OT - IP Bean Soup

Fred19Flintstone

Happy accidents are just that.  Such is what we had trying to make a quick pork & beans in the Instant Pot on Saturday.  We've been doing yard work and decided on making a quick pork & beans for supper.  We used cans of baked beans (Bush's Maple), but to call the little piece of fat "pork" has never made sense to me.  Note - We have an 8 qt  Instant Pot.  I'm not sure a 6 qt would be large enough for what we did.

1 lb bacon cut to 3/4 inch squares
2.5 lbs pork loin chops cubed to 1 inch pieces
1 large onion julianed 
1/2 can beer
3 large family sized cans baked beans
1 small can chicken broth
S&P 

Set IP  on sauté  and cook bacon.  Remove when cooked.  Add the pork, season with S&P and brown.  Remove when done.  Drain excess grease, but you want 2 or 3 Tbs to remain in the IP.   Sauté onions to desired doneness.  Add the beer to deglaze.  Add the bacon, pork and the remaining ingredients.  Turn the IP  to manual, high pressure and set for 7 minutes.  After it's done, release pressure.

We were disappointed our pork & beans were in a bit of liquid.  When we tasted it for seasoning, we noticed it was a pretty good bean soup.  So we left it alone and ate well. Wilma said cornbread would really make it better for her.  This is probably a better winter dish, but I would probably forget to post it if I waited.  Sorry no photos, but by the time I figured out this would make a decent post, it was too late.

gmac

Is Instant Pot the same thing as a Crock Pot/slow cooker?  Haven't heard that term before. 
Sounds good and I agree, seems like a cold winter day dish but I do love bean soup. 

OK reread past ingredients and clearly with a sauté setting and pressure it is not the same. 

Fred19Flintstone

Instant Pot is a popular brand of pressure cookers.  It's a counter top electric appliance that can also cook like a crockpot.

Eggcelsior

When I do anything that has too much liquid after the pressure cook, I turn on the sauté function for 5-10 minutes and cook it off. This typically fixes the issue. Due to the amount of liquid in the onion and beans, I'd probably go with just 1 cup of extra liquid next time. Playing with the IP is fun.

gdenby

Sounds like a good quick recipe. I like when my pork and beans have some extra fluid. I take the fluid, and a couple of tablespoons of the beans and blend them into a nice thick gravy.

lkapigian

Sounds like a great recipe , I usually sacrifice some of the beans to thicken and add texture ....a quick pulse with an emmersion blender ....AND, ahem, Mr Stone, where are the pictures !.... Was looking @ an instapot the other day, they do look useful 

Fred19Flintstone

I was thinking about how to thicken the beans if there was too much liquid after cooking.  The post cook taste test screamed BEAN SOUP at me so I went with it.  At the time I was thinking about a corn starch slurry, but you both are correct that a deft hand with an immersion blender would have been the better choice.  

lkapigian

Fred19Flintstone said:

I was thinking about how to thicken the beans if there was too much liquid after cooking.  The post cook taste test screamed BEAN SOUP at me so I went with it.  At the time I was thinking about a corn starch slurry, but you both are correct that a deft hand with an immersion blender would have been the better choice.  

Give it a try even if doing just regular pinto beans, adds a velvety texture