Using Dry Beans

All this great information on using dry beans was shared by Terri Williamson in the Edinburgh Ward. 


The church leaders have asked us to store 5 lbs of dry beans per month per person as part of our long-term storage. This means that for a year supply, you should have 60 lbs of beans per person in your household.  This info will help you learn how to use all the beans you are storing.


Bean Information

Beans are an extremely beneficial component in all diets because they are high in complex carbohydrates, protein and dietary fiber, low in fat, calories and sodium, and completely cholesterol-free.  They are found in two places in the Food Guide Pyramid – with high protein foods such as meat, eggs, poultry and fish, and also with the vitamin-rich vegetables. Beans have the best type of carbohydrates – those considered to be low or moderate glycemic index carbohydrates and are absorbed more slowly so beans satisfy hunger for longer periods of time.

Beans are an excellent and inexpensive source of protein, dry beans average about 22% protein, the highest content of any seed crop. They contain all essential amino acids, except methionine. Complete proteins are animal proteins like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and milk products. They contain all the essential amino acids that your body needs. Incomplete proteins are plant proteins like dried beans, peas, lentils, nuts and grains.  Each of these lack one or more of the essential amino acids. For a complete protein, pair beans with rice, corn or meat.

Varieties Include:

Baby Lima: milk flavored, serve as a vegetable or in casseroles, soup

Light Red Kidney: excellent in any recipe calling for cooked beans

Black-eye Peas: type of pea, good aroma, creamy texture, cook with pork or chicken

Navy: medium-sized white pea bean, great for baked beans and soup, salad, chowders

Dark Red Kidney: colorful salad bean, chili, soup

Pink: great barbeque style or cooked with other spicy seasonings, chili, refried beans

Turtle or Black Bean: a favorite in Mexican cooking, great with rice, dips, salads

Garbanzo or Chick Pea: nut-like flavor, ideal for salads and appetizers

Pinto: popular in chili, refried beans, and other Mexican dishes

Great Northern: larger than small white or navy beans, good for baking, casseroles, soups

Small Red: similar to red kidney, good for soups, salad, and chili

Large Lima: rich buttery flavor, cook with smoked meat or cheese

Flageolet: small light green, holds up well in cooking, use in salads, stews, casseroles

Cannellini: smooth texture, nutty flavor, good for soups and salads

Storage and Shelf Life:

Like most stored foods, beans are best stored in the absence of oxygen and light. Oxygen can lead to rancidity of the bean oils and light can fade the bean color. Oxygen absorbers should be used to remove oxygen from the packages to extend shelf life and minimize off-flavors. Beans in normal food-grade bags have a shelf life of 1 year or more. Like most stored foods, colder storage temperatures will increase shelf life. When packaged in #10 cans or Mylar-type bags, with the oxygen removed, they have a shelf life of 10 or more years (A BYU study indicated that pinto beans that had been stored up to 30 years had a greater than 80% acceptance by a consumer taste panel for emergency food use.) Vitamin degradation occurs after 2-3 years, especially in warm temperatures. Older beans will require longer soaking and cooking times. At some point, the seeds will no longer rehydrate and in that case must be ground as bean flour. Dry legumes must be cooked completely before eating. For this reason it is not recommended to grind dry beans and then simply mix with hot water to make instant refried beans. Canned beans are a great convenience since they are already presoaked and precooked. Always drain and thoroughly rinse before adding them to a recipe. Canned beans will absorb flavors from other ingredients since their skins are completely permeable.

Preparing to Eat:

1. Sort through dry beans or peas and discard any that are discolored or shriveled.

2. Rinse the beans and drain well.

3. Soak the beans using one of the following methods (Lentils and split peas do not require soaking):

a. Overnight soak: Soak beans at room temperature or in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight in a pan containing approximately 6-8 cups of water for each pound of beans. Do not salt soaking liquid. Drain and discard the water. Beans soaked using this method will keep their shape better, have a more uniform texture, and cook more quickly than those prepared by the quick soak method.

b. Quick soak: Bring 1 pound of beans and 6-8 cups of water to a gentle boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 1 hour. Drain, discarding the soaking water. Beans may prematurely break up with a quick soak method. Use the overnight method for dishes where the beans should stay whole. NOTE: It is important that beans are not allowed to stand for more than 1-2 hours. The heat can activate bacterial spores and the warm temperatures during cooling can favor their growth causing the potential for food-borne illnesses.

4. Cook your re-hydrated beans using one of the following methods:

*Stove top: Place the soaked beans in a large pot, cover with hot water, add 1 TB of oil and simmer with the lid slightly ajar until the beans are tender. The oil will cut down on the amount of foam produced during cooking. Do not bring to a rolling boil or stir frequently as this will cause the bean skins to break. Add additional water if needed. Most beans will tenderize within 2 hours; however, beans which have been stored for long periods will require a longer cooking time. Beans are done when they can be easily mashed between two fingers or with a fork.

*Pressure cooker: A pressure cooker will save time and energy when cooking beans. Never fill the cooker more than 1/3 full to allow for expansion of the beans. Add water and oil and cook according to your pressure cooker instructions.

*Slow cooker: Since crock-pots can vary in terms of wattage, follow your manufacturer’s instructions for cooking beans. In general, you will cover your beans with 3 times their volume of unsalted water and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer until tender. Discard water after cooking.

