What kind of dried (or canned) beans do you use?

@morning glory
Edamame - steamed and heavily salted. Bite through the pod and pull the beans out with your teeth. A wonderful, high protein snack. Without the salt they are bland.
I have no issues with fresh beans...it's the canned or dry ones that I haven't used much (maybe not as much as I should).
 
Just like any other dried bean - soak and simmer/boil until tender. Please do try them - they have that slightly dryish 'iron' flavour (that's the best I can describe) as do the fresh, but much more intense. Try the recipe above which is a classic way.


Thank you. I'll have to look out for them at my next trip to the supermarket.
 
Thank you. I'll have to look out for them at my next trip to the supermarket.

I think its unlikely that the supermarket will have them. I get mine from a Turkish shop. But that award winning UK bean company does them Hodmedod's British Pulses and Grains does them too.

https://hodmedods.co.uk/collections/pulses/products/whole-fava-beans

Organic-Whole-Fava-1200x800_983x656_f17107df-1933-4653-a053-020019b5c826.jpg
 
I've had varied results with beans, and have now learned what I can & can't do

I can cook small yellow & red lentils; the small, flat, dark green lentils; and soup mix - barley, lentils, split peas
But I haven't had any success with larger dried beans - kidney, haricot, & chick peas, just by simmering. I tried using a pressure cooker and yes it softens them, but it's a right palaver
So for these I use canned - kidney beans, butter beans, chick peas and so on. They're cheap enough and shops & supermarkets have a reasonable selection. Not forgetting baked beans, either on their own or in a stew
I like chick peas in a salad
I got some frozen broad beans at Iceland, so in future I'll have a better look at what they have

Recently I've become a bit more interested in vegetarian cookery, so perhaps I'll have a closer look round health food shops & Asian stores

Years ago when I was left with a load of dried kidney beans that I couldn't cook I made them into a bean bag camera support
 
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But I haven't had any success with larger dried beans - kidney, haricot, & chick peas, just by simmering
Interesting. I never had any issues cooking beans on the hob - can I ask what you were doing? Did you soak them overnight before you cooked them?
I tried using a pressure cooker and yes it softens them, but it's a right palaver
I guess you're talking about a manual pressure cooker you use on the hob? I agree that they are a bit of a faff trying to keep them at the right temperature and you're never quite sure if you've got it right. Electric pressure cookers are MUCH easier to use: put your food in, programme how long you want to cook, press the button and walk away....the pressure cooker it all for you automatically :okay: I'd be lost without my pressure cooker now, but I'd never go back to a manual one ;-)
 
After various experiments & failures the last procedure I tried with those sorts of beans was -

Put the beans in a pan, bring to the boil then leave overnight
Next morning bring to the boil again & simmer for 30 mins to an hour or so
Then prepare my stew, casserole or whatever, including the beans, and cook as usual for 1 to 2 hours
The vegetables etc were cooked, but the beans were still hard

Yes, the pressure cooker was a traditional hob model. the only thing I used it for was beans, so I gave it away

Searching supermarkets & Asian stores I've found red, & black kidney beans chick peas, borlotti beans, butter beans, haricot beans, and probably some others I've forgotten
Plus, of course, baked beans are haricot beans in tomato sauce. I buy a deent brand to eat 'as is' and budget brands to put in a stew; the tomato sauce just blends in with the rest of the stock

So, no fiddling about, and they're all cheap enough, typically < 50p for a c.400g can. In fact I got a tray of 12 cans of chick peas at my local Asian store for £2-99

You can also get soft pouches of lentils ( & dried tomatoes & mushrooms) in supermarkets, by Merchant Gourmet & others, but they are a bit more expensive

I recently found frozen broad beans at Iceland

So I'm happy enough doing this
 
After various experiments & failures the last procedure I tried with those sorts of beans was -

Put the beans in a pan, bring to the boil then leave overnight
Next morning bring to the boil again & simmer for 30 mins to an hour or so
Then prepare my stew, casserole or whatever, including the beans, and cook as usual for 1 to 2 hours
The vegetables etc were cooked, but the beans were still hard
Sounds like you probably weren't cooking them long enough :(
Before I started using a pressure cooker my usual method (for red kidney beans for example) was:
- Soak overnight in cold water (min 12 hours, sometimes longer depending on when I remembered to get them out!)
- Next day change the water & bring to the boil
- Boil for 15-20 mins, then simmer for another 90 mins or so (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on how firm I wanted them)
- Drain and leave go cold, or add to whatever recipe I'm making
Never had a problem with this method - though I always made sure they were cooked to my liking before adding to any stew or casserole because I've found that they don't really cook much more once they're added to a dish (especially if it includes acidic ingredients eg. tomatoes).

