bean emergency

clutterydrawer

I thoguht I would do HM baked beans...I soaked the beans for 48 hours then cooked in sauce on the oven for two hours and they are still raw and crunchy - what can I do? I just bought the beans this week so they're not old.

It is way past my dinnertime and i have nothing to eat unless I redeem these

Jedilibrarian

Not an expert in this field but is there any way you could boil them to soften them up? Wash off the sauce you've got on them and put them in a pan with some stock and lentils to make some soup?
I'm sure someone else will post a more helpful tip soon-hope you get them sorted.

Penelope_Penguin

clutterydrawer wrote: »

I thoguht I would do HM baked beans...I soaked the beans for 48 hours then cooked in sauce on the oven for two hours and they are still raw and crunchy - what can I do? I just bought the beans this week so they're not old.

I always soak beans then boil them in water before adding to the sauce; is that what you did

Just because you bought the beans this week, doesn't mean they haven't been sat in a store for months

Penny. x

jayII

Ah, beans can stay hard if they're cooked in acidic sauces, like tomato. Salt can do the same. Too late now, but it's best to cook them in water until tender, then add them to the sauce.

As suggested above, cooking them without the sauce for a bit should help.

tomterm8

Depends on the beans, but some can take 3 to 4 hours to cook in an oven. You can cut that down by boiling the beans in hot water at the start for 2 minutes, and then resting for an hour.

Here's a nice recipy http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=266127 .

clutterydrawer

jayII wrote: »

Ah, beans can stay hard if they're cooked in acidic sauces, like tomato. Salt can do the same. Too late now, but it's best to cook them in water until tender, then add them to the sauce.

As suggested above, cooking them without the sauce for a bit should help.

Ahhhh thankyou! If I take them out of the sauce and then boil them in plain water, will it save them - or are these ones ruined now?

Penny - that's true...i was thinking of when someone told me that old beans get tougher skins, but I suppose I don't really know how old they are

jayII

clutterydrawer wrote: »

Ahhhh thankyou! If I take them out of the sauce and then boil them in plain water, will it save them - or are these ones ruined now?

Penny - that's true...i was thinking of when someone told me that old beans get tougher skins, but I suppose I don't really know how old they are

I don't know, to be honest, I knew about the acid/salt problem before I ever cooked beans, so have never had to deal with it. Worth a try though, I should think.

clutterydrawer

hmmm well I will try it and report back. thansk again everyone, I'm sure I learn more on this forum than in 6 years of school!

Jedilibrarian

How did it go??

clutterydrawer

I can now state that beans in this condition are NOT SAVEABLE. :rotfl:

I have however picked them all out and saved the sauce and veg....I hate waste

Jedilibrarian

Oh dear, well at least it's a lesson to everyone else!