Posted: 7/10/2013 7:13:58 AM EDT
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Lately I been craving Charro Beans or what ever the proper spelling is. I currently live in the far west of Texas, El Paso, so pintos are a daily food for most around here. I like these beans, and I see everyone recommending beans and rice for storage. I know its been brought up before in the beans and rice threads too, Beans take a lot of energy and water to cook!!! Too much in my opinion for a prep food. Unless you got water and fuel to cook them. Just for myself when I made some last week. I spent like two hours boiling, that was after soaking and draining as recommended (in a SHTF we obviously wouldn't be wasting that water), even after heating the house with the stove I decided to try and finish them off in the crock pot, that was a no go, so I had to put them back in the pot and heat them on the stove again. I like my beans a little soft. Not crunchy. . But other than a pressure cooker is there a better way to cook these bad boys??? Am I just a bean moron?? For a SHTF food this is too much work. Are there any tricks to helping cook these bad boys?
For now these wont be part of my preps till I find a more effiecent way too cook them. Thanks for any tips or ideas. |
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Quoted: your doing it wrongI spent like two hours boiling, that was after soaking and draining as recommended (in a SHTF we obviously wouldn't be wasting that water), even after heating the house with the stove I decided to try and finish them off in the crock pot, that was a no go, so I had to put them back in the pot and heat them on the stove again. pressure cooker-go see some real mexicans do it |
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you might have old beans.
i didn't think they could get old, but they do. and they will not get soft no matter how long you cook them. i have had some like that before. i am cooking some beans today. used 2 pounds. rinsed. threw them right into a pot of water and started boiling. after they come to a boil, dont let the boil stop. i added a half pack of bacon ends and pieces that i had left over from what i didnt use in my baked beans on the 4th. they are great. cornbread is cooking now. and gonna slice up a onion to go with it. i think if you soak them overnight, you cut the cooking time down dramatically. |
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As mentioned, the older the dried bean, the harder it gets. I soak all of my beans for at least 12 hours and sometimes 24 hours. Then i cook them for 24 hours. Then I let them cool and refrigerate them so all the spices "marry". It takes me about three days to get the beans from the pantry to the plate but man, they are good when they get there!
I soak them in water but I cook them in chicken broth. That will take your beans to the next level of delicious. You can plant those pinto beans and red kidney beans from the store and they will grow a fine patch of beans for you too. One pound of beans in decent growing conditions should get you about 20+ pounds back. |
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I've had pretty good luck with this technique:
1. Soak the beans in a pan of water overnight. 2. Drain the water the next day, add fresh water and any other seasoning ingredients*, and boil the mixture for 15 minutes or so. 3. While this mixture is boiling, also pour some boiling-hot water into a Thermos bottle, and cap it until the beans are finished boiling. This helps pre-heat the inside of the Thermos. 4. After pouring out the water in the Thermos, pour your still-boiling bean mixture into the Thermos. 5. Immediately cap the Thermos, and set it on its side. 6. Over the next few hours, shake the Thermos several times to help evenly distribute the hot mixture inside. 7. Serve 6 hours or so later. Do not add salt while the mixture is cooking in the Thermos - It prevents the beans from softening properly. *For other seasoning ingredients, I like to use Bolner's "Fiesta" brand Pinto Bean Seasoning, along with Ro-Tel spicy canned tomatoes, a few strips of chopped cooked bacon, and a couple teaspoons of Liquid Smoke. Substituting a can of beer for some of the water also helps the flavor immensely. |
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I think what OP is getting at is that he doesn't want to expend hours - or days - making a meal with beans. I soak pintos overnight and have good results with them the next day. But still... You do end up using water and fuel on them - alot of fuel, especially if you are going to simmer them for hours.
