Cooking Canned and Dried Beans | Cook's Illustrated (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook dried beans cooks illustrated? ›

Bring peas or bean, bay leaf, garlic, and water to simmer in large saucepan. Simmer, partially covered, until beans are just tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in salt, cover, and let beans stand until completely tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserve cooking liquid, and discard bay leaf and garlic.

So 4.5 ounces (or 128 grams) of dried beans should be equivalent to one can; 9 ounces (or 225 grams) of dried beans to two cans and so on. With these ratios, you'll be able to make a big pot of dried beans and portion them out for future meals, or make as much as you need to replace canned beans in any recipe.

Boil 2 minutes, remove from heat, soak 1 hour and drain. Cover beans soaked by either method with fresh water and boil 30 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon of salt per pint or 1 teaspoon per quart to the jar, if desired. Fill jars with beans and cooking water, leaving 1-inch headspace.

For these bean varieties, a gentle simmer over medium to medium-low heat on the stovetop with 1/2 cup of water or broth for about 30 minutes will do the trick; this method will help them retain their shape and keep their interiors smooth and creamy.

The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin as explained above, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly.

Place soaked beans in a large pot; cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently until beans are tender but firm. Most beans will cook in 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the variety.

Overall, dry beans cooked in the home and canned beans are both a healthy, environmentally-friendly staple to have in the home and include in our daily dietary patterns. Choose options that facilitate eating more beans, whether that be canned or cooked from dry, or a mix of both.

Remember these tips for bean equivalents: A heaping 1/2 cup of dried beans = one 15-ounce can of beans. 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans, drained = one 15-ounce can of beans.

Cost: If you want to save money, cook with dry beans.

For example, a one pound bag of dry pinto beans costs, on average, $1.79 and will make 12-½ cup servings of cooked beans whereas a 15 oz. can of national brand pinto beans costs $1.69, a store brand can costs $1.19, and each provides 3.5-½ cup servings.

Pour the beans directly into the pot and season for how you plan to use them. Allow it to simmer, stirring occasionally. Continue to stir and heat beans until they reach the desired temperature and consistency, about 5-10 minutes.

Do you cook dried beans covered or uncovered? ›

Simmer the beans until they're tender.

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce it to a very gentle simmer. Cook the beans uncovered until they're tender.

Do You Need To Rinse Canned Beans? According to The Bean Institute, you can reduce up to 41 percent of the sodium in canned beans by rinsing them. "It's fine to add the bean liquid to many recipes, but if you want to reduce the amount of sodium, it's best to drain and rinse canned beans," the website states.

You can add crushed whole seeds (coriander, cumin, fennel, mustard, etc.), woodsy herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage), red pepper flakes, crushed garlic cloves, and of course salt and pepper.

The calcium and magnesium bond with the cell walls of the beans, causing them to harden. If your water is particularly hard, no matter how long you cook the beans, they might retain the tough, chewy texture. If you don't want to pay for a water softener, salt can be a good solution.

“Sometimes you just need the beans as an ingredient, other times you need the liquid to get a better yield for a soup, or to add more flavor to the dish,” Castelforte notes. If your dish is soupy, saucy or stewy, toss in the liquid. If you're going for more of a sauté, roast, or crisp quality, drain it.

Add 3 cups clean water for every 1 cup of dry beans. Bring to a boil; turn the heat down to low and cook slowly until tenter - about 2 hours. Check the beans often to make sure there is enough water in the pot, if not add more water and continue to cook.

We have found that 6-8 hours is the optimal amount of time for soaking dry pinto beans. The longer you soak them, the more tender they will become, and the more likely they will split and separate during cooking. So if you can't get to them right away, simply drain, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce it to a very gentle simmer. Cook the beans uncovered until they're tender.

Nearly all traditional cookbooks tell you to soak dried beans before cooking them. Modern cooking websites often say it doesn't matter. In a way, they're both right. Soaking beans can help improve the texture of the final product once the beans are cooked and reduce the gas produced when the food is being digested.