How long to boil beans
Pre-soak dried beans and then boil them for 30 to 40 minutes.
How to cook beans
1. Before cooking the beans sort them out, rinse and soak in cold water (1 cup of beans - 2 cups of water) for 6-8 hours.
2. Water for soaking should be changed every 3 hours, every time soak beans in fresh water.
3. The water used for soaking the beans should be drained; cook the beans in fresh, cold water (take 3 cups of water for 1 cup of beans).
4. Put the pot with beans at low heat, let it start boiling, then drain the water.
5. Pour fresh, cold water (at the same ratio), again bring to a boil at low heat and continue cooking. To avoid beans get dark, cook them in an open bowl.
6. Pour a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to the beans at the beginning of cooking, cook beans cooked at a temperature slightly above 100 degrees. This will make the beans specially soft.
7. Boil beans for 1 hour, add salt 10 minutes before finishing (1 teaspoon of salt for 1 cup of beans).
Your beans are ready!
Beans in a multicooker
1. Put two cups of red or navy beans (you can use measuring cups that are included in the multicooker kit) into a wide bowl, pour 5 cups of cold water and leave for about 8 hours till they swell. This will save your cooking time later.
2. Soaking water should be changed every 3 hours. Do not use drained water, replace it with fresh. The beans will expand by 2-3 times in comparison with their original volume.
3. Rinse swollen beans thoroughly in a colander under cold water, drain the water off, then put beans into a multicooker.
4. Add salt at the rate of 1 teaspoon of salt for 1 cup of beans, add black pepper to taste, gently stir and pour fresh water so that it covers the beans per centimeter.
5. Set the multicooker to "stewing" program and switch the timer on. Cooking time differs depending on the color of beans: red beans need half an hour, a bit less for navy beans - one hour. At the end of cooking, taste the dish - well cooked beans should be completely soft. Your beans are ready, bon appetit!
Beans in a steamer
1. Sort out beans (red or navy), remove damaged ones. Beans should be flat, smooth, of even color, firm to the touch and should not peel.
2. Put sorted beans into a deep bowl and pour cold water at the ratio of 1 cup of beans for 2 cups of water.
3. Leave the beans for 8 hours to swell. It is necessary to change water every 3 hours in the process of soaking. Beans should expand in volume.
4. Rinse swollen beans thoroughly in a colander under cold running water and then let it drain.
5. Pour water into a special steamer bowl, put the beans in it and boil at 80 degrees. Since moisture evaporation process is slower in this case, vapor will simply make the water warm.
6. Navy beans should be cooked for at least 2.5 hours, red beans - a bit more than three hours. When cooking, control the water level in the bowl and add some more if necessary, water should be drained from the sump. When the beans are completely soft and delicate to taste, you may lay it on plates and serve - it is ready.
Beans in a microwave
1. Put beans and pour cold water in a bowl at the ratio of: 2 cups of water for 1 cup of beans. Leave it to swell for 8 hours. It is enough for beans to expand in volume. It is necessary to change water every 3 hours in the process of soaking.
2. After a while carefully drain water from the bowl. To avoid beans accidentally falling out of the dish, you can cover the bowl with a flat plate and leave a small slot. Odd fluid will drain through it.
3. Put the beans in a glass dish, pour clean water and put them into a microwave. Cook red beans at maximum power for 10 minutes, navy beans for 7 minutes.
4. Take the beans out of the microwave after the audio signal and stir it. If you are going to use beans as the main dish, add some salt and pepper to taste at this stage of cooking.
5. Put the beans into a microwave and cook them at medium power (20 minutes for red beans and 15 minutes for navy beans).
6. Peel an onion, mince it and fry in a pan, then add a tablespoon of vegetable oil until onion is golden hue.
7. Pull beans out of the microwave and put them in a colander to let remains of the liquid drain. Then put the beans in a plate, add fried onions, and stir. Beans can be topped with any sauce to taste.
Factelicious about beans
- Beans should be soaked in a large bowl since the beans swell. In the process of soaking beans increase in size by 2-3 times.
