Beans from scratch seemed like a waste of time until I actually tried it last Tuesday

I always bought canned beans because who has 3 hours to babysit dried ones right? Then I saw a bag of pintos for $1.29 at Aldi compared to $1.89 a can and figured I'd prove it wasn't worth it. Soaked them overnight then cooked them low for about 2 hours. The texture was way better, not mushy at all, and the liquid was this thick broth that made my rice taste amazing. Plus I got like 3 cans worth out of one bag. I'm still not gonna do it every week but has anyone else found a specific bean that cooks faster than others? The pintos took longer than I'd like.

3 comments

3 Comments

maxl9310d ago

Man, tell me about it! My first batch I didn't soak long enough and ended up chewing those pintos like they were jawbreakers. @ericcraig that quick soak trick has saved my bacon more than once - literally, I was making beans and ham. I found that black beans seem to break down faster than pintos. They're usually tender in an hour and a half for me.

ivan_harris9d ago

Wait what? Jawbreakers? That had me cracking up but also wincing at the same time! I've never had them come out that hard but I did have a batch of red kidney beans that were still crunchy after three hours once. That quick soak method ericcraig mentioned is a lifesaver though. I do it all the time now especially for big batches. Black beans being faster makes sense, they're thinner skinned than pintos right? Have you tried using an instant pot for them?

ericcraig10d ago

Yeah I read that a quick soak method (bring to boil then sit for an hour) cuts the cook time way down.