Cooking Beans

Take a package of beans from your favorite grocery store or buy your dried beans in bulk. There are many kinds of beans and they can be used in so many wonderful ways. My family’s favorite is what West Virginians call brown beans. What are brown beans? Pinto beans. I also cook white beans and occasionally butter beans.

1. First, look the beans.
What are you looking for? Many times you will find small rocks or clumps of dirt or debris in the beans. Once you have looked your beans then rinse them.

2. Soak the Beans.
To soak the beans place them in a pan of water. The water should be at least 2-3 inches over the beans. Why? Beans increase in volume as they absorb the water. There are a few ways you can soak these.

• place the beans in a covered pot of water overnight (at least 2-3 inches above the level of the beans). In the morning either drain the water and add fresh or use the same water and begin to simmer on the stove-top until done.
•  or you may place the beans in a covered pot of water and do a quick soak by cooking until they are boiling for 2-3 minutes and then turning off and covering for one hour. There are two thoughts about what to do next. Drain the water and add fresh or keep the water and simmer on your stove until done. You can tell they are tender by taste or you may want to put one or two on a spoon and blow on it and the skin will split when done.
• Slow cooking. You may place the clean rinsed beans in your Crock-pot or you may do this step after either of the previous steps. Or you may look, rinse, and then place them in the Crock-pot on low. I usually do this the night before and they are ready by morning to be seasoned and eaten or used in a recipe. You might want to start them on low in the morning if they are to be eaten for your evening meal.
• Instant Pots are really popular right now. I am still experimenting with cooking beans in the Instant Pot. I have washed the beans and added them to the InstaPot without soaking them. I added my liquid and chopped ham and used the manual setting and cooked for 50 minutes and let it slowly release. I finished seasoning the beans. They were delicious and ready to eat in 1 hour.
• SEE Donna King’s comment below on salt brine soaking for beans. She shares the how-tos and the science of softer skins.

Most of my life I used one of the first two ways of soaking the beans and cooking beans. In recent years I discovered how easy it is to cook beans with the use of the Crock-pot.

Now after your beans are done you may season them. (With the exception of using a ham bone or ham to season your beans,  I would add this as it cooks) For me, this is not an exact science. I tend to add a small amount of cumin, chili powder, onions, or onion flakes, sometimes small pieces of chopped green bell pepper and/or cilantro, garlic, salt, and pepper. Start with small amounts and season to taste.

WARNING: Make sure if you are going to use tomatoes in your beans or bean recipes, that you do not add them until the beans are completely done or your beans will not get tender!

There. Now you know how I cook beans. Brown beans are one of our favorite meals with cornbread and a slice of onion or tomato. They are also a great addition to many recipes like taco salad, taco meat mixture, bean burritos, chili, etc. So add some beans to your diet for nutritional and financial benefits!
If you have any more questions about how to cook beans please let me know.