Bean Conversion:

2 cups dry beans = 1 pound dry beans

1 pound dry beans = 6 cups cooked beans, drained

1 c. dry beans = 3 cups cooked beans, drained

One 15 oz. can beans = 1 ½ c. cooked beans, drained

Suggestions for Using Beans Include:

Appetizers: hummus, relishes, spreads, snacks, and dips: puree some beans and add other ingredients to your liking, like salsa, garlic, chopped tomato, avocado, green onion, green pepper, cilantro, lime juice, and cayenne pepper.

Snacks: roast chickpeas in oven and sprinkle with salt or spices, top nachos with refried or black beans.

Eggs: just add a handful of beans as you’re scrambling them – perfect for breakfast burritos, eat baked beans with omelets.

Main Dishes: chili, casseroles, stir-fry, meatloaf, pastas, tacos, burritos, and pizza: use the ingredients for tacos, including beans, as pizza toppings.

Soups and stews: add beans to almost any soup, try chickpeas.

Salads: top salads with cooked beans, or take beans, a bit of olive oil, whatever veggies you have on hand diced up, and a bit of lemon juice and vinegar for a cold salad.

Vegetable Sides: refried beans, bean patties, mix beans and salsa, top with some cheese of your choice and bake until cheese is melted.

Beans and rice: cook up some rice, mix with the beans, add almost any other vegetable (and or meat) you wish, also stir beans into rice, couscous, or other grain side dishes.

Wraps: add beans to other ingredients you put on your wrap, you can also mash them into a paste and spread it onto the tortilla or pita.

Breads: muffins, bread, brownies, cookies, and cakes: substitute bean puree for oil in cake mixes (match the color of beans with the color of the cake i.e. white beans: vanilla or yellow, pinto beans: spice, black: chocolate or devil’s food.

There are many recipes on-line that use beans, find those that will work for your family. A few good sites are: www.usdrybeans.com/recipes/, www.usu.ed/duchesne/files/uploads/FCS/cooking and www.americanbean.org.

Tips:

*Spice up beans while they cook. Seasonings such as garlic, onion, oregano, parsley or thyme can be added to the pot while beans are cooking. Add acidic ingredients, such as salt, lemon, molasses, vinegar, tomatoes or juice after the beans are fully cooked. These types of ingredients will slow the cooking process.

*To soften old beans you can cook and freeze: the freezing moisture in the bean helps to rupture the cell wall and create a more palatable product or try pressure cooking.

*Cooked beans should be refrigerated as soon as possible to keep harmful bacteria from multiplying. Cooked beans last 3-5 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen for up to 8 months.

*Hard water may also cause hard beans. If the cooked beans still seem tough, add ¼ tsp. baking soda for each pound of beans to increase tenderness. Do no use on fresh beans as it will over-soften them.

*Gas is an undesirable side affect of eating legumes. The body lacks enzymes to digest some sugars in the beans. Since the sugars are not digested, they ferment in the digestive tract creating gas.  If you gradually increase your consumption of beans, your system will adjust and be able to digest them more easily. While some information says that the longer beans are soaked, the more sugars are dissolved into the soak water, do not let your beans sit in warm water for longer than 2 hours because of the risk of illness. There are commercial enzyme products such as Beano which help break down the complex sugars and make them easier to digest.

*Based on the recommendations from Provident Living we should store 5 lbs. of dry beans per month per adult.

Bean Flour:

Bean flour is another way to put your beans or other legumes to use. Bean flour can be added to any recipe calling for wheat flour. Replace up to ¼ of the total amount of wheat flour with bean flour. Nutrition can be added to any commercial dry mix (cakes, cookies, muffins, breads) by adding a few tablespoons of bean flour to the dry ingredients, then adding extra liquid as necessary. Combining bean and wheat flours helps form a complete protein. Add bean flour to thicken gravies and sauces. To make a creamy soup add water to bean flour and cook for 3 minutes, add pasta, vegetables or other beans.

Some grinding tips include: first sort and check for dirty beans or rocks. Place the mill in a kitchen sink and fill hopper with beans. Cover with a kitchen towel to reduce bean dust, and leave a hole to stir beans as they go into the milling chamber. Peas and lentils will not need to be stirred. Large beans like limas will need to be cracked in a blender or food grinder before grinding to flour. Clean the sponge filter after each hopper of beans.

Store bean flour in freezer bags or food storage containers and refrigerate or freeze if possible. Flours last about 6 months at room temperature. After that time a bitter aftertaste may develop.

Using Bean Flour:

Black bean flour: use as part of your baking mix for chocolate cakes and brownies, tortillas and flat breads.

Garbanzo flour: pizza dough, muffins, bread, pancakes and waffles. Since it is gluten-free, it must be combined with another flour containing gluten to rise.

Green Pea flour: add reconstituted green pea flour to guacamole, baking, thicken soups and stews.

White Bean flour: the mild-flavor of white beans makes this ideal for sauces and gravies. It can also be used to thicken soups and is ideal for baked goods (substitute ¼ of the white flour for bean flour) and homemade noodles.

Kidney and Pinto flours: have a stronger flavor and can be used for meatloaf, vegetable patties, soups, stews.