Cooking your own dried beans is extremely easy, tastes so much better than canned beans, and is much less expensive. Unfortunately, it took me many, many years to realize this and learn this skill. Hopefully I can help you master it overnight. It is just that simple.
THE KEY: Don't attempt to cook beans that are over a couple months old!!!
My problem was that I would get motivated to try cooking beans, buy a variety at the store, and then wait six to nine months (or longer) before actually trying. The beans I cooked would turn out terrible, and I would wait another several years before trying again. This went on for close to twenty years! The beans would turn out terrible for two reasons. One, they were old and thus as they cooked they would get crumbly while still hard, rather than soft and delicious. The other problem, I created bland dishes with them (I had not learned the importance of using spices). But I have a good friend, Lorena, who would have me over for lunch and always had incredible home-cooked beans. She was my inspiration to continue trying.
The perception and innocent truth the comes from the mouth of a child can open our eyes wide at times. That is what happened to me to finally convince me just how important cooking my own beans was. Let me tell you one last story about cooking beans that will hopefully motivate you to try and experience the difference.
On our homeschool trips, we got into the habit of opening a can of refried beans (good quality ones), and having eating them with chips, salsa and cheese for lunch. A quick, easy meal on the road. During one of our breaks at home, I finally was successful cooking pinto beans and making our own refried beans. We loved them and made them several times during the two month period at home. We then took off on another trip, and I bought more cans of refried beans for lunches. When I was getting our second lunch of refried beans and chips ready, Jon said to me, "Mom, it isn't fair that we can't have canned beans anymore." I was just getting ready to open the can, so I laughed and said, "Jon, I am opening a can right now for our lunch. I just want to cook our own beans when we are at home. We can have canned beans on our trips." Jon, who was about 10, looked very seriously at me and said, "But we can no longer enjoy our lunch with canned beans because they don't taste good anymore after eating homemade beans." He was so right.
Instructions:
1. Buy fresh beans. It is good to start with something easy. I would recommend buying pinto beans to make refried beans (recipe coming soon) or garbanzo beans to make hummus (recipe coming soon). If you have old beans, give them to me or someone else who wants to make their own soy-free chicken feed, and let them feed those old beans to their chickens.
2. Place dry beans in a glass bowl and cover with filtered water, at least two inches over the top of the beans. They will soak up a lot of water, so use more than you think you will need, especially when first starting. Let sit over night or for at least 6 hours (up to 12 hours).
3. Drain the beans and rinse well with cold water.
4. Place beans in a heavy pot (I like to use my glass soup pot that I make broth in) and again cover with filtered water. They will not soak up as much water, but the water will boil off a bit during cooking so make sure it is at least an inch over the top. I like to add a dry chili pepper when making refried beans, but this is not necessary (I often forgot to add it).
5. Turn to medium-low and bring to a simmer (I removed the lid of the pot for the photo to show you what your simmer should look like). Always cook beans with the lid tightly on the pot as you do for broth. I stir the beans ever 5 minutes or so at the beginning (it takes about 20 minutes to get to a good simmer).
6. After bringing to a "heavy" simmer, turn heat down to the point that will sustain this simmer. Continue cooking covered (stirring every 20 - 30 minutes) until the beans are soft. For pinto beans and garbanzo beans, this takes about 3 to 4 hours, depending upon your cooking temperature. If you cook at too high of a temperature, you will burn the beans on the bottom of the pot.
7. When soft, remove from heat and remove lid. Allow to cool, drain off some of the extra liquid, and place in a clean bowl, and store in the refrigerator if not using immediately.
It is that easy. The reason I recommend starting with pinto or garbanzo beans to make refried beans or hummus, is because both of these dishes are so forgiving. The first several times I cooked beans, I forgot about them, and the were falling apart by the time I realized they were done. Since the beans are pureed for both of those dished, it doesn't matter if you overcook them.
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