Bean Cooking Basics

재료

Dry beans, any type

방향

To transform dry beans into cooked beans ready to add to any recipe…

Rinse beans. Put beans in a large pot and cover with cold water by 2 or 3 inches. Add a pinch or two of salt. (It is a myth as far as we can tell that adding salt early on during cooking will make your beans tough.) Add aromatics, if desired - see below.

Bring water to a boil and then reduce the heat so that the beans bubble gently. Cook, stirring infrequently. The beans must stay submerged in the water, so if the water level ever starts to dip low, add more.

After one hour, check the beans for doneness by tasting them. If the consistency of the bean tastes good to you, they are ready! Beans should be done cooking in about an hour or two. Pre-soaked beans will cook faster. (If your beans are destined for salad, add up to 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice during the final minutes of cooking to help keep skins intact.)

AROMATICS

If you want to add more flavor to your beans, cook them with a few aromatics, like onion, shallot, carrot, celery, garlic and sprigs of fresh herbs. You can throw the aromatics in with the beans or sauté them in olive oil before adding the beans and liquid. If you want to flavor the beans but don’t want the aromatics mixed in with your cooked beans, wrap your aromatics in twine or cheesecloth for easy removal after cooking.

PRE-SOAKING BEANS

Soaking beans before cooking is not necessary but it can speed up the cooking time.

Cook’s Illustrated and Serious Eats recommend adding salt to your bean-soaking water to get the creamiest, most flavorful beans (and limit the number of beans that burst during cooking). Serious Eats suggests seasoning the bean-soaking water with about one tablespoon of kosher salt per quart. You can then rinse the beans with fresh water before cooking, and then add a pinch of salt to the cooking water as well.

If you want to speed up the cooking time but forgot to pre-soak overnight, pour boiling water over the beans and leave for a couple hours before cooking.

We've cooked beans without soaking and we've pre-soaked beans many times in un-seasoned water. We've cooked them on the stovestop, in the over and in the slow-cooker. They always turn out great.

There are many ways to cook beans!

노트

IF A RECIPE CALLS FOR COOKED BEANS

Most dried beans will slightly more than double in both volume and weight once cooked.

So, if a recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked beans, you can cook up 1 cup of dried beans and have plenty for the recipe.

IF A RECIPE CALLES FOR CANNED BEANS

A 15 oz can of beans, when drained, is about 1.5 cups or 9 ounces of beans.

So, for a recipe that calls for one 15-oz can of beans, you can cook ¾ cup (4.5 ounces) of dried beans and have more than enough for the recipe.