Prepping and Cooking the "Musical Fruit"

I promised some people that I would share my recipes that I flaunted to tempt them to buy a few pounds of some bulk, organic navy beans, black turtle beans and raw, shelled sunflower seeds in our last food co-op order.  I'm hoping to lure them to buy some pinto beans next month!  So, I'll start with the beans.  First of all, it is easier to use canned organic beans -- just open the can, drain & VOILA' -- you have beans to use right now.

However, it can be expensive and the storage of lots of canned food takes up valuable cabinet and pantry space. Plus then, you need to consider the disposal of the cans -- filling up your trash can and then a landfill somewhere or ... recycling. But then, you have to rinse & store the empty cans until you can take them to be recycled.
 

Remember -- the order should be:

1. Reduce -- don't use products that have all kinds of elaborate packaging if you can possibly avoid it.

2) Reuse -- if you HAVE to use products in packaging, then at least try to reuse the packaging -- like glass jars or plastic containers, etc.

& THEN

3) Recycle -- recycle is always the last & least desirable option, but better than just tossing in the trash and filling up a landfill.

So, I try to purchase things that have the least amount of packaging and negative environment impact -- thus bulk organic items.  Most times, buying in bulk is the least expensive way to go, since you are not paying for all kinds of fancy packaging that causes environmental damage in the production and then gets tossed and causes environmental damage by filling up a landfill.  

Using dried beans can be a challenge for those with busy schedules, but if you plan ahead, it really doesn't take much time, and there are things that you can do to minimize the energy expenditure required to cook beans.  While the beans are soaking, you can attend to other things you need to get done, or if soaking overnight, you can sleep!

Here are 3 methods for soaking dried beans (note: lentils & split peas do not need to be soaked before cooking) for use in a recipe that might call for canned beans.  On all of them, thoroughly rinse off the beans first and pick out any little rocks or debris that might be mixed in.  A rule of thumb is, the larger the bean, the more time that is needed for soaking & cooking -- soaking helps to cut down on the cooking time.

A)  Cover 1# beans with 3 quarts cold water and soak 12-18 hours in refrigerator or other cool place. Add 2 teaspoons salt to the soaking water. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat until skins begin to crack. Drain, saving the liquid.

I don't do this for my bean prepping -- no special reason other than I have always used a slightly different method for "prepping" the beans and I don't like to reuse the soaking water, nor do I bother taking up refrigerator space.

B) Quick soak method: For every pound of beans (about 2 cups), add 6-8 cups water in a large pot.  Bring to rapid boil; boil for 2 minutes or so. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1+ hours. Drain soak water and rinse beans. They will still need to be cooked. I often resort to this method.  You can do this prep in the morning before you leave for work and then at lunch, you can put the ingredients together for however you plan to use them and set them up in a slow cooker, but set on high.  You should have dinner ready for that night when you get home from work.

3) Overnight soak method: Same as quick soak, except, don't bring to a boil. Let stand overnight or at least 6-8 or more hours. If you soak for too long, like more than 18 hours, you do run the risk that the beans will begin to ferment. Again drain the soak water and rinse the beans. When I am really on top of my planning game, this is the method that I like to use best.  Supposedly this method makes them more digestible so less intestinal gas is usually produced after you eat them. 

I tend to not save the liquid (like the first method suggests) because By tossing (or using it to water plants) the soaking liquid, which has become sort of foamy, especially in the quick soak method, you minimize the "gas" effect of beans. The rinsing is also important and, long slow cooking also aids in the prevention of the "musical fruit" effect that eating beans is so famous for.

Okay -- now the beans do need to be cooked, to get them to the point that canned beans are at for immediate use. You can put the beans in a large pot with another 3 quarts (or you can use less - 6-8 cups) of salted/unsalted water and just simmer away until the beans are fork tender. You can add a tablespoon of oil, which helps minimize the foaming, plus reducing the heat so that the water is just simmering also helps prevent the skins from bursting. It usually takes about 11/2-2 hours. You can also use a crock-pot or slow cooker to do this as well and it uses less energy, but takes more time.  In the past, when I used to own a pressure cooker, I used a pressure cooker too -- this also saves energy because it cuts down considerably on the cooking time -- 1 hour of regular cooking time is reduced to about 5 minutes in a pressure cooker.  When I am making baked beans, I add the "baked bean" recipe items and then cook the beans until soft -- I think that this helps to infuse the flavors into the beans and I prefer using a crock-pot.

Once the beans are cooked -- you can freeze until you are ready to use them. Almost all cooked beans freeze well, except lentils. You can use them right away in any recipe or you can refrigerate for a couple of days or you can preserve them and can them in glass jars. I have never done this, but I know people who have.  I have never canned anything that was low acid like beans -- so make sure you know what you are doing if you do this, in order to insure that your beans will be safe to eat later.  I don't do it, because it requires a canner, pressure cooker and it defeats the purpose of not using up all of my cabinet/pantry space with canned goods.  You need to have a good place to store canned goods -- most of us don't have canning cellars in our homes anymore.

Storing dried beans is easy.  You can always keep them in the freezer and they keep almost indefinitely that way -- or you can store them in glass jars.  As long as the jars keep moisture out and the environment stays fairly cool and they don't sit in a sunny spot, you can store dry beans up to at least 2 years.  Once they get too old, they take longer and longer to cook and to soften.

Beans are an extremely nutritious source of protein -- you do need to have grains too in order to complete the protein in beans, but you don't have to eat at the same meal -- just eat both sometime during the day.  Beans are high in fiber and are a very low calorie and tasty way to add some variety in your diet..  By using the methods I pointed out above, plus eating them more often, the unpleasant musical effect becomes non-existent -- so eat your beans!

Dried Bean Guide
Use this guide to gauge how much dried beans to cook:
1/3 cup dry beans = 1 cup cooked beans
1/2 cup dry beans = 1 1/2 cup cooked beans
2/3 cup dry beans = 2 cups cooked beans
1 cup dry beans = 3 cups cooked beans
2 cups (1 pound) dry beans = 6 cups cooked beans