# cooking dried beans



## djbrianaz

Hi,
When cooking a variety of dried beans, can you soak and cook the different kinds together. I make a chili in which I use kidney, pinto and black beans, then I make the chili and freeze into individual servings. I want to switch from using store bought canned beans to learning how to use dried beans. I've been reading up on soaking and cooking beans but no where can I find if I can soak/cook together. Its probably a stupid questions but I've never used dried beans before.
thx,
Brian


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## GrannyG

I do mine the lazy way...I clean and wash the beans, put them in a pot with seasonings, put in my water, make sure the lid is tight fitting, and put them in the oven at a low temp, 225 degrees or less, and leave them all night. The next morning, my beans are cooked, the juice is real thick, add a little more liquid as needed, sometimes add Salsa, get the tortillas out, and dinner is ready...LOL. Sometimes I cook Chili and then add the cooked beans to it. Freeze down the rest.....
There is also a recipe to do Brisket and Beans the same way....the meat and beans cook together, really good...


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## suitcase_sally

Hurst's Ham Beans is a product you can find in your grocery store on the isle where the dried beans are. They come in all kinds of different flavors (ham, beef, chicken, chili, ect), but the thing they all have in common is the mixture of about 15 different beans.

http://www.hurstbeans.com/products

GrannyG, that's a interesting method you have there. I've never thought of it, but at the same time, I cook my baked beans for around 12 hours. Should work for any other bean recipe, too. Thanks!


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## Swamp_walker

I do it all the time. I wash the beans the night before, throw them all in a pot of water and seasonings to soak till the next evening. That evening i bring them to a boil and cook till everything else is done...maybe an hour. If there is too much water, ill pour some out and then boil hard without a lid...let them cook down till the juice is thicker. I ve dont this with all sizes mixed together.


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## lathermaker

I throw them all together to soak. Make sure you look through the dried beans very closely because there are sometimes pebbles or rocks in the mix. Wash the beans well, then put them in a pot and cover with cold water. Use enough water to cover the beans by about an inch or more.

I just let them soak overnight. Next day, drain off the water an use in your recipe. Cooking dried beans is one of the easiest/cheapest/filling sources of nutrition you can find.


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## Laura Zone 5

djbrianaz said:


> Hi,
> When cooking a variety of dried beans, can you soak and cook the different kinds together. I make a chili in which I use kidney, pinto and black beans, then I make the chili and freeze into individual servings. I want to switch from using store bought canned beans to learning how to use dried beans. I've been reading up on soaking and cooking beans but no where can I find if I can soak/cook together. Its probably a stupid questions but I've never used dried beans before.
> thx,
> Brian



I was gonna ask the same question today!!!
I decided to quit using beans from the can.....
Thanks for asking!!


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## Cyngbaeld

I pressure can my dried beans. Sometimes I mix several varieties in the same jar. You might consider doing that so you have the convenience of canned beans, but you control what is in them and can buy and store the dried beans. I had to quit using commercially canned beans because my daughter was reacting to some extra ingredients in the cans. She eats my home canned beans with no problem.


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## suzyhomemaker09

Cyngbaeld said:


> I pressure can my dried beans. Sometimes I mix several varieties in the same jar. You might consider doing that so you have the convenience of canned beans, but you control what is in them and can buy and store the dried beans. I had to quit using commercially canned beans because my daughter was reacting to some extra ingredients in the cans. She eats my home canned beans with no problem.



I do the pressure cooker thing with dried beans also...it takes a few minutes to bring washed beans to a boil, few more to get the pressure cooker jiggling..then it takes no more that 20 minutes to have beans ready to eat.


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