Batch Cooking and Freezing Beans?

Justamum

Toxic_Lemon wrote: »

Beans do cook at different rates/times so it's not advisable to cook them mixed.

I once foolishly bought one of those bags of mixed dried beans. I don't know why they sell them like that because some end up mush while others are still hard.

Toxic_Lemon

Justamum wrote: »

I once foolishly bought one of those bags of mixed dried beans. I don't know why they sell them like that because some end up mush while others are still hard.

I used to buy Waitrose's Ten Bean mix (I make it up myself now to be MS) and that's really lovely in a chilli con carne because you have the different textures of beans and some do go to mush, thickening the chilli and the rst stay whole. So mixed beans are good for things like that.

nuatha

Justamum wrote: »

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:

If you have a health food shop near you that carries Suma, ask them if they can order them in for you. They're both available in 3kg bags.
(Or , if you can get a group of like minded folk together set up a buying coop and order direct)

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:

I've no experience of modern ones, though hopefully that will change later in the year as I'm very tempted to jump in at the deep end with a pressure canner.
Most of my fear stems from Mum and Grandmother being somewhat frightened of them coupled with the noise.
First you have a very very loud bang. Then you have a very messy kitchen and a hole in the ceiling with the valve stem embedded in the floor boards of the room above. I remember a perfectly round hole in the pan's lid. I think it took my Gran two days to replace pressure cooker and continue using it, no more (or less) frightened of it than she'd always been.

Kevie192

Thank you all, that's been really helpful!

I've asked my mum to keep her eye open at car boots for a pressure cooker so we'll see if she manages to find one for me.

In the meantime, I'll cook in a saucepan and freeze as single varieties then I can mix if/when I need to.

So, now we know how to cook them does anyone have any killer recipes using beans in place of meat? I like the sounds of this red dragon pie!

Kevin

Toxic_Lemon

Treat the beans or lentils like mince. So I do moussaka using brown and puy lentils, onions and tomatoes then layer with auberge bees and potatoes. Chilli con carne with mixed beans, with or without mince. Puy lentils with diced carrot, celery and onions, cooked for 15 mins then a spoonful of creme fraiche and lemon juice mixed in - divine served with anything you like such as fish, chops, chicken instead of rice or mash.

Delia has got some great recipes on her website.

Memory_Girl

BTW - newer pressure cookers have safety release valves - so all is good.

Forgot to say I cook brown rice in mine as well - cos its another thing that takes absolute ages.

Oh and soups - 5 minutes and pressure and blitz (about the same time as opening a can and heating)

Oh and meaty curries too - cheap meat becomes very tender.

I love my PC - can you tell?

MG

Penny-Pincher!!

I add beans to chilli, curry, shepherds pie, stews and soups.

hex2

6l prestige one on amazon for £26.99: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prestige-Aluminium-Pressure-Cooker-Litre/dp/B0040GJ4Y8/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1335118549&sr=1-3

and now I am tempted.

Worth costing out and allowing for hassle/fuel. Asda have various 28p beans atm which have made it simply not economical for me to cook from raw once I allow for freezer space.

Toxic_Lemon

hex2 wrote: »

6l prestige one on amazon for £26.99: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prestige-Aluminium-Pressure-Cooker-Litre/dp/B0040GJ4Y8/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1335118549&sr=1-3

and now I am tempted.

Worth costing out and allowing for hassle/fuel. Asda have various 28p beans atm which have made it simply not economical for me to cook from raw once I allow for freezer space.

I have to say, if you're going to cook pulses and beans in a pressure cooker, why would you freeze them? They only take 30-40 minutes for the most hardy of beans. And it's still cheaper to cook your own then buy a tin, even at 28p.

hex2

I know know what you mean toxic lemon but I don't have a pressure cooker or a lot of time free for cooking in the week, so I tend to bulk cook beans at the weekend, an overnight soak of a whole packet, cook for an hour and a half (average for chick peas) and then freeze in portions. I have costed it out and in my experience I get the equiv of 5 tins out of one bag of dried ones - most dried ones are c£1. When tins are c40p then it is worth it, or when I can get the dried ones cheaper. Hence the temptation of the pressure cooker when I could cook a single portion cheaply and not have to freeze them to maximise the return on the gas/time used.