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Another benefit of not using canned is that you can control the amount of salt/sodium in the beans.
One of the best values, if your grocery has them, are bulk/measure-your-own spices and herbs. You can buy small amounts, or just what you need for a recipe, without paying several dollars for a jar.
That's how I've bought my herbs & spices for YEARS. I also like to buy tea mixes that way, too. I get to try new flavors without buying a lot - who wants to get stuck with $4 worth of nasty tea?
If you have hard water, a bit of baking soda in the bean water will let them cook faster.
Soaking the beans first helps them cook a lot quicker. I'll generally plan on two bean recipes when cooking beans and do a double batch while cooking them. Enough for whatever I'm cooking plus some extra to store in the refrigerator for the second recipe.
I'm not sure about the validity of your point about the electricity necessary to keep the beans frozen. After all, wouldn't you be running the freezer anyway? It's much more efficient to run a full freezer than a partially-filled one, so pack that stuff in there!
Also, unless you are living at a high altitude like me, pre-soaked garbanzos should take only about 90 minutes to cook.
I am trying to figure out if it is really cheaper to buy beans in the bulk section and cook them, than buying them precooked in cans. Intuitively it seems that it would be cheaper, but now I'm not sure, given the electricity it takes to cook beans such a long time and also the electricity involved in keeping the excess frozen in the freezer.
Last summer, I did some research about the cost of dried beans v. canned beans for a book I was writing. At the time, a pound of dried kidney beans cost about $1.29 per pound, or about $0.11 per serving. A can of kidney beans cost about $0.99, or about $0.28 per serving, more than twice as much as dried beans. I don't know how the cost of the power to cook the beans or freeze the beans enters into the equation, though.
Last edited by Beretta; 01-23-2010 at 08:38 AM..
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Old stove top kind of pressure cooker is only like $5 to $15 at thrift store, though probably need new gasket and maybe the jiggler weight, those seem to be missing lot of time. Pressure cooker was one of true innovations in cooking, though dont think its used much anymore in precooked heat and serve microwave world.
But yea if you are going to cook beans or grain, cant beat a pressure cooker. Oh and use double boiler method. Dont cook directly in the cooker, put in the bottom trivet/spacer thingie, then a stainless steel bowl with room at sides for steam. Water to cover the trivet in bottom. Then one part beans/grain in the stainless bowl and two parts water. Cooks perfect with little cleaning and lot faster than simmering beans in pot on back of stover for HOURS. The water in the bottom is just for steam, the beans/grain cook in the water in the stainless bowl.
If you gotta cook without pressure cooker, try lentils, they are fast cooking and quite tasty. Mung beans, black eyed peas, and other smaller beans tend to be lot faster cooking than large size beans. Less starchy too.
The best way to store beans is to store them dry. Then cook as needed.
I do a large crock pot of beans, mostly chili, and they go into the freezer in individual servings, but I am running the freezer anyway, not just running it to store cooked beans. I don't know what it costs to run a crock pot, but it isn't much. The freezer is going to run whether or not I put beans in there, so cost of the freezer isn't a consideration like it would be if I kept a dedicated freezer just for storing cooked beans..
I cook dry beans and I also buy a few cans of beans and the last can of beans I opened was only half full of beans and the rest was liquid. If the canning companies are going to do that, then home cooked gets even more economical.
Coming back to add that I think the flavor of home booked beans is better and I like the texture better, and I can season them just as I like them with nothing in there that I don't want. Cost is not the only consideration.,
OP, this is really going off topic, but fuel is going up in cost and it is possibly going to get a bit scarce. I expect more power black-outs, so if you are living in a house that you own, I seriously recommend that you look into getting a generator system so you don't have to worry about your freezer.
Did you know that tomatoes slow cooking time for beans?
I think it's because they are acidic. Adding a pinch of baking soda (a base, the opposite of acid) speeds cooking even with soft water.
Lentils do not require a long cooking time. Pre-soak larger beans as was suggested, or do the old bring to a boil, let set for 1 hour, drain and add fresh water and cook routine. Dried are almost always cheaper than canned - just be sure to buy a small amount from any bulk bin first, and cook it up to test it. Some bulk and even packaged dried beans are ancient and will NEVER cook without becoming woody. It is very important to buy dried beans at a store where the stock turns over quickly.
A couple months ago, I was on a Royal Caribbean ship and was served a bowl of four lentil chili. While the dish tasted good, the brown lentils were more than el dente and some of the other lentils were mush.
I bring this up to emphasize that different lentils have different cooking times. Brown lentils, the most common variety in the US, require about 40 minutes to soften; green takes closer to 15 minutes. In both cases, soaking is really not necessary.
The best way to store beans is to store them dry. Then cook as needed.
I do a large crock pot of beans, mostly chili, and they go into the freezer in individual servings, but I am running the freezer anyway, not just running it to store cooked beans. I don't know what it costs to run a crock pot, but it isn't much. The freezer is going to run whether or not I put beans in there, so cost of the freezer isn't a consideration like it would be if I kept a dedicated freezer just for storing cooked beans..
I cook dry beans and I also buy a few cans of beans and the last can of beans I opened was only half full of beans and the rest was liquid. If the canning companies are going to do that, then home cooked gets even more economical.
Coming back to add that I think the flavor of home booked beans is better and I like the texture better, and I can season them just as I like them with nothing in there that I don't want. Cost is not the only consideration.,
We noticed that too. The cans are barely half full! So much liquid. And salt. We keep a couple cans of beans for a quick meal, but prefer to cook our own so we can control the sodium and texture. We can add other ingredients too. DH is a whiz with the pressure cooker but it kind of scares me, lol. So I do the lentils and he does the beans. We do freeze about half of them and just got a freezer for being stocked up...we do a lot of garbanzos too. Make hummus and bean salad, yum.
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