Batch Cooking and Freezing Beans?

Kevie192

Hi all,

I'd like to start putting more beans in our diet in an attempt to reduce the amount of meat we eat. My mum is giving me her old upright freezer next week too so since dried beans are much cheaper than tinned I thought I could batch cook and freeze...

Does anyone else do this? I thought I could cook a mixture of beans together in the same pot and then just freeze them as mixed beans to use in various dishes. Having never cooked dried beans though I'm not sure if this is even possible? Do they cook at the same time? If so, I wonder if I can cook them in the slow cooker together?

I also wondered which beans people usually put together for mixed beans?

Finally, does anyone have any good recipes for using mixed beans?

I've had a look around existing threads and there are a few good pointers but nothing that answers my questions.

Thanks,

Kevin x

nuatha

I don't do mixed beans, but do do chickpeas, black turtle beans, aduki beans, red kidney beans and marrowfat peas. Apart from the last which is almost exclusively used as mushy peas, the rest are cooked and frozen down in small batches for further cooking. Chickpeas become humous, falafel or an ingredient in a curry, aduki beans become red dragon pie (veggie shepherds pie) soup or the base for a veggie chilli. turtle beans end up in soup, in breakfast burritos, in chillis and salads, kidney beans end up in chillis or refried beans or as part of a salad.
If you're cooking kidney beans from dried, soak overnight then in fresh water, boil vigorously for at least 15 minutes - they contain a toxin which can cause severe stomach upsets if they aren't cooked correctly.
I tend to do fairly large batches of whatever in a slow cooker then bag down into portion sizes (in my case the equivalent of half a tin) Or I'll make a large batch of veggie chilli and red dragon pie and freeze those down as meals and a few portions of aduki beans to avoid freezing the cooked beans twice (though I have been known to do that, its not generally recommended)

HTH

Kevie192

Thanks for the tips

So do you cook them just as much as if you were using them right away? Are they not mushy when defrosted?
I know a lot of veg need less cooking if freezing.

How long do beans take in a slow cooker?

Thanks again,

Kevin

Justamum

I cook and freeze beans - cook until tender. I put them into a freezer bag and give them a couple of bashes before they are completely frozen to loosen them up (otherwise you would end up with a large lump of beans!) They don't go mushy when you defrost them. One 500g bag of beans is equivalent to 5 tins (drained weight of the tin) If I need one tin of beans I weigh out 8oz.

When you ask about cooking them in a slow cooker is that cooking them from raw? I'm not sure how they would take (ages!), but if you are going to do that don't forget to boil them for 10 minutes in a pan first. You would definitely be better using the pre-cooked beans.

Kevie192

I'll forget the slow cooker then and just cook them on the hob.

Thanks for your advice

lizzyb1812

Kidney beans - a while ago I did some calculations that proved that the value beans in tins were cheaper than cooking the dried ones. Don't know if this still holds true - I've got lots of tins in store so don't need to redo the calculations but do compare the cost of 5 tins with a 500g packet. This only applied to the kidney beans.

I do cook mine in a slow cooker. Soak as usual and bring to the boil for ten minutes on the hob then into the slow cooker. Don't add salt when cooking as it allegedly toughens the beans.

For mixed beans I'd cook the different sorts and freeze them separately then you can make whatever mix you want or use them in recipes that call for just one type.

Memory_Girl

If you get serious about adding beans to your regular diet - suggest you keep an eye open (or ask around) for a pressure cooker. It really speeds up the cooking so you use much less fuel - you have to soak as usual though before cooking.

Haricot beans (for HM baked beans) cook in three minutes.
Cannellini in 6 minutes
Kidney beans in 6 minutes
Chickpeas (for curry 12 minutes) and for hummus 20 minutes.

I cook whole bags and freeze in portions - throw them in sauces, add them to tagines, blitz into soups, whip into dips

---

very cheap protein source.

MG

nuatha

Kevie192 wrote: »

Thanks for the tips

So do you cook them just as much as if you were using them right away? Are they not mushy when defrosted?
I know a lot of veg need less cooking if freezing.

How long do beans take in a slow cooker?

Thanks again,

Kevin

I soak overnight (generally I soak them for 24 hours, just because that works out easier time wise for me) then into the slow cooker.
I generally work on two to three hours on high or 6 to 7 hours on low.
Marrowfat peas get 8 hours because I want them mushy, but other than that I cook as if I'm using them straight away and they come out of the freezer the same way (no more mushy than when they were frozen.
I tend to freeze in portion sizes, you can open freeze them on a tray then bag them if you want them loose.
I agree with Lizzy, don't add salt.
One of these days I will get over my fear of pressure cookers, I've seen what happens when the pressure release valve fails, they probably do work out cheaper than the slow cooker for cooking bulk quantities.

Justamum

lizzyb1812 wrote: »

Kidney beans - a while ago I did some calculations that proved that the value beans in tins were cheaper than cooking the dried ones. Don't know if this still holds true - I've got lots of tins in store so don't need to redo the calculations but do compare the cost of 5 tins with a 500g packet. This only applied to the kidney beans.

I'm finding it more difficult to find dried kidney beans - butter beans are also difficult to find too, so I have been buying the tinned value kidney beans. I do think they've got a strange taste to them though, but beggars can't be choosers :rotfl:

Memory_Girl wrote: »

If you get serious about adding beans to your regular diet - suggest you keep an eye open (or ask around) for a pressure cooker. It really speeds up the cooking so you use much less fuel - you have to soak as usual though before cooking.

Haricot beans (for HM baked beans) cook in three minutes.
Cannellini in 6 minutes
Kidney beans in 6 minutes
Chickpeas (for curry 12 minutes) and for hummus 20 minutes.

Those timings are really quick! I think I'm going to have to buy myself a pressure cooker. I had one for years, but eventually the pressure bit got stuck on it so I had to get rid.

nuatha wrote: »

One of these days I will get over my fear of pressure cookers, I've seen what happens when the pressure release valve fails, they probably do work out cheaper than the slow cooker for cooking bulk quantities.

The noise of them always used to frighten me when I was little. To be honest I'm not keen on the noise even now, but aren't the more modern ones safer than the old style ones?

What does happen when the valve fails? :eek:

Penny-Pincher!!

We have frozen broad beans which work out cheap and good source of certain vitamins.

Toxic_Lemon

I've just this minute finished making my hummus using chickpeas I cooked in the pressure cooker.

Beans do cook at different rates/times so it's not advisable to cook them mixed. Cook separately and then mix before or after freezing. You don't need to always soak most beans if using a pressure cooker. And don't forget hte poor old lentil which never needs to be soaked. Also, remember a few beans go a looooong way. I use this guide:

http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtobeantypes.html

And this one for pressure cooking them (half-way down the page):
http://fastcooking.ca/pressure_cookers/cooking_times_pressure_cooker_vegetarian.php