I personally have over 100lbs of them stored away but really, it's not a go to food for me. It takes too much energy. Sure rice and beans is cheap and definitely better than nothing, but you'd better have a well thought out plan to prepare it. |
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Quoted:
I think what OP is getting at is that he doesn't want to expend hours - or days - making a meal with beans. I soak pintos overnight and have good results with them the next day. But still... You do end up using water and fuel on them - alot of fuel, especially if you are going to simmer them for hours. That's the nice thing about Thermos cooking - It doesn't require much fuel, and it doesn't require much attention after the food is put into the Thermos. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I think what OP is getting at is that he doesn't want to expend hours - or days - making a meal with beans. I soak pintos overnight and have good results with them the next day. But still... You do end up using water and fuel on them - alot of fuel, especially if you are going to simmer them for hours. That's the nice thing about Thermos cooking - It doesn't require much fuel, and it doesn't require much attention after the food is put into the Thermos. Expand upon this, please. |
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very interesting I've never heard of this Thanks Quoted: I've had pretty good luck with this technique: 1. Soak the beans in a pan of water overnight. 2. Drain the water the next day, add fresh water and any other seasoning ingredients*, and boil the mixture for 15 minutes or so. 3. While this mixture is boiling, also pour some boiling-hot water into a Thermos bottle, and cap it until the beans are finished boiling. This helps pre-heat the inside of the Thermos. 4. After pouring out the water in the Thermos, pour your still-boiling bean mixture into the Thermos. 5. Immediately cap the Thermos, and set it on its side. 6. Over the next few hours, shake the Thermos several times to help evenly distribute the hot mixture inside. 7. Serve 6 hours or so later. Do not add salt while the mixture is cooking in the Thermos - It prevents the beans from softening properly. *For other seasoning ingredients, I like to use Bolner's "Fiesta" brand Pinto Bean Seasoning, along with Ro-Tel spicy canned tomatoes, a few strips of chopped cooked bacon, and a couple teaspoons of Liquid Smoke. Substituting a can of beer for some of the water also helps the flavor immensely. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I think what OP is getting at is that he doesn't want to expend hours - or days - making a meal with beans. I soak pintos overnight and have good results with them the next day. But still... You do end up using water and fuel on them - alot of fuel, especially if you are going to simmer them for hours. That's the nice thing about Thermos cooking - It doesn't require much fuel, and it doesn't require much attention after the food is put into the Thermos. Expand upon this, please. A keyword search for "Thermos Cooking" brings up plenty of stuff. Here's a good example. |
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Quoted: ETA: Did you pre-soak them over night ? You must pre-soak, otherwise you will have to cook them forever!Lately I been craving Charro Beans or what ever the proper spelling is. I currently live in the far west of Texas, El Paso, so pintos are a daily food for most around here. I like these beans, and I see everyone recommending beans and rice for storage. I know its been brought up before in the beans and rice threads too, Beans take a lot of energy and water to cook!!! Too much in my opinion for a prep food. Unless you got water and fuel to cook them. Just for myself when I made some last week. I spent like two hours boiling, that was after soaking and draining as recommended (in a SHTF we obviously wouldn't be wasting that water), even after heating the house with the stove I decided to try and finish them off in the crock pot, that was a no go, so I had to put them back in the pot and heat them on the stove again. I like my beans a little soft. Not crunchy. . But other than a pressure cooker is there a better way to cook these bad boys??? Am I just a bean moron?? For a SHTF food this is too much work. Are there any tricks to helping cook these bad boys? For now these wont be part of my preps till I find a more effiecent way too cook them. Thanks for any tips or ideas. Solar oven. I made one, and I cook my beans for the week (I prefer black beans, but the wife likes black eyed peas) every weekend that the sun shines. Here in the summer, it takes about 3 hours to get a pot well done with onion! I also cooked my weeks worth of chicken in the solar oven last weekend, after I cooked the beans. I need to make another that I can use to distil water in, I am working on that. I had to put a weep tube coming out of the top of the pot that I cook in, so that the water will exit the oven and go out to the outside. There isn't alot produced (maybe a couple of tablespoons), but I don't want the inside glass getting fogged up. |
The presoak in my honest opinion It gives you a chance to sort out the rocks that look like beans. 