With the pressure cooker I no longer need to soak them so I just put the dried beans in with plenty of cold water, set the pressure cooker for about 25 minutes (for firm beans, longer if I want them softer) and come back later when they're done :okay:
 
Then prepare my stew, casserole or whatever, including the beans, and cook as usual for 1 to 2 hours

If your beans weren't already cooked when you added them to the casserole or stew then ingredients such as tomatoes and salt in the stew will prevent them cooking. Its best to make sure the beans are cooked to your liking before adding.

Alternatively, the beans might have been old. I tried to cook some chick peas which my friend had in his cupboard not long ago. After an overnight soak and 5 hrs simmering I gave up! They were still as hard as bullets! Turns out he reckoned they may have been in his cupboard for over ten years!!
 
I spent most of my working life in food manufacturing, including canning & bottling, and the subsequent heat treatment. Canned food is typically heated to a temperature around 121 to 125 C for a few minutes after it has been canned to sterilise it, thus ensuring a long shelf life; and beans will have been steeped & simmered beforehand
This is, in effect, a large scale version of the procedure you have described

As I mentioned, I can cook smaller things like soup mix, red & yellow lentils, and I'm content to buy larger beans as canned
They're not very expensive, and it would be interesting to calculate & compare the cost of cooking dried with canned

But I might just have another go. I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but recently I've been eating less meat. The Asian shop near me has all sorts of beans & lentils, so perhaps I'll try some that are small to medium and not available canned
 
I spent most of my working life in food manufacturing, including canning & bottling, and the subsequent heat treatment.

Wow! Then you should be an expert - ironic that you have had so much trouble cooking them at home!
The Asian shop near me has all sorts of beans & lentils, so perhaps I'll try some that are small to medium and not available canned

Good idea - I also have an Asian shop nearby which sells a good selection.
 
I started working as a lab technician in a jam factory
Later I worked for that large manufacturer of canned food that has so many varieties.....

And yes, the irony has not escaped me. We had large pressure cookers (known as 'retorts' in the trade) that you could walk around in, and cost millions; that would be a bit of an overkill to make a pan of stew now & again
Perhaps the problem is that I'm so used to working on a very large scale that I get a bit impatient doing it for myself. But at least I know what I'm getting from canned beans

Thanks for all your advice, I think I will try again at home
 
I love beans but most of the canned varieties are just too overcooked for my liking. Often they also have salt and our sugar added to the which I loath.

I'd much rather cook my own which now I do. With the pressure cooker it is much easier imo. An overnight soak, then 20-30 minutes covers most of the beans we eat (less than in the UK because ironically I'm having more trouble getting hold of the variety but we still have a pretty good range). That timing is for 800-1,000m altitude because altitude obviously affects pressure in the pressure cooker and hence timings. We just have an Ikea pressure cooker but it's exceptionally easy to use. I literally just add the beans/peas, almost cover with water, seal and put onto pressure setting II and once it is up to pressure (the red button pops out), give the beans 20-30 mins as needed. I usually do a rapid depressurisation using the pressure settings.

We do have a couple of tins of beans in the pantry (kidney beans and baked beans, chickpeas being the other legume/pulse) but otherwise everything, beans/peas/pulses are all dried (not counting the ones in the freezer home-grown blanched or store bought frozen).
 
I love beans but most of the canned varieties are just too overcooked for my liking. Often they also have salt and our sugar added to the which I loath.

That's strange for me because whoever's tinned beans I cook, I always "recook" them because I find if not the are somewhat raw. I agree that there is generally too much sugar so I add "Chop" sauce in an attempt to combat that. Salt doesn't bother me.
 
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