Steph here –
I hate the smell of cooking beans. Honestly, unless you grew up with it and find it somewhat nostalgic (like the the smell of grease to the child of a mechanic) who doesn’t? But I also hate paying more for an ingredient that I can make at home without breaking a sweat or using too much of my time. And since I’m a whole-foodie, I prefer to know exactly what’s in my food.
So how can we cook beans without needing to smell them cooking all the time? Sarah, from Thriving Mama, is giving us the answer in this fantastic step-by-step tutorial.
It is easy to pick up a can of beans from the grocery, open it, and throw it in your favorite recipe. It is just as easy, and cheaper, to cook them yourself. Two methods that I use regularly are the stove-top and the crock-pot, or slow cooker. There are three steps to cooking beans, through either method: Sort, Soak, Cook.
1. Sort
I have memories of my mom pouring portions of beans on the kitchen table and sorting through them. Simply dump the beans into a colander, or in portions on the table, and separate out any stones, dirt clumps and broken beans. Rinse the remaining intact beans and place them into a large pot or slow cooker.
2. Soak
Soaking beans allows the skins to remain intact after they cook. Place the beans in the pot or crock and cover with water so that the depth of the water in the pot at least doubles the depth of the beans – or measure two cups of water for every cup of beans. The beans will absorb much of the water as they cook. Instructions for soaking varies from a couple hours to over night. With the crock-pot, the “soaking” is combined with cooking in one step. On the stove I generally soak for a couple hours before I turn the heat on, but have skipped this step to save time and never really saw a huge difference.
3. Cook
Cooking beans in the crock pot is by far the easier method, especially if you are going to be out of the house during the day. If cooking in a crock pot, place the beans and cold water into the crock, turn on low and walk away for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. The time it takes for the crock to heat up doubles as soaking time. When using the crock pot, it is better to err on the side of extra water than to have too little water and have your beans burn.
{Not enough water}
If you are cooking beans on the stove, fill the pot, and let it soak for about 2 hours. Turn the heat on high until it boils and then reduce to a simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until beans are tender. Check every so often to make sure that the beans are still covered by the liquid. If water cooks off or there’s not enough for the beans to absorb they can burn to the bottom of the pan or not cook evenly.
Once the beans are cooked, let them cool and then place in airtight containers or freezer bags and then freeze. How much of the excess juice you put in the containers is a personal preference. I generally drain canned beans, so I drain beans before I put them in the freezer bags or containers. Pull the beans from the freezer and use in meals as you would use canned beans. When substituting in recipes for canned beans, there are about 1-1/2 cups of beans in each processed can of beans.
In preparation for writing this, I had three batches of beans going at once: black beans, white (great northern) beans and pinto beans. I spent about 30 minutes sorting the three batches and minor monitoring over the next few hours. At the end of the batch cooking I had cooked about 6 pounds of beans which resulted in about 32 cups of additive-free cooked beans or the equivalent of about 22 cans of beans. The cost of the dried beans was about $7 and the equivalent in cans would have cost close to $20 (average $0.89/can).
With a small investment of time, I was able to shave a bit out of my grocery budget, and my family and I will be eating freshly cooked beans from my freezer.
Sara Tyler is the owner of Charity Candles & Crafts and is a cancer survivor who has learned what it means to not only survive, but to thrive. Besides loving on her husband and daughter and running her business, Sarah also blogs at Thriving Mama.
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
I think anyone who regularly cooks dried beans has their own method that works for them, and I’m interested to hear from you bean-cooking veterans. How do you cook the perfect batch of freezer-ready beans?
Personally, I don’t sort out the little beans – just rinse and soak. Then I rinse them again, boil the beans for 15 minutes; cover, and simmer for another 30-ish until tender. (Learned this method from the fantastic resource, The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, By Rebecca Wood)
This takes about 10 minutes of my time. I almost always have beans ready in the freezer, and I only have to smell them cooking once in awhile 
.
Also, what about you cooks who have never tried whipping out your own batches of beans? Up until now, what has stopped you from trying it?
Do you think it’s even worth the time and effort?
Cheers,
P.S. Remember, everyone has a right to their own opinion. Keep that in mind during the discussion.
21 comments
4 pings
Chhaya
10/06/2010 at 11:23 AM (UTC -6)
This is a very helpful post. I love to use beans in my dishes.Being a vegetarian, beans are my best sources of protein. I do not like to use canned a lot because of the sodium and additives…Your post gives me added inspiration to start cooking and freezing my own. I would probably use a pressure cooker to cook my beans, though !
Steph
10/06/2010 at 11:33 AM (UTC -6)
Chhaya – Glad this inspires you! I don’t have a lot of experience with pressure cookers – what are the benefits of using one?
Rebecca Burgener
10/06/2010 at 11:43 AM (UTC -6)
Cooking beans ahead is just another example that cooking good nutritious food at home doesn’t take as much time as we think. It just takes planning ahead instead of not thinking about dinner until your stomach starts growling.
Susan
10/06/2010 at 12:39 PM (UTC -6)
Great post. It is amazing to read the labels on canned beans, or veggies in general. Alot of added sugar and other “stuff”.
Chhaya
10/06/2010 at 1:06 PM (UTC -6)
Steph, I have been using pressure cookers for ages now…I use it for cooking rice, lentils, beans…I find it very useful and it takes so much less time..A few pounds of beans would get cooked in about 25 minutes…The only trick would be in timing it such that the beans dont get mushy !
Kelleigh @ Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs
10/06/2010 at 10:07 PM (UTC -6)
One thing I learned (and I don’t know if it is true or not, but I’m not gonna risk it!) is that you should soak, then pour out the water and add fresh water before cooking. Apparently it is supposed to decrease the amount of gas producing . . . stuff. I dunno, but I don’t want to test the theory!!
I love cooking my own beans, and I just freeze them the same way I freeze ground beef. I can just break off a chunk and go!
http://kelleighratzlaff.com/life/freezing-ground-beef/
Lee Ann
10/07/2010 at 4:15 AM (UTC -6)
Steph- I’ve never soaked and cooked beans for the freezer, but I’m certainly going to do it now!
I have often cooked a big batch of black bean soup (one of my faves) and after a night or two of soup, strain the beans and use them in a variety of recipes the rest of the week…(like my version of Chipotle’s Burrito Bowl, Taco salad, Pasta salad – or mashed for bean dip. There’s a million and one things you can add beans to – and since we’ve cut back on our consumption of meat, we’ve been eating lots more beans. (Chad needs protein! 
Also – an excerpt from ‘Nourishing Traditions’:
Beans cause digestive problems not because they contain protein and starches together, but because they contain two complex sugars, farrinose and stachyose, which are not easily broken down by enzymes normally found in the intestines. Beans and other legumes will be more digestible if SOAKED for a long period before cooking as this process begins the breakdown of these starches.’
Thought that was interesting.
Tina
10/07/2010 at 6:59 AM (UTC -6)
I don’t have freezer space, but I do have a case of empty canning jars. Can you please give instructions for canning our own beans?
Steph
10/07/2010 at 10:38 AM (UTC -6)
Tina – I don’t have any experience canning dried beans, but I found these instructions you could try:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-preserve-pinto-beans-and-black-beans-with-canning-217754/
Anne
10/07/2010 at 8:36 AM (UTC -6)
I soak and cook my own beans all the time, but I usually use the “quick soak” method, which basically entails bringing the beans to a boil, then turning off the heat and allowing them to soak for a couple hours. If I plan ahead (which is pretty rare for me, lol), I do the soak overnight method. I will have to try it in the crock pot sometime; I’ve always soaked them before putting them in the crock pot.
Cate
10/07/2010 at 9:22 AM (UTC -6)
I do this, too! So easy. I usually get around 4 “cans” of beans from a 1 lb bag of dried. 1 lb of dried black beans costs me $1.20, vs. $2.80 for 4 cans of beans. That’s pretty significant savings for our family. We eat beans all the time!
Steph
10/07/2010 at 10:34 AM (UTC -6)
Cate – Awhile back, I spotted your meatless lentil soup recipe and got hooked! I tried it last Friday and totally burnt it (major multi-tasking while trying a new recipe = bad idea)
But it sounds delicious! Hoping to try it later on this season.
Tara
10/07/2010 at 3:00 PM (UTC -6)
Thanks for all of this info! I’m so excited to do this. I have 4 pots of beans soaking on the stove right now!!
Pamela Aguilar
10/09/2010 at 3:32 PM (UTC -6)
I don’t soak the beans over night because I use a pressure cooker. I place 6 C. water for 2 C. beans in the pressure cooker. I actually use a bit more water because my kids like the beans “juicy.” Bring the beans to a rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and place the top on the pot. Leave set for at least 1 hour.
Then I pressure cook them. Place and lock the pressure lid. Bring the pressure up in the pot (I use setting 2 on the pressure lid) and when the steam vents let it go for 5 to 15 minutes. This varies on how you like the beans (firm or soft) and your individual cooker. After the pressured cook time turn off heat and let the pressure fall. Then they are ready!
Morgen
10/12/2010 at 11:06 AM (UTC -6)
I’ve always soaked and then rinsed the beans before cooking with enough water to cover. Beans have a certain side-effect in the body, and I find that the rinsing helps reduce this effect.
My process is:
Sort – always.
Soak – overnight
Rinse – well
Cover with water – like I would soak again
Cook – for about 2 hours over low heat.
Lori
10/14/2010 at 8:47 AM (UTC -6)
It’s so great to have such a simple, straight-forward explanation for dried beans! I’m a big fan of the slow cooker methods.
Thanks for sharing this!
Toni
02/24/2011 at 11:33 AM (UTC -6)
I love this idea — both the prep method and the storage idea! I love dried beans, but often shy away from using simply because of the prep time or because I’m a spur-of-the-moment cook. Using a pressure cooker is another great idea, Chhaya! I have a pressure canner I use for canning, but will also have to try using it to cook beans. Thanks for the post!
Steph
02/24/2011 at 12:46 PM (UTC -6)
Toni – Glad you enojoyed this post! I love this method of cooking beans. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to make beans and rice at the last minute thanks to having a stash in the freezer. Using pressure cookers definitely saves time too. I’ve heard that the beans loose some of their nutrients when pressure cooking, so that might be something to research if that’s a big priority to you!
Iris
09/19/2011 at 8:42 AM (UTC -6)
This is so helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Steph
09/19/2011 at 5:17 PM (UTC -6)
Iris – You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!
Janee
03/03/2012 at 3:46 PM (UTC -6)
I use too many canned beans because I did not realize how easy it would be to cook a bunch up an freeze them. The only exception is when I make homemade chile or my families favorite…aztec beans. I always soak overnight since I’ve found this greatly reduces their affect on my digestive system. Some people may not be as sensitive so long soaking times may not be as important. Aztec beans are so versatile and tasty we make them often. Just soak 1-3 lbs of black beans overnight (depending on size of crockpot and how much you need for your family). Rinse. Add some garlic salt according to your taste and pour your favorite salsa (12-48 oz jar depending on amount of beans) into the beans and mix. Add enough water to cover the beans and cook on high for 1-3 hours (to get the cooking process going) and then turn to low and cook until dinner time. We use them for bean burritos, beans and rice, and add the leftovers to any recipe that calls for black beans.
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