Do you cook dry beans or used canned?
I'm getting started on cooking some Northern white beans for a crockpot freezer recipe. Cooking your own beans is not only economical, it’s beneficial too.
I'm getting started on cooking some Northern white beans for a crockpot freezer recipe. Cooking your own beans is not only economical, it’s beneficial too.
I learned a few years ago that 2 rounds of pre-soaking and rinsing is helpful to reduce the "gassy" effect from beans. So here is my method for soaking and cooking beans. (Note: this works for any beans except black beans- they need a couple extra steps.)
In another post I will show you how I prep the recipe for less hands on work the day of cooking.
| I start in the morning, but you could also start in the evening. Much of the time is waiting so you don’t have to do anything. This first round is 1qt of water per cup of dry beans. Soak 8-24 hrs at room temp. I’m starting with 3 cups of dry beans. So I add 3 qts of water. |  |
 | That night before bed, I rinse the beans under running water, then add 3 qts plus 3 cups of water to the pot of beans and heated it up on the stove to boiling. Then turned it off and let them soak overnight in the warm water. Soak time 2-8hrs |
| The next morning I rinse them again and get them prepped for cooking. | |
 | Plain beans are very boring to me so I want to add some flavor during the cooking process. I usually add some chicken broth to the water to add flavor to start with. I’m going to cook them in the crockpot for less monitoring time needed, but you could cook on the stovetop to finish the cooking time faster. So I heat up 5 cups of water and 2 cups of chicken broth on the stove to give my crockpot a head start. |
| Then I add spices to the pot (in this case my crockpot). I will have over 6 cups of cooked beans so I added about 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Since these beans are going into white chicken chili, I used that recipe as a basis for my flavor profile. |  |
 | Then I add the beans and hot water/broth. Give it a stir to spread the seasoning out. |
When cooking on the stove for beans you should have water 2 inches over the beans. In my crockpot I didn't have quite enough room so I will have to keep an eye on it and add water if it gets low.
So far I spent :
10 minutes prepping cool water soak
3 min rinsing
10 minutes heating the water for 2nd soak
15 min rinsing and prepping to cook.
So far I spent :
10 minutes prepping cool water soak
3 min rinsing
10 minutes heating the water for 2nd soak
15 min rinsing and prepping to cook.
It took my crockpot 2 hrs to reach boiling (with the preheated water/broth), then 45 min- 1 hr for par cooked beans and 1.5- 2 hrs for soft cooked beans. In the recipe I’m prepping (and with most beans I’m cooking for soups) I want them par cooked. This recipe also required mashing beans into a puree so I need some of them soft cooked.
So at the 1 hr point of boiling in the crockpot I removed 3 cups of par cooked beans and set aside to cool, then left to the rest finish cooking.
My 3 cups of dry beans made almost 8 cups of cooked beans.
In a post next week I'll share how I prep a crockpot recipe as a freezer meal so it will be super easy to start cooking. See post here
If you cook dry beans, what pre-soak method do you use?
In a post next week I'll share how I prep a crockpot recipe as a freezer meal so it will be super easy to start cooking. See post hereIf you cook dry beans, what pre-soak method do you use?
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