Update on Using Dried