Cooking soaked beans?

[tboroson]

Now, I don't use beans nearly as often as I should, since dh isn't a big fan of them. But I do love them, especially in soups, and use them more in the winter. I've always soaked dry beans rather than used canned beans, and never had trouble with them. But since starting to add vinegar or whey as per NT, I've found that when I cook them, they don't soften properly. I know that happens when you cook or soak beans with salt, although I've found (in the past, prior to soaking with acid) that the salt in my homemade stock doesn't seem to have as much of an effect as it's reputed. So why are my beans, soaked with whey or vinegar then cooked in water, not softening??? I'm considering that my beans might be old. But I didn't buy them all that long ago, and it's been a couple different kinds of beans now.

[celestialdreamer]

Anything acidic like vinegar, tomatoes, etc will keep them from softening properly. I just soak my beans usually about 12 hrs, pour off the soaking water/rinse, then cook with water as directed. Also, salt will make them not finish cooking too. I dont remember NT saying anything about soaking beans in whey or vinegar, but if I did see that part I probably held my hands over my eyes because I did not want to see it. We eat alot of soaked cooked beans here, since we cannot afford the kind of meat we want in the quantities needed for our family. My favorite beans right now are black beans w/ tons of garlic, then some chopped organic turkey kielbasa (from a really reputable organic meat shop) over soaked rice. Anyway, I dont think that vinegar will let them cook properly, not so sure on whey.

[mamabohl]

in NT it also says to cook them at least 4 hours after soaking with vinegar or whey...are you doing that? I haven't had any problem getting mine very soft.

[tboroson]

She doesn't talk about the acid on the Legumes page. But, in the basic beans recipe, she specifies using whey or lemon juice. I just looked it up to double check. She doesn't say vinegar, now that I look.

Darn it... I just went to check my referene in Harold McGee, and realized I'd gotten it wrong. I thought he said that salt makes them not soften; it was acid. I misremembered. : Salt speeds the cooking of beans, although it results in them being mealy instead of creamy. "Acids make the cell-wal hemicelluloses more stable and less dissolvable." I totally misremembered.

It does say that cooks use acid to slow the cooking process so the beans can cook for hours (say in a chili) and not turn to mush. I guess that means I just have to cook acid soaked beans for a really long time...

[AnnC]

Originally Posted by tboroson

She doesn't talk about the acid on the Legumes page. But, in the basic beans recipe, she specifies using whey or lemon juice. I just looked it up to double check. She doesn't say vinegar, now that I look.

Darn it... I just went to check my referene in Harold McGee, and realized I'd gotten it wrong. I thought he said that salt makes them not soften; it was acid. I misremembered. : Salt speeds the cooking of beans, although it results in them being mealy instead of creamy. "Acids make the cell-wal hemicelluloses more stable and less dissolvable." I totally misremembered.

It does say that cooks use acid to slow the cooking process so the beans can cook for hours (say in a chili) and not turn to mush. I guess that means I just have to cook acid soaked beans for a really long time...

My mom cooked some beans according to a recipe she had. She soaked them, and then cooked them a couple of hours, but with tomatoes, so they didn't soften, because tomatoes are too acid. So she told me she froze them. Freezing them broke them down some more, and when she defrosted them and cooked them again, they softened enough to eat, although they were still a little firm. So that is a way to rescue them! Mom to the rescue!

Ann

[CluckyInAZ]

I soak beans for a night and day in water with a splash of vinegar, then I cook them overnight. They come out amazing!