Beans
FAQs
Dry Beans
Choose from over 20 different types of bulk dried beans. Great for stocking your pantry.
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We cannot ship any of these items to Alaska, California, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Canada |
Store bulk beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. They will keep indefinitely. The longer you store the beans, however, the drier they become and the longer it will take to cook them.
- Sort and rinse – spread beans out on a clean towel or in a pan to remove shriveled beans. Rinse in cold water.
- Soak – a key step in bean digestibility is soaking the beans. Add about 4-5 cups of water for each 1 cup of beans, or until water is about 3 inches above beans. Slice a bean in half – if the center is opaque, soak it more. Exceptions include short cook beans (lentils, split peas, mung beans, and split garbanzos.)
- Boil/short soak method – Boil beans in water for 3 minutes in a sturdy pot. Cover and set aside for 2-4 hours (soaking longer will not help or hurt). Drain and discard water. Rinse beans. Beans are now ready to cook. Hard to digest sugars are reduced by 80%.
- Long soak method – soak beans for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and discard water. Proceed with cooking. This method is better than no soaking at all, but does not reduce the complex sugars as well as the short soak/boil method.
- Cooking – cook beans in large covered pot (not the water not used for soaking). Add about 3-4 cups of water for each 1 cup of beans, or until water is about 1 inch above beans. Do not add salt or acidic flavoring until beans are cooked all the way through. Bring beans to a boil for 25 minutes. Reduce to medium low and cover. Simmer gently until cooked – up to three hours. A bean is fully cooked when you can mash it with a fork. Beans will become mashed if they are boiled too rapidly.
- Seasoning Beans – Cook from the start with chopped onion, garlic cloves, bay leaves and cumin. Kombu is a tenderizing sea vegetable which can be added in 3 inch strips for every 1 cup of beans. Do any major seasoning 30-45 minutes before beans are sue to be done. Salt, miso, soy sauce, sugars, tomatoes, wine, lemon will toughen uncooked beans and increase cooking time considerably. Add fresh flavor to cooked beans with one or more of the following: fresh lemon and grated parmesan, yogurt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, toasted sesame oil, fresh basil, dry red wine, cilantro, parsley, ground black pepper.
How to Bake Beans?
For each cup of beans boil in 4.5 cups of water for 20 minutes. Place in a covered dish. Bake at 350 Degrees for 3.5 hours.
The size of the bean, rather than the variety, determines the length of cooking time. Garbanzo beans are the largest and will take from two to three hours; cannellini, pinto, red, pink, navy, and great northern need to simmer for one and one-half to two hours; black beans, cranberry beans and limas take slightly more than an hour; and the smaller split peas and lentils will be cooked tender in forty to fifty minutes.
Cooked beans freeze well. Freeze extra cooked beans in ziplock bags for future use.
- Remove any shriveled pebbles
- Rinse to remove any dust or debris
- Place dried beans in a pot, cover them with fresh, cold water, bring water to a boil and continue to boil for one minute. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for one hour.
- Now, drain the beans, discard the water, and begin again by covering the parboiled beans with fresh water and bringing them back to a boil. Reduce the heat, partially cover the pot, and simmer slowly until beans are soft and tender.
- Read about soaking and cooking dry beans for additional bulk bean cooking methods.
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