judith
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A beany questionIf I'm going to pressure-cook dried beans, do I need to presoak them?
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tahir
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I do
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judith
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How long for?
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tahir
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Not saying I'm right though. Wonder if I could bottle/cook chick peas in my canner (I mean put raw presoaked chick peas in a jar with some water and do the cook/preserve thing in one)
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judith
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I don't see why not. You'd need to find the right cooking time though, to be on the safe side.
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toggle
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cold soak,. 8 hours/overnight
hot soak, about an hour.
to hot soak, stick beans in water, bring to buil, then turn off heat. after an hour, go back and cook them.
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tahir
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| judith wrote: | | How long for? |
I just soak overnight, a little extra soaking doesn't hurt (does it?)
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judith
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It's going to have to be a hot soak then (thanks Toggle) - I want refried beans tonight.
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James
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I pre-soak overnight (normally drain & refresh the water in the morning, then leave till evening), pressure cook on full pressure (15 psi) for 20 minutes (thats for chick peas). Probably less for softer beans, like harricot beans.
I like the idea of hot-soaking, I'll give that a go.
Tahir: I'm sure you could do the whole thing in one go (ie go straight to kilner jar for long term storage). When I was growing oyster mushrooms I used to do this with wheat grain. The problem (with wheat..I guess it's the same with pulses) is that moulds and fungi produce oocysts. These are very thick walled, dormant cells that sort of act like spores or 'seeds' (I can feel cab over my virtual shoulder..). Oocysts can survive extreme conditions: they're not allways killed by cooking. So if you use a normal soak & cook, you still stand a chance of infection during storage inside a sealed jar. With wheat, the only way to get it properly sterile was to give it a long soak (not just overnight, but a good 24 hrs, maybe longer, possibly 36hrs). This germinates the oocysts and breaks their dormancy. Then zap them in the P/cooker and they'll die like seedlings in a droubt. Then your beans will be fine. Its the extra soak time that makes all the difference.
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Mary-Jane
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Gervase always soaks his overnight. Beans I mean... 
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Mary-Jane
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| judith wrote: | | I want refried beans tonight. |
*Parp* 
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James
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| judith wrote: | | I want refried beans tonight. |
how do you make refried beans?
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judith
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| James wrote: | | how do you make refried beans? |
Cook pinto beans. Drain and reserve the cooking water. Finely chop and onion, some garlic and chilli. Fry until onion is translucent. Add the beans together with lots of cumin and mash the beans. Stir everything together with some of the beany cooking water so it doesn't stick. Cook for about ten minutes, adding more water if it looks like sticking or thickens too much - you want a loose, stodgy consistency. Season to taste. At the end I always stir in some chopped bottled jalapeņos as well. Serve with tortillas or nachos or whatever.
There are loads of different recipes - some with bacon, most not. Mine sometimes has additions to it, but the basic principle is mash beans, fry up a bit and season.
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Slim
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fry up the onions in bacon drippings for good refried beans
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judith
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| cpg03 wrote: | fry up the onions in bacon drippings for good refried beans
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And cook the beans with a ham hock!
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