I grew up on Yelloweye, Navy, and Kidney. Hey, I'm native Mainer, so every Saturday night was baked beans and brown bread. It wasnt until my military service did I get the chance to explore the goodness of pintos and the like. |
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Quoted:
I've had pretty good luck with this technique: 1. Soak the beans in a pan of water overnight. 2. Drain the water the next day, add fresh water and any other seasoning ingredients*, and boil the mixture for 15 minutes or so. 3. While this mixture is boiling, also pour some boiling-hot water into a Thermos bottle, and cap it until the beans are finished boiling. This helps pre-heat the inside of the Thermos. 4. After pouring out the water in the Thermos, pour your still-boiling bean mixture into the Thermos. 5. Immediately cap the Thermos, and set it on its side. 6. Over the next few hours, shake the Thermos several times to help evenly distribute the hot mixture inside. 7. Serve 6 hours or so later. Do not add salt while the mixture is cooking in the Thermos - It prevents the beans from softening properly. *For other seasoning ingredients, I like to use Bolner's "Fiesta" brand Pinto Bean Seasoning, along with Ro-Tel spicy canned tomatoes, a few strips of chopped cooked bacon, and a couple teaspoons of Liquid Smoke. Substituting a can of beer for some of the water also helps the flavor immensely. THIS!!! I only boiled for 5 minutes and then put them in thermos overnight. (~14 hours) They weren't super soft, but they were edible. I'm on a no bean diet right now, so I'll have to try again later with the longer boil time. I actually got on a thermos kick there for a while making stews, soups, beans. Potato soup was awesome, so was this bagged stuff at Walmart called ham bean soup. I'd add tuna sized cans of ham or shredded chicken or vienna sausage. Lentils, barley wasn't bad either. Black beans, navy beans, etc all seemed to cook faster than regular pintos. But I did this whole thing for a few weeks using bagged and canned items with no refrigeration using thermos cooking. I still have all the stuff as part of my preps, but it doesn't fit into my diet right now. If I run out of food, I'll eat it up no problem |
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Quoted:
I've had pretty good luck with this technique: 1. Soak the beans in a pan of water overnight. 2. Drain the water the next day, add fresh water and any other seasoning ingredients*, and boil the mixture for 15 minutes or so. 3. While this mixture is boiling, also pour some boiling-hot water into a Thermos bottle, and cap it until the beans are finished boiling. This helps pre-heat the inside of the Thermos. 4. After pouring out the water in the Thermos, pour your still-boiling bean mixture into the Thermos. 5. Immediately cap the Thermos, and set it on its side. 6. Over the next few hours, shake the Thermos several times to help evenly distribute the hot mixture inside. 7. Serve 6 hours or so later. Do not add salt while the mixture is cooking in the Thermos - It prevents the beans from softening properly. *For other seasoning ingredients, I like to use Bolner's "Fiesta" brand Pinto Bean Seasoning, along with Ro-Tel spicy canned tomatoes, a few strips of chopped cooked bacon, and a couple teaspoons of Liquid Smoke. Substituting a can of beer for some of the water also helps the flavor immensely. I've heard this a lot but never tried it... |
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I only boiled for 5 minutes and then put them in thermos overnight. (~14 hours) They weren't super soft, but they were edible. I'm on a no bean diet right now, so I'll have to try again later with the longer boil time. As the guy in the video I posted above mentions, there are better insulated bottle choices than the traditional green "Stanley". A "Thermos Nissan" brand bottle would be a good investment, if you're serious about cooking food this way - Reportedly, they are top-notch. |
| Some of the best beans I've had are the bagged, nearly instant ones like the southwestern bean co. refrieds from Amazon. Walmart has something similar at some of their stores, in a white bag with red print, but the name escapes me. It will be in the ethnic foods section. You can put either brand in a pot of water and they will literally rehydrate in about the time it takes the water to get hot. They also don't have the canned dog food taste like some of the canned beans do. The southwest bean folks do make a bagged pinto bean product, but I haven't been impressed with those anywhere near as much. They aren't bad, but aren't amazing, either and have a longer cook time. |
| Another route to try for mid-term storage would be to can the beans cooked, via pressure canning- ARFCOM LINK |
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We eat beans and store beans; it's part of our heritage. Brown and white beans have been stored and cooked since time immemorial. My Depression era, sharecropper family lived a SHTF situation everyday and cooked them over a fire with well water. They did not have refrigeration or electricity. Cornbread, too. Since it was a farm community, they did have access to salt cured pork, butter, milk and corn meal. It can be done, if we prep now.
