them > > long > > enough (3 hours, after boiling for 3 minutes first, > > turn off heat, cover pot). > > > > So, a few questions for a beginner dummy bean cook: > > > > 1. Is it much better to do an overnight soak, and > > should you put them in the fridge if you do this? > > > > 2. Should the skins of the beans (chick peas in this > > case) come off? Mine didn't, and the skins were > > very > > tough and awful. The insides also seemed very > > grainy > > and not quite done. > > > > 3. Is there a good web site that has tips/times for > > cooking various dried beans? > > > > Thanks! > > > > -- > > Liz > > ________ > Take the Internet to Go: Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, > news, photos & more. > http://mobile./go?refer=1GNXIC > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I used NYC tap water. I didn't add anything to it. I put a lid on the pot but left it slightly open, as the web site I looked at said to do. I probably will stick with canned beans mostly, but if you want anything even slightly unusual, you have to get dried. I'll give it another try, and let them soak overnight first instead of trying the quick method. -- Liz --- " artichoke72x " <artichoke72x wrote: > hi liz, > there are several reasons beans don't always cook as > they should, including: if the beans are old, if > the > water is hard, the altitude, if salt is added too > early, etc... sometimes if you add some kind of > acid > (beer, vinegar, tomatoes) to the beans (esp. if your > water is hard), it will aid in cooking. sometimes > they just need to be cooked longer. my mom always > put > a lid on the pan while cooking beans. i always use > filtered water when i cook beans. some people swear > by pressure cookers. it comes down to alot of trail > and error. > > i'm a big fan of canned beans....they are always > perfect. lol! > > susie > ______________________________\ ____ Luggage? GPS? Comic books? Check out fitting gifts for grads at Search http://search./search?fr=oni_on_mail & p=graduation+gifts & cs=bz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 --- Liudwih Frankiscdohtar <liudwih wrote: > Cook's Illustrated actually says to add 1/4 tsp of > baking soda to the > cooking water to preserve color and aid in the ph > issue. I do it with my > black beens and they stay pitch black (not purple) > and cook wonderfully. > > ~Liudwih I'll try that as well. Thanks! -- Liz ______________________________\ ____ Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Autos new Car Finder tool. http://autos./carfinder/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2007 Report Share Posted July 31, 2007 That is a good tip. I have a friend that was showing me how she makes her ice tea. She added a pinch of baking soda to the boiling water, sugar and tea bags. Her tea is very good. Judy - Liudwih Frankiscdohtar Monday, July 30, 2007 10:50 PM Re: dried beans for dummies help! - liz Cook's Illustrated actually says to add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the cooking water to preserve color and aid in the ph issue. I do it with my black beens and they stay pitch black (not purple) and cook wonderfully. ~Liudwih On 7/30/07, artichoke72x <artichoke72x wrote: > > hi liz, > there are several reasons beans don't always cook as > they should, including: if the beans are old, if the > water is hard, the altitude, if salt is added too > early, etc... sometimes if you add some kind of acid > (beer, vinegar, tomatoes) to the beans (esp. if your > water is hard), it will aid in cooking. sometimes > they just need to be cooked longer. my mom always put > a lid on the pan while cooking beans. i always use > filtered water when i cook beans. some people swear > by pressure cookers. it comes down to alot of trail > and error. > > i'm a big fan of canned beans....they are always > perfect. lol! > > susie > > --- Elizabeth Blake <stinky_harriet <stinky_harriet%40>> > wrote: > > > I always buy beans in a can. I cook only for myself > > and cans are convenient. But, the other day I was > > in > > a store and saw every kind of dried bean you could > > think of. I bought some dried green chick peas. I > > looked up info on how to cook them but I managed to > > mess it up. I did a quick soak method and then > > drained them, added fresh cold water and cooked. I > > found different times to cook them for and I ended > > up > > cooking them longer than any of them said but they > > still didn't seem done. Maybe I didn't soak them > > long > > enough (3 hours, after boiling for 3 minutes first, > > turn off heat, cover pot). > > > > So, a few questions for a beginner dummy bean cook: > > > > 1. Is it much better to do an overnight soak, and > > should you put them in the fridge if you do this? > > > > 2. Should the skins of the beans (chick peas in this > > case) come off? Mine didn't, and the skins were > > very > > tough and awful. The insides also seemed very > > grainy > > and not quite done. > > > > 3. Is there a good web site that has tips/times for > > cooking various dried beans? > > > > Thanks! > > > > -- > > Liz > > ________ > Take the Internet to Go: Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, > news, photos & more. > http://mobile./go?refer=1GNXIC > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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