# cooking old beans and how to make rice flour?



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

I posted this on Homesteading Questions too, but thought that you all might have some unique perspectives that would help.

I cooked up a bunch of beans a few days ago that I had soaked over night and half the next day. I cooked them for HOURS and they never got soft like they should. I am thinking they were old beans as someone gave them to me. Can anyone tell me how to cook old beans so they are soft like they should be?

Also, I was given a bunch of white rice. We prefer wild rice, so I would like to try to use at least some of this as rice flour mixed in with our whole wheat. Does anyone else grind their own rice into flour? and can I do it with my food processor as I don't have a grain mill.
Also, how much rice flour could I use (percentage wise) in a recipe with out changing the texture too much?
Thanks,
Trisha


----------



## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

I can't get old beans soft either so I can them.


----------



## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

There are only two ways I've found to get old beans soft. The first is to cook them in a pressure cooker, and the second is to add a pinch of baking soda while cooking them in a regular pan. You have to be careful not to get too much, or they'll just turn to mush, lol. I've never really measured it, but maybe 1/2 teaspoon for a two-pound bag of beans? Better to start with too little and then add more if needed, although you can eat the bean mush like soup if you have to...ask me how I know, lol. 

I don't know about the rice, sorry, hopefully someone else can help you there.


----------



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I second using a pressure cooker. I had a bag of beans a while back that must have been old when I bought them. I cooked them and cooked them and still they were crunchy. With a hungry family hovering nearby, I dumped them in the pressure cooker and gave them 15-20 minutes or so at full rocking, and THEN they were tender. Some of the beans became mush, but it gave the soup a lot of "body" heehee. I was determined to win with those beans!


----------



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

Mom of Four, good for you for being persistent! I was cooking up this big pot of beans for a baked bean dish for our open house. I cooked for hours and hours and nothing...then I stopped paying attention and they burned UGH!


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I wouldn't put rice flour in your bread. It will be heavy as rocks.
You can thicken gravy with it.
Make rice dumplings.
Makes great "Sandies" shortbread cookies. Better if there is just a little wheat flour to hold them together.
You can't grind rice in a food processor, no.


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

The only way I've been able to get old beans to soften is to cook them in the pressure cooker. 

To make rice flour, first wash the rice and soak it for about 3 hours, or longer, but not over 5 or 6 hours at most. Then spread it out to dry. 

4 cups of rice makes about 6 cups of rice flour. 

When adding it to other flour, I'd start by adding about 25%. Use more each time until you are using as much as you want in the recipe.

As for texture, it will depend on how fine you grind the rice. You can use a fine grind to turn it into a cake flour, or a coarse grind for batters.


----------



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

Cyngbaeld, you are right. I just tried it and the food processor did not work at all.
Spinner, what is the purpose of soaking the rice? Is that a required step? And if I did that would it then work in my food processor?


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I never fool with soaking... I rinse em off, put em in the pressure cooker, water em up, say the last rights, lid on, pressure cock on, stove on... come back in an hour or so, and eat! Can't recall ever getting any crunchy beans doing it thissaway.

What Cyng said about bricks.... 

Asians do use rice flour... but look at what their making... paper thin wrappings. Large plump loaves? ...they use wheat for that.

And wild rice isn't really rice, is it? Not a true rice anyways...


----------



## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Old hard beans are perfect for canning. They get soft but not mushy which is good when you consider you have to pressure quarts for 90 minutes at 10 lbs. (or more). I actually think they work better for canning than new beans.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I don't soak the rice, I just run it thru my grinder.

If you can't grind it, try cooking it then putting it thru the food processor. Toss in some onion and bell pepper and eggs. Make patties and fry them up. We like them with catsup as a side. I knew a family once that put them between hamburger buns and called them "rice burgers" but I think that was going a bit far, doncha know.


----------



## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Trisha, I don't know why the long soak before grinding. The original instructions I got said to soak it, so I always have. Soaking removes some of the starch and softens the kernels (is rice called kernels, berries, or something else?), so maybe that makes it better for grinding. 

I grind it while it's still a bit damp. I use a vita mix to grind so I have no idea how other machines would work. 

After grinding it, I spread it out on a jelly roll pan and let it dry completely before putting in a jar. I usually grind 4 cups at a time, that's how I know it makes 6 cups of flour.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I use a Whisper mill and damp grain will jam it real fast.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Cook old beans in a pressure cooker, they'll soften.


----------



## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

OK I have decided to make some canned baked beans with the remaining beans. 
The reason I want to try the rice flour is because we have SOOO much rice. When we moved in here, the previous people (who happen to be good friends of ours) left us an unopened 50 lb bag of white rice. I want to use it, but like I said, we don't normally eat white rice. Obviously, we have been eating some lately though. I thought it would be a good way to stretch my wheat flour a little bit by adding it to certain recipes. I am already real good at making bread bricks, so I won't be trying it that way LMAO I was thinking in other things like cookies or stuff like that.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Start tossing a handful into soup or stew. Cook some up and keep it in the freezer. Add a little to meat loaf or meatballs or hamburgers. Feed some to the dogs. 50# isn't really very much.


----------



## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

We could go thru a 50# bag of rice quickly as we make our own dog food. Perhaps if you find more spicey ways to cook the rice you'd like it better...great in chicken curry or a favorite of my kids which is just some burgers and onions browned,two cups of boullian and l cup of rice,cover and let cook. Usually throw in some carrotts. Kids call it glop but it filled in those empty legs.....DEE


----------



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I agree with Mutti - spices are a big part of making staple foods more versatile. Curried rice, rice pudding, stir fried Asian rice, rice added to ground lamb to make gyros, rice used in rolled up cabbage leaves to make Polish cabbage rolls, rice under cubed steak with tomato sauce, spanish rice or paella, - the possibilities are endless. I have a big file of recipes I've gotten from allrecipes.com and other places, and a huge supply of spices, that help me keep our food supplies interesting.


----------



## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

Lots of good information here. Glad to know some of this. 

I have only canned dry beans once and they were canned right from their dry stage. They actually came out beautifully. Not sure why I haven't canned more up. Glad to hear that old beans work well for canning. Do you can them dry too, soak them overnight first, or cook them before canning them? 

Thanks.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I use a lot of old beans since I get them from the salvage store. I soak them overnight and pour off the water to remove some of the phytates. Then I raw pack with water, salt and sometimes a little pork and/or hot pepper or bell pepper.


----------



## Aintlifegrand (Jun 3, 2005)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I use a lot of old beans since I get them from the salvage store. I soak them overnight and pour off the water to remove some of the phytates. Then I raw pack with water, salt and sometimes a little pork and/or hot pepper or bell pepper.


What lbs of pressure and for how long?


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

10# for 60 minutes is what I use. I don't know what the current recommendation is as they seem to change. Even old beans will be nice though.


----------



## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

I see a lot about old beans. But how old are the beans you are talking about? I have frozen beans in freezer weight zip bags and then stored them in bakery buckets with a heavy gasket. Some of my beans are 3 or 4 years old. I date every thing I store so I can keep track of my stored food dates and use the oldest first.

In my Presto pressure cooker book I read that some beans and foods shouldn't cooked used in a pressure cooker. It advises the foam created by cooking may block the cookers vent. I would think it may depend on how much is cooked and what type of beans you are cooking. 

Since so many are talking about cooking beans you must be doing some thing right. Can you provide advice on the amount; type of bean and how much water you are using. I have two Presto and one Mirro pressure cookers. I would appreciate any help you folks can give me. NJ Rich


----------



## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hey Rich, I've been doing it for years and just kind of learned through trial and error, lol. I'm sure everyone has their own method, but I found a great pressure cooker website a while back which might help you. The main page is http://missvickie.com/.

The specific bean page is http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/bean-cooking.html (scroll down to the bottom of the page). If you click on the Cooking Time Charts, it will give directions for various types of beans. It also explains soaking and seasoning. 

The most important thing (with anything that foams up a lot, not just beans) is to remember the half-full rule. Never fill the cooker more than half-full, and that gives it room to foam up and not clog the vent. I don't really measure, but think I use about 3-4 cups of pinto beans, soak them (I do the long soak for four hours or more), rinse, then put them in the cooker and cover with water about 2" over the top, add my seasoning meat and cook at 15 psi for 15 minutes (I notice her chart says 12 minutes). Add the salt once they're done, adding salt while cooking tends to make beans stay hard. Hope this helps. 

P.S. I've used beans as old as five years that were given to me, just kept in their original plastic bag  and they came out great this way, lol.


----------



## AR Transplant (Mar 20, 2004)

Cyngbaeld I am going to have to pick on you. If you throw a little pork in your canned beans you will have to process them the time you would use for canning meat. I assume that you mean to can the beans for storage on your pantry shelf.

I'm done now.


----------



## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

calliemoonbeam,,

Thanks for the link. I will be using that one when the weather turns cooler and soup is on the menu. 

NJ Rich :cowboy:


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

AR Transplant said:


> Cyngbaeld I am going to have to pick on you. If you throw a little pork in your canned beans you will have to process them the time you would use for canning meat. I assume that you mean to can the beans for storage on your pantry shelf.
> 
> I'm done now.


Oh, probably, but I still just do 60min. They actually don't stay on the shelf long. I do them for convenience and so I don't have to heat the kitchen up in summer.


----------



## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

NJ Rich said:


> calliemoonbeam,,
> 
> Thanks for the link. I will be using that one when the weather turns cooler and soup is on the menu.
> 
> NJ Rich :cowboy:


You're welcome! That's the best pressure cooker site I've run across, but then I haven't actually gone out looking for any, lol. Good luck with your beans and soup!


----------



## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

Trisha in WA said:


> OK I have decided to make some canned baked beans with the remaining beans.
> The reason I want to try the rice flour is because we have SOOO much rice. When we moved in here, the previous people (who happen to be good friends of ours) left us an unopened 50 lb bag of white rice. I want to use it, but like I said, we don't normally eat white rice. Obviously, we have been eating some lately though. I thought it would be a good way to stretch my wheat flour a little bit by adding it to certain recipes. I am already real good at making bread bricks, so I won't be trying it that way LMAO I was thinking in other things like cookies or stuff like that.


I've used rice ground into flour to stretch my wheat flour (and white flour) before when I was short. The bread came out fine. I've also ground up dry pinto beans and dry white beans into flour and added them in small amounts to my other flour, and they made a very tasty loaf without being heavy.


----------