- Beans require neutral environment with cool water. However, due to a long stay in water, the process of acidification is almost inevitable. The most common way to solve the problem is frequent change of water. If you can not do it every time, you can soak the beans in a soda solution - take a quarter-teaspoon of baking soda for 2.5 cups of water. After soaking, rinse the beans and put them back into soda solution for 1-2 minutes. Concentration can be doubled. Then rinse them again. It is necessary not to overdo the amount of soda - it significantly affects the process of swelling and the general benefit for the body.
- Soaking beans for a long time significantly reduces cooking time, and washes odd dry starch from the surface of the beans. Вeans absorb enough moisture after soaking, become soft and gentle on taste, and do not fall apart. Even raw beans are suitable for eating. Soaked beans is much better ingested by the body The point is the beans contain oligosaccharides - complex sugars that cause excessive gas. Some people refuse to eat beans for this reason. However, oligosacharides are water soluble, so before cooking, drain the water in which the beans were soaked and wash them in a colander.
- Cooking beans without soaking takes quite a long time that is unlikely to be available. this method of cooking takes 4 hours. Cook at low heat and constantly ensure that the water in the pot is not completely evaporated, so pour it promptly. In addition, prolonged cooking can disrupt the structure of the bean and it will start to burst.
- Beans cooking time may vary depending on the beans size and type. Readiness of beans can be checked as follows: remove 3 beans from the pan and taste each of it. Well-cooked beans should be soft. Continue cooking if at least one grain is hard. Then randomly taste 3 beans again. You can check hardness of beans 40 minutes after you have started boiling the water; do it again every 10 minutes. This method allows you to find optimal timing for cooking, and the beans will not be overcooked.
- Beans may change their colour (darken) in the process of cooking. Cover the pan with a lid to avoid such a situation.
- Control carefully the level of water in the pan in the process of cooking. As soon as there is no more water, add some boiling water. Otherwise, the lower layer of beans will get burned, and some beans will turn to a puree.
- Cooked beans should be soft and one should be able to mash it with a fork easily. Another method to check - is to blow at beans right after they are drawn out of the pan. If the skin cracks - the beans are ready, and you may turn off the heat. It doesn't matter if it is a bit hard. Bean will get ready in the process of seasoning, laying out on plates, and serving.
- If you don't want beans to taste bitterish, change the water in the process of cooking (approximately in an hour) and continue cooking till they are ready. This may help to avoid bitterness, as well as to save colour of beans, and to cook them faster. If you cook beans for a soup, do it in a separate pan till they are half-ready, then continue boiling them in a broth. Beans can also have bitter taste due to long storage.
Fast method to soak beans before cooking
There is a fast way to soak beans, though it is more laborious and demands more activities in the kitchen:
1) sort it out, rinse, pour into a pan, fill the pan with water at the ratio of 1:3 (3 cups of water for boiling 1 cup of beans);
2) bring it to boil at low heat, cook for 5 minutes at high heat;
3) turn off the heat and soak the beans in water for 3 hours;
4) cook beans in fresh water for 1 hour.
Bean Maths
- One cup of beans equals to 200 grams of beans.
- Beans double or triple in volume during cooking.
- For 2 servings of beans as a side dish use 1.5 glass of beans.
- Stick to 1:3 ratio of water and beans, i.e. for 1 cup of beans you should take 3 cups of water.
Important when you cooking beans
1. Soaking time for beans shall not be more than 10 hours, as they may start to ferment. In summer time, keep soaked beans in the fridge to prevent them from germination.
2. It is important to boil beans until they are done, as eating raw beans is dangerous for human.
3. Navy beans do not require soaking, you can start cooking them at once (cooking time is the same).
4. Softness evidences that beans are well-boiled.
5. Salt should be added only when the beans are already soft (10 minutes before the end of cooking time), as salt slows down the cooking process.
6. To cook red beans without pre-soaking, add 1 tablespoon of cold water each 5 minutes while cooking. In this case beans should be boiled for 2 hours, though cooking process is too complicated.
Beans are rich in protein. Beans are the second essential source of amino acids (after meat).
100 grams of green beans have 20 mg of Vitamin C, Vitamins PP, B1 and B2. Beans provide benefits for
skin and help to keep it healthy. Beans do not lose their nutrients when they are cooked.
Red beans caloric value is 292 kcal.