Have You Ever Heard of This?

[Granny Smith]

I saw on tv (America's Test Kitchen, I think) a way to fix beans that I'd never heard of. You add about 1 heaping teaspoon of salt to cold water and soak the beans overnight. The next day, you drain and rinse the beans, then cover with cold water and cook as usual. Supposedly, the salt starts to break down the skin, but firms up the center, so they cook more evenly.

I tried it yesterday and it really works! The beans cooked more quickly and didn't get too mushy before the skins were tender.

[upnorthlady2]

Funny, I always heard just the opposite - that a person should never add salt to beans cooking because that would 'toughen' them. But really, if you think about it, old timers would put a meaty ham bone in with the beans, and ham is always salty, so there you go.......... but I'll try this method of salting the SOAKING water. We eat a lot of beans and if this works, I will really like that! We like beans and rice, beans with pasta, a "bowl of plain beans", and bean soup, and bean burritos, and bean tacos, ......

[Granny Smith]

I'd always heard the opposite, too, so I was skeptical. The lady on tv was using her beans to make black beans and rice. Another thing she did was to chop the vegetables very fine and lightly brown them in a skillet with butter and a little oil before adding them to the beans. I tried that, too. The vegetables held their shape and still had a little 'bite' to them. I haven't decided if I like that or having them turn to mush as they cook with the beans. Cooking them with the beans is easier and doesn't dirty an extra pan.

[Valerie]

Interesting! I never heard that before! I always salt mine when they're cooking though, despite what they say. I just don't like the taste of a bean that hasn't been steeped in salt water! I like them to soak up a little salt, just like potatoes and rice and pasta.

I'm gonna try this next time.

[Granny Smith]

The lady called it brining the beans and admitted it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. It worked, though, so I'm going to keep using it.

[meemo]

I've never heard of that either but I'm goin to do that tonight with the beans for tomorrow. I never could figure out where "they" got the idea that salting beans kept them from getting soft. I always salt when I start cooking them. They dont taste right otherwise and it doesnt matter how much salt you add at the end the beans always taste like they need salt.

[Granny Smith]

Milk gravy is the same way. If you wait till the end to salt it, it never tastes right.

[upnorthlady2]

I tried this method yesterday when I cooked beans for beans and rice. I honestly didn't see any difference! I never have a problem getting beans (or their skins) to be soft anyway. Maybe it's because I grow my own beans for drying, and they haven't been sitting around a warehouse for years to get hard. I agree with Peggy - cooking beans without salt doesn't seem right, and they always need more salt anyway! I do have some older beans that are surely drier, and I'll given them a pre-soak in salted water and see if I can detect a difference.

[meemo]

I dont mean a thick mush but we like our beans cooked until they fall apart a little. Patty, I pressure cook the older beans. 10 lbs pressure for 20 min. Thats for G. Northern or pinto. For peas and limas I just pressure for 10 min. Never had a problem with them getting done.

Question for you Gayle. Does the salty soaking affect how much salt you put in the beans when you cook them. Yrs ago I got tired of inconsistantly salted beans and started measuring it. I use a tablespoon for a pot of any kind of beans.

[Granny Smith]

Peggy, I don't measure salt for beans, so it's hard to say. I do know that I didn't add salt after I rinsed them and had to add some later. That tells me that most of the salt rinses off.

[meemo]

I think it does. I salted them like usual and they were just right. They also got done a lot quicker. I'm goin to keep on salting my soak water. This was a good idea.