Sometimes a SHTF doesn't turn into a TEOTWAWKI. A SHTF could be a two week inconvenience, if we are prepared now. |
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Thanks to all who posted with some of the tips, I will have to try a pressure cooker and someone else recomended fresh beans too. I will try these ideas before giving up totally on Pintos. My last batch I soaked them for litteraly two days, because the batch I tried before them took so long to cook, thought the extra soak would help but it apparently didn't. I have tried other beans though, white navy beans with some left over ham and an onion and they cooked up fine in a lot less time. I might just try some different varieties too.
All these posts have me rethinking eliminating them totally from my pantry, just need to work on this some more, thanks again for all the great posts. |
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I will try these ideas before giving up totally on Pintos. My last batch I soaked them for litteraly two days, because the batch I tried before them took so long to cook, thought the extra soak would help but it apparently didn't. I have tried other beans though, white navy beans with some left over ham and an onion and they cooked up fine in a lot less time. According to internet lore: 1. Pinto and Garbanzo beans take the longest to cook. Some of the other beans cook in very little time. 2. Pinto beans cook quicker if you break them into pieces before soaking and cooking. Apparently, smaller chunks and broken skins help them absorb liquid faster. This trick would be particularly useful for really old beans that weren't cookable by another means. |
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When running searches on thermos cooking pay attention to stuff used for cooking beans around the world. I recall a web site about a 6 wheel drive vehicle called whutzahelizdat or something along those lines and they had a sort of insulated pot the size of a common crock pot. It was used similar to how we are talking about using a thermos for cooking beans, but the thermos might hold pressure. Don't recall if the pot in the truck did that or not. And you can make your own insulated pot if you want, just need insulation around a pot and a good fitting lid with some insulation on it as well I guess. And for those worried about old beans, you can grind em up and use em to thicken up soups and do other stuff as well. A pressure cooker is a fuel saver. An insulated vessel for containing heat is a fuel saver. Around the world folks don't have so much fuel to waste and they have some excellant ways of doing stuff with minimal fuel. At work it is common to leave the coffee pot turned on to keep the coffee hot. If we had a better way to do it we would have an insulated container to put the coffee into once it was made, and the coffee pot could be shut off. Once you start looking at various ways to do stuff you might find all kinds of ways to save electricity or fuel or effort. |
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I recall a web site about a 6 wheel drive vehicle called whutzahelizdat or something along those lines and they had a sort of insulated pot the size of a common crock pot. It was used similar to how we are talking about using a thermos for cooking beans, but the thermos might hold pressure. "Thermal Cooker" - You bring the food up to a boil in the inner pot, and then put it in the vacuum-insulated outer pot to keep it hot. Very handy, because you don't need any additional pots to prepare the food, and it makes cleanup easier. 
They're not cheap - but man, are they nice! 
Typical model described here. |
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OP, you are asking too much from that little bean, and employing the wrong technique.
That bean, stored properly will be good for 30+ years....I think its fair to have to put up with some "steps" during the cooking process. 
Ok, now I will get off my soapbox
Want fast? "Soak" the beans in boiling water for 1 - 2 hours, and then cook 8 minutes at high pressure in a pressure cooker. Want fast (cooking) and save your fuel at the same time? Soak the beans overnight and then cook for 10 minutes at high pressure in a pressure cooker. Want to use the "Normal" method? Soak 6 - 12 hours in cold water (overnight), until they're doubled in size and wrinkle free - soaking time varies with the bean; cover and simmer the beans for 1 - 2 hours. Choose one, you can't have it any faster unless you buy your beans precooked in a can...in that case, re-fried beans are my favorite!
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| Don't try to eat the red kidney bean fresh from the bush. It is noxious until it goes through the drying stage. Just plant and forget these beans. When the plant dies and the pods are completely dried on the stalks, you can pick them, husk them (very easy), and cook them. |
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Damn you guys are making this so difficult. You just cook the damn things.
Sort the beans, make sure there are no rocks. Rinse them. Throw em in a pot with water, medium-high heat. Add salt, clove of garlic, half an onion. Let that shit cook for a few hours. usually 2-3. Or do it easy mode in a slow cooker (crockpot), that shit works well. |
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Let that shit cook for a few hours. usually 2-3. A pound of propane contains 22,000 BTUs of heat energy. A small propane cooking burner consumes around 10,000 BTUs of heat energy. So, running your burner for 3 hours consumes around 1.5 pounds of propane - or roughly 1/12th of an entire 20 pound tank. Use thermos cooking to reduce your cooking time to 20 minutes instead, and you've just reduced your propane consumption ninefold. |
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Pressure cookers work well.
GFS carries dehydrated refried beans that are very good and can be reconstituted with hot water. One technique used in fuel poor places is to soak over night, boil water/beans and then either wrap in a thick wool blanket or pour into an insulated container (thermos/cooler). I've not tried this method but hear that it works well. |
Just wash the beans to get the dirt off, throw them inna pot of water, cut up a clove of garlic, toss it in, same with an onion cut up, then throw in 3-4 strips of uncooked bacon, bring to a boil, simmer 4 hours, checking the water lever. It doesn't take a PhD to cook up a pot of frijoles. Use the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). They'll come out so tasty you'd wish you made more. (Start with a one pound bag) 
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Quoted:
you might have old beans. i didn't think they could get old, but they do. and they will not get soft no matter how long you cook them. i have had some like that before. i am cooking some beans today. used 2 pounds. rinsed. threw them right into a pot of water and started boiling. after they come to a boil, dont let the boil stop. i added a half pack of bacon ends and pieces that i had left over from what i didnt use in my baked beans on the 4th. they are great. cornbread is cooking now. and gonna slice up a onion to go with it. i think if you soak them overnight, you cut the cooking time down dramatically. Great! Now I have to go cook up some after listening to what you're having. Only adding jalapenos. Overnight is the best way to prep. |
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I only boiled for 5 minutes and then put them in thermos overnight. (~14 hours) They weren't super soft, but they were edible. I'm on a no bean diet right now, so I'll have to try again later with the longer boil time. As the guy in the video I posted above mentions, there are better insulated bottle choices than the traditional green "Stanley". A "Thermos Nissan" brand bottle would be a good investment, if you're serious about cooking food this way - Reportedly, they are top-notch. For cooking I have always used the Stanleys and they work alright. I recently purchased a Nissan for hot beverages and this thing will keep beverages hot for way past what is reasonable. Being a big fan of physics, this thing is magic. I never thought about using one for cooking (the one I have is small) but after this, will be picking a larger one up, thanks! |
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Quoted: Quoted: Let that shit cook for a few hours. usually 2-3. A pound of propane contains 22,000 BTUs of heat energy. A small propane cooking burner consumes around 10,000 BTUs of heat energy. So, running your burner for 3 hours consumes around 1.5 pounds of propane - or roughly 1/12th of an entire 20 pound tank. Use thermos cooking to reduce your cooking time to 20 minutes instead, and you've just reduced your propane consumption ninefold. No doubt the thermos will reduce the fuel requirements. I'm going to look into those. With that said, that 10K burner is normally 10K BTW wide open. We cook our beans in a cast iron dutch oven on the stove, and simmer for several hours. I don't have a way to measure how much propane we're using, but the flame is tiny compared to wide open. |
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I only boiled for 5 minutes and then put them in thermos overnight. (~14 hours) They weren't super soft, but they were edible. I'm on a no bean diet right now, so I'll have to try again later with the longer boil time. As the guy in the video I posted above mentions, there are better insulated bottle choices than the traditional green "Stanley". A "Thermos Nissan" brand bottle would be a good investment, if you're serious about cooking food this way - Reportedly, they are top-notch. For cooking I have always used the Stanleys and they work alright. I recently purchased a Nissan for hot beverages and this thing will keep beverages hot for way past what is reasonable. Being a big fan of physics, this thing is magic. I never thought about using one for cooking (the one I have is small) but after this, will be picking a larger one up, thanks! I don't have a problem with the Stanley holding heat after 14 hours. Beans are still steaming hot and too hot to eat right from the container. Like I said, I was only boiling for 5 minutes to get the maximum fuel usage. I think the videos I watched used the soda can alcohol stoves to show it really could be done. But then again, 10 minutes on the stovetop costs less than 3 hours on the stove top. |