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Nagging Question
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Can You Cook with the Water Used to Soak Beans?It depends if you have problems with gas |
It’s common practice to cook beans in the same water they’re soaked in (if they’re soaked at all), says Lynne Bigwood, a home economist for the Northarvest Bean Growers Association, and it is particularly important to do so if you are cooking black beans. The black pigments in the skin are water soluble, so “if you want to retain as much color as possible, you need to preserve [it] by keeping the soak/cooking water around the bean until it is tender.”
Cooking beans in their soaking water will also yield a thicker broth, says Diana L. Caldwell, a spokesperson for the Idaho Bean Commission. However, if you’re bothered by “undesirable side effects” when you eat beans (that’s code for farting), you should drain and rinse them, and cook using fresh water, says Lynn Reuter, a spokesperson for the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission. “The soaking process breaks down the oligosaccharides, the indigestible sugars in beans that cause gas,” she explains. Draining the soaking liquids would reduce the indigestible sugars.
Really? Just last night when I strained some rinsed and soaked pintos I found an awful lot of dirt at the bottom of the bowl. I've always read that beans are very dirty.
Just to add; I have a very weak stomach. Hence this tip.
I also add pinch of baking soda/vinegar to the soaking water.
And rinse it away the next day. ( adding baking soda while cooking adds an aftertaste)
No, that water's pretty dirty, and as mentioned, it contains the chemicals that cause gas. It's a much better idea to soak the beans, drain the water and rinse the soaked beans, then to cook the beans in plenty of fresh water. *That* broth, from cooking the beans, is terrific as a base for soups or as broth for rice!
Seriously - soak, dump, and cook in fresh water. Even with black beans, I never have a color problem. If indigestible stuff is breaking down into that water why would you cook with it?
Beans have phytic acid, which decreases the absorption of many nutrients. Health wise the best way is to soak in warm water first then discard the water. Two good sites:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/fo...
http://www.rebuild-from-depression.co...
Wether you soak or not, you still have to sort and wash beans.
My grandfather used to grow epazote in his garden. If I remember correctly, it had a anise flavor. Grandma didnt use it in her beans. Grandpa said she thought it changed the flaver of the pintos.
Usually you soak older beans, when you see that they are starting to wrinkle. I dont think most people hold beans that long anymore, and beans sold at the supermarket are fresh.
Sopa de frijol is a bowl of beans just made with the broth. Some folk like eating thier beans this way more than refried. If after cooking, you serve them whole, you are eating "frijoles ala bola". Some folk like like to take remaining beans and smash about a cup's worth and mix with the whole beans to make them creamy. Others will take whats left of the pot and re-fry.
I just learned from sister, back home in Atlanta, to do the following: After you rinse and cleanse your beans, just put them, (any kind) in a plastic container, top it off with water, put the lid on the plastic or jar container, and put it in the freezer. When ready to cook, just pull the container out of the freezer and run hot water on the outside to loosen up the beans from the container, and place the entire frozen bean-stack in your cooking pot with your preferred liquid. I was skeptical, but I tried it with black-eyed peas and there was absolutely NO GAS. You will find the beans very swollen but still frozen when you remove them from the freezer, but that freezing process does something to those oligosaccharides and you won't have a problem!!!
Sorry but Ive never eaten Black Eyed peas with distress, try with pinto beans and see if it works.
Dried beans that float are usually cracked and contain mold/mildew. Toss.
For beans and rice, I cook them just after sorting and rinsing with a combination of ingredients of cinnamon, orange rind, hot dried red pepper, garlic and fresh thyme, Meanwhile, the rice cooks separately. I like the addition of sauteed onions and garlic spiced with cumin.
In the cooking instructions by Rancho Gordo, one of the most well regarded purveyors of dried beans, the soaking liquid is not discarded...it's used to cook the beans.
http://www.ranchogordo.com/html/rg_co...
When I cook my red beans and rice, I soak overnight in the fridge with spices already in the water, bring it out the next day and cook as is. Some of the best beans that way and I used to switch the water out.
JanRan and others, including Rancho Gordo, seem to keep not mentioning the major point I linked to above - soaking the beans in warm water (140 F) is the only known way to dramatically reduce the phytic acid content. The PA reduces the availability of valuable nutrients.
As for tummy music, here are two studies that, at least within the confines of the studies, that soaking and discarding the soaking water reduces that which causes the music.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11...
Your tummy, however, may march to the tone of a different tuba.
Once I forgot to drain the soaking water when cooking a pot of beans, and that pot ended up as the best tasting pot of beans I ever had! It had such a great flavor and reminded me of the taste of frijoles I ate as a child.
So no, I don't toss the soaking water--that's all flavor! As long as everyone has some of the beans, then no one has to worry about the gas.
After reading all posted to this point, I will cook beans with soaking water, AFTER I make sure to sort and rinse the beans before soaking, I might even try the freezer method, BUT if soaking with warm H20, DO NOT use hot tap water, ALWAYS heat your water from cold water - I point this out because it was not specific when it was first mentioned -