Opinions on dried beans vs canned

FrugalHedonist

I have never used dried beans before, always opting for canned. However the verdict on the internet is that dried are cheaper - is this true in your opinion? Where are the cheapest places to source them currently 

Sandtree

Dried black beans are £3.60/kg
Canned black beans (drained weight) are £2.56/kg

Hydrating means normally at least doubles their weight and so the dried beans are really  £1.80/kg or less of cooked beans so notably cheaper as long as your fuel costs to cook them -v- fuel cost to reheat the tinned variety doesn't offset the raw ingredient savings 

bouicca21

Dried are definitely cheaper, and I think have a better texture when cooked.  When using chickpeas I soak them overnight.  What I do find difficult is estimating how much to use - I buy mine from a Turkish supermarket and they don’t just double in size, more like at least triple.

joedenise

@bouicca21 - 100g dried is the equivalent of a drained can of chickpeas.  Assume it's the same for other beans.  I think it's about 2.5 times the amount of dried to hydrated.  I cook a bag at a time and freeze in 250g portions which is the equivalent of a can.

goldfinches

I agree with others that dried beans and pulses are better value but it does depend on where you buy them from and in what sort of quantity too. I get mine from my local Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Turkish, Moroccan, Palestinian, Brazilian, Korean, Polish and Chinese supermarkets which are all spread out along one road locally so they tend to be competitively priced with one another and I can generally find whatever ingredient I'm looking for in at least one location. If you haven't got these sorts of local shops I think your best bet might be online because the main supermarkets don't seem to offer good value for dried beans etc. from what I've seen locally.
The other things to consider are how much you might use of any one ingredient because dried things do go off, albeit more slowly, and whether you want to continue to buy red kidney beans in tins so that you're sure they've been cooked enough to destroy the poison they contain when raw.

joedenise

Have to admit I still buy tinned kidney beans, definitely don't want to be poisoning anyone!  I also usually keep a few tins of other beans in the cupboard in case I forget to soak the dried beans.

Rosa_Damascena

Canned are much more convenient but the rising prices have put me off buying them. If I want to eat beans I shall plan ahead and start using my (considerable) stash of dried.

PipneyJane

My vote is for dried beans because they are much easier to store, have a lower carbon foot print and are cheaper to buy-and-DIY.  I always have two types of lentils, mung beans,  black-eyed beans, chickpeas, black beans and kidney beans in stock.

I usually cook chickpeas and kidney beans in my pressure cooker and do  600g (six-cans worth) each time.  It’s a two-day process  Soak for the day, bag up and freeze over night - helps break down the cell walls - defrost in the fridge during the day then dump into the pressure cooker, cover with water, bring to the boil/up to pressure and cook at pressure for half an hour (kidney beans) or 45 minutes (chickpeas).  Once cooked and cooled, I freeze them in 500g - 2 can - batches, using old takeaway containers.

Black-eyed beans and mung beans don’t need to be soaked before cooking.  I rarely do them in the pressure cooker, since they take less than half an hour in a normal saucepan, so I will cook them when I’m cooking the meal that requires them.  However, I always do a triple batch and freeze the two portions that I didn’t use.

Re black beans, I cook them in a Cuban Black-Bean Stew using my slow cooker.  My recipe is the Grocery Challenge thread.  I soak the beans over night.

HTH.

- Pip

joedenise

I think I'll have to try your idea for freezing the beans after soaking before defrosting in the fridge and pressure cooking.  I always soak and then cook.  Do you think it makes much difference freezing in between to the taste/texture?

PipneyJane

joedenise said:

I think I'll have to try your idea for freezing the beans after soaking before defrosting in the fridge and pressure cooking.  I always soak and then cook.  Do you think it makes much difference freezing in between to the taste/texture?

It certainly does with chickpeas, @joedenise.  Hummus is much more creamy as a result.

- Pip

maisie_cat

Dried beans are cheaper per kg and take up less room in storage, they'll also keep for years, and they look nice in glass jars in the kitchen.
Dried obviously need to be cooked, if soaked overnight and pressure cooked in bulk the cost is reduced and they can be bagged in the freezer.
I regularly add dried to one pot meals and pressure cook the lot. I use them as a replacement or to eke out meat in chillies, curries, ragu etc, and they'll cook in the liquid in the pot. 
The only beans I don't bother with dried is kidney, we don't have them often enough to have dried stocks.
For most beans I have three types, commercially canned, frozen batch cooked and dried.