Comments on: When Dry Beans Go Bad

By: mom, again

mom, again — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:43:04 +0000

don't add salt to beans until they are done. Salt toughens the beans if they are cooked in it.

Also, what kinds of beans was the writer cooking? Chickpeas never get 'soft' in the way some other beans do.

By: Keter

Keter — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:18:00 +0000

Even at low altitude crunchy beans are sometimes a problem A little apple cider vinegar sometimes works to soften them. Or a can or Ro-Tel (diced tomatoes and chiles). I add salt halfway through cooking; I found that adding it earlier makes crunchy beans every time. As for the "musical" issue….add some dried Epazote (a Mexican herb with a very light flavor similar to savory) to your beans as they cook…it works wonders.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:47:09 +0000

I grew up near the Rocky Mountains, but I haven't lived too high in altitude. Nevertheless, we cook dry beans frequently. A 24 hour soak is what we always do and we don't add salt until they are cooked. The salt can really toughen the beans if added too early.

When I did have a pressure cooker it worked GREAT, and instead of the standard 2 to 2 1/2 hour boil, I think it only took 30 minutes.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:54:59 +0000

I live in Florida so high altitude isn't a problem but the only time I've ever had a problem with cooking beans is when I try cooking them in something salty–like broth.
To tell the truth, though, I prefer the easy of canned beans. They're still pretty darn cheap. Mrs. Mordecai over at the Be It Ever So Humble site did a series on beans, including a cost comparison and concluded that dried were still the better bargain–including the cost of electricity used to cook them, but it was only about 15-25 cents per 12 ounces. Throw in the added cost of freezing (or for me, the high value of freezer space) and again, the canned beans are the way to go for me.

By: ThatBobbieGirl

ThatBobbieGirl — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:23:56 +0000

From some friends who were missionaries at a very high altitude place in South America, I learned that the pressure cooker is the way to go to get beans soft.

I am not at high altitude, but I do have some old beans that I am unwilling to toss — crockpot for 24 hours made them disgustingly overcooked, but still somewhat crunchy. The pressure cooker came to my rescue — I actually pressure canned them so I could do a bunch at once to have later. Worked great. (I'm thinking I may have picked that idea up on this site, but can't remember for certain)

By: nukenanc

nukenanc — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:16:37 +0000

My Dad always sang "musical fruit" also.

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:33:47 +0000

I second the pressure cooker. I live in the mountains, around 6500ft, and thats the only way I would even attempt dry beans anymore. If you soak them a bit first, they'll be done in a jif in the pressure cooker

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:16:30 +0000

I am pretty low, around 1200 alt, so I don't have high altitude tips. I can tell you that baking soda is supposed to help old beans get soft (though its to make the skins soft not the insides), but it also supposedly gives them a strange flavor and if you put more than 1/8 tsp per cup of beans it will destroy the thiamine in the beans.

By: Camilla

Camilla — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:42:24 +0000

After soaking them, cut one in half with a sharp knife; if there's a core that's whiter than the hydrated part, they're not done soaking yet and won't cook up well/evenly. This should let you judge how long they really need to soak (sometimes a couple of hours is enough) and tell you if age/hydration is the problem.

My beans get 7min at high pressure in the pressure cooker (plus time to get up to pressure and come down from pressure) after soaking, but I'm at sea level. I bet the pressure cooker is an even more dramatic improvement at altitude.

By: shaun

shaun — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:20:01 +0000

I don't live at high alt, but I use a pressure cooker. It raises the boiling temperature to about 250F at sea level. I don't even ever bother soaking the beans and they finish in a little over an hour. That would be my suggestion.