beans/ CelticWolf

fishlessman

i believe it was you that mentioned using vinegar to help soften beans instead of baking soda, when do you add it, during a soak, during a simmer after the soak, or during the cooking stage. the water at my house just doesnt do beans justice, city water, but im not about to go buy water for beans. at camp i only soak and bake, no simmering or adding baking soda and they come out better using the water from my well. do you rince the vinegar off before baking if its for the soak or simmer. need to get beans at home as good as beans at camp. we are talking boston baked

Celtic Wolf

Wasn't me!! I soak them in Baking Soda over night like my Mother did.

Though I did see a recipe with vinegar added during the baking process

Chef in the Making

The other day when I made beans I soaked them for an hour or so and then began making bake beans. The recipe called for vinegar however I left it out and it did not seem to impact the taste. Other then that I basically followed the recipe except I added a dash of red pepper and a tablespoon of honey.

Grandpas Grub

Fishlessman,

Very interesting question, not wanting to take this off topic, but how are you doing your beans at home and at the camp. If using baking soada, how much and in which step.

I haven't gone further than soak the beans (most times overnight), drain & rince, then begin the cook.

Interested in hearing about the vinegar method. Unless vinegar is in your intended resulting taste it seems a rince is in order.

GG

fishlessman

now im at a loss as to who mentioned it. water at my house is horrible for beans, takes a 24 hour soak, simmer with soda for a half hour, soak for another hour then rinse and bake or you get dry crunchy beans here. i should just bring water home from camp.

fishlessman

at camp i just soak overnight then cook, water is much softer as the camp sits on a sandbar and gets nice filtered river water from a cold water lake. at home it needs a lot longer soak, then a simmer with 1 tsp baking soda, then another soak and rinse, much more complicated with the citey water here and im not sure if its the hardness or the added chemicals..

Grandpas Grub

Thanks for letting me know.

Here we have extremely hard water & ofcourse the chemicals to make us better and water purer.

I soak over night then a very long cook , all day and sometimes 24 hours. If am wanting boston type or something that should be done in an hour or two, I am back to store bought.

GG

WooDoggies

I think your best bet would be to bring in good water from your camp.
I had the same problem with beans and hard water and after constantly fighting it, I ended up using purified water and the problem was solved.
For creamy beans, the latest Cook's Illustrated suggests dissolving 3 tablespoons of salt in 4 quarts cold water and soaking the beans 8 to 24 hours, then rinse and cook. To keep the beans intact and from falling apart, the article says to cook the beans at a near simmer in a covered pot in a 250 degree oven. I haven't tried it yet but it makes a lot of sense.

When I'm pinched for time, I'll cook presoaked great northerns 8 to 12 minutes in the pressure cooker and they turn out pretty good. Good Luck with your quest!

john

gdenby

I have the same problem with beans. My temporary solution is to gather fresh snow, and use it for soft water bean soak. I'm supposing you get a fair amount of snow this time of year.

Hadn't heard of either the vinegar or soda additions. Think I'll try some vinegar.

fishlessman

there is a natural spring not too far from me, but its in a pretty dangerous area, if you see that im not posting it may be because i was trying to make better beans. the other option is to just make them up north and bring them home in quantity. i might try the salt and see what happens,thanks for the tip, yellow eyes are the ones i like the best, but i mix in some kidneys, reds, or northerns for different flavors and textures. i usually do fairly large batches. 2 of those pots are gallon sized.

WooDoggies

Perhaps you should leave a note to your whereabouts before fetching bean water....
Got to say, you'll be the first person I've heard of to risk life and limb over a pot of beans. Is that a yankee thing? :~)

fishlessman

lawrence is a welfare city without too many yankees left, i once saw a knife/hatchet fight going down just a block away from that spring, it ended with french relations coming down from the great white north on one side of the street, the spanish speaking folk from one of our islands from way down south, and the national guard standing between them. its getting better and maybe some are making beans again. real newenglandy.

WooDoggies

LOL!

stike

you frigging pansy. my father in law has been going to that spring for literally 75 years. he has a bunch of plastic milk jugs that he takes down. they used to be gallon sized, now they are quart sized as he gets older.

if i were any kind of son-in-law i'd fill them for him. hahaha

nah. it's his ritual, he loves it. never knew ANYONE that got water there, too.

fishlessman

i would go in the morning, but not at night when all the bad folks come out. i got front ended in front of the project down the street, my car was swarmed and the doors held shut till the guy got his plates off his vehicle and made his escape. mom was mugged, brother was stabbed, fortunatly just thru the jacket. nice that we got to go to the catholic school in lawrence, lots to learn down there. got my first escort radar detector for the car thru a window in a back alley for 15 bucks. first time served in a bar i was 13 and the bar tender was much younger. want to go tonight for a bean water raid. i used to know the guy that lived directly across the street from the spring, he used to work here.

fishlessman

was i tactful enough, some things are just hard to say on an open forum

stike

yer freakin me out. i literally take the kids there every christmas eve, to my aunt-in-law's place. after 50 years, she told us she's no longer going to be able to do it.
just in time.

i can't imagine my wife's old man standing there filling them jugs now with knife fights goin on around him

stike

it's ok, man. everyone hates the french canadiens

WooDoggies

Don't worry, fish... there will always be someone in the crowd who'll be offended by a glass of milk.
Yeah, tactful and very newenglandy. :~)

fishlessman

its not as bad as it used to be, day time isnt much of a problem, not as many old timers going there anymore. if you see a bunch of guys with tennis balls stay clear of them, ones selling drugs, the others are decoys, when the bust goes down everyone throws the ball, now who had the drugs

Little Steven

Stike,

They make great feves au lard

Steve

Essex County

Man, I had the late shift tonight and I missed this thread. Where is this spring? And why don't you just use the salt like Woo suggested?
Paul