This is for chili in a slow cooker and I'll be using red beans of some kind--kidney I suppose. I know I need to soak them, but do they need to be pre-cooked too?
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@SeanHart The edit you approved was made by someone other than the OP and asks a new question (and in all caps, to boot) - this really looks like the kind of thing that should be rejected.– Cascabel ♦Dec 18, 2014 at 22:56
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@PaulWarrenSnellPhD If you have a new question, please post it as a question. Editing an existing question is not the right way to ask. That said, I believe this is exactly your question, and is already well-answered: cooking.stackexchange.com/q/434/1672– Cascabel ♦Dec 18, 2014 at 22:57
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5 Answers
Canned beans are already cooked, so if you want the same texture... yes. Soak and then cook your beans until they are just tender.
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some beans may need a longer soak/cook process, so consider checking about this if you use several kinds of legumes (like I tend to).– zanlokDec 8, 2010 at 20:36
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1Yes, fully cooked. You'll be rewarded with much better texture than from canned beans. Dec 8, 2010 at 21:26
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1@Michael: A lot of the texture improvement is down to the fact that canned beans are already fully cooked and get overcooked when added to new recipes. They do not really need to be added to right near the end of a recipe to "warm through". Having said that, many canned bean manufacturers tend towards overcooking the beans anyway.– OrblingDec 8, 2010 at 21:35
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2@Orbling, funny, I have the opposite experience. I find many canned beans unpleasantly crunchy. I think they often either undercook them or use (natural) chemicals to keep them a bit firmer so that they don't fall apart too much in the can over time. In almost all cases I like my beans fully tender. Dec 8, 2010 at 22:05
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@Michael: It entirely depends on the brand. I pick per bean per brand for canned varieties (if not using dried). I too prefer beans well cooked, the crunch is deeply unpleasant.– OrblingDec 8, 2010 at 22:15
As "Mrs Garden" states, the canned beans are soaked and fully cooked in advance.
Different beans (legumes) require different amounts of soaking and cooking, so you need to be specific as to the type in your decisions. Butter beans (lima) take very little time, Chick Peas (garbanzo) take hours.
Some legumes, like lentils, often do not need soaking at all.
Your example of red kidney beans are a special case, as they are toxic if not vigorously boiled for ten minutes before the cooking process to destroy the toxins in the skin. Note that cooking them under 100C actually increases the toxicity levels - poisoning from them is particularly noted with slow cookers.
Remember that the canned beans are designed to throw straight in to a recipe at the end, or the beginning, or be eaten cold in salads, they are fully cooked. If your recipe is going to cook for a few hours in liquid, then you may not need to pre-cook the beans, only soak them - as the cooking process will suffice. Take note that if the recipe is high in salt, it is not a good idea, as salt early in the cooking process hardens beans. A lot of slow cooker recipes can just have soaked and partly cooked beans added to them from the start.
My father never cooks red kidney beans before adding them to a chilli, just boils them hard for ten minutes to sort out the toxicity issue and throws them in for the full cooking time.
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No way! I didn't know that about red kidney beans... cool. I don't use them very often (I really dislike them), but I will keep that in mind for the next time I do. Thanks! Dec 8, 2010 at 21:56
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3Also, has anyone else noticed that the bean world is divided re:salt? I always salt my (soaked) beans at the beginning of the cooking process and they have never been tough. Not even once. Dec 8, 2010 at 21:58
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@Mrs Garden: I'm a sceptic on it as well, it depends on the bean type and how you are cooking them. Some of the smaller beans are worse for it I think, haricot, aduki, etc. As for the toxicity, red kidney beans are the worst, but there are others in the family that are also.– OrblingDec 8, 2010 at 22:13
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The "don't salt" thing is an old wive's tale that has been thoroughly debunked: seriouseats.com/2010/10/the-food-labs-top-6-food-myths.html Salting beans early on is always a good thing. Dec 18, 2014 at 20:40
Dried beans, like other dried grains (barley, bulgur wheat, etc), should soak overnight with about 2.5 times as much liquid to dried beans. For example, soak 1 cup of beans in 2.5 cups of water over night. You can always drain the water that doesn't soak up. What I like to do is use hot water to cover the beans and the place plastic wrap (or a cover) over the bowl.
There are a couple of issues with using plain dried beans in a chili: 1. the beans won't cook at all, 2. the chili will take a really long time to cook, and 3. since the beans are soaking up all the moisture from the rest of your chili, the chili could become dry and sticky (think a can of Hormel chili that sat out all night).
Good luck!
If you have a pressure cooker, you can do a "quick soak" of the dried beans. I don't have the exact procedure/measurements close at hand, but here's the general idea: You put the beans and plenty of water in the cooker, boil them a short time at high pressure, then release the pressure quickly.
This has most of the same effects as soaking overnight in a fraction of the time. The downside is that it can be hard on the bean skins and some will rupture and/or come off. But all you've got is dry beans and you don't have all night to wait for a soak, this can get you to a cookable state very quickly.
Of course, this still leaves you with uncooked beans, but that's remedied by cooking your soup (or whatever) longer with a little more liquid than is called for with canned beans. Since you're looking at a long-cooking crockpot chili here, I don't think you'd have much trouble.
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Sounds like this might be nice for chili or refried beans, where you don't need or want the beans all whole.– zanlokDec 14, 2010 at 16:41
nonsense. I always just rinse the dried beans and throw them into the crock. The crock cooks all day, why would you need to soak the beans for an equal amount of time beforehand? I've made plenty of soups using beans, and have never had a problem.
