Please help with darn beans - Page 2

[rainyday]

Originally Posted by columbusmomma

How can you get them to sprout, and then can you cook them this way without taking away their "live-ness" ?

To get them to sprout, I usually find that it takes a much longer soak. Many times I find that beans will start sprouting after being soaked for three or four days. A few times I've had beans that just will not seem to sprout for some reason, which might be temperature related, but I don't know.

If I'm soaking for a few days like that, I change the water at least daily and give the beans a rinse at each water change. Once they've sprouted a bit, I boil as normal. I sprout them for extra nutrition and greater digestibility, so I don't worry about the "live-ness."

To sprout grains for flour or to sprout beans for flour, you do as above (though with grains, you usually dump out the extra water after each rinse, just keeping the grain damp at all times until it sprouts (rinsing every 12 hours or so, as needed). Then you spread the beans or grain out on dehydrator trays and dehydrate until thoroughly dry. I do this in the oven on its lowest setting, which is probably a bit higher than ideal, but it's what I have! Then once the beans/grains are thoroughly dry, I store and grind as needed to make flour.

[rayo de sol]

I recently read that the No Salt Rule is a myth. I tried soaking beans overnight in salt water and then cooking with salt, and they turned out perfect!

Apparently the salt displaces some of the minerals like calcium and magnesium in the bean skins, which tends to make the skins tough. Since salt ions are weaker than mineral irons, they allow more water to penetrate into the skins, leading to a softer texture. Apparently during soaking the salt doesn’t make it all the way to the center of the beans, so the largest effect is on the outer skin. Cook’s Illustrated recommends 3 Tbs. of salt per gallon of soaking water.

http://captious.wordpress.com/2006/0...on-bean-myths/

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Earthy Mama

I've had old beans that wouldn't even soften in a pressure cooker. Normally aged beans take about 20 minutes from hard to soft in the pressure cooker. And, yeah, a pinch of baking soda does wonders.

You gotta be careful with the BS. It denatures the cell walls of the beans and will turn the entire pot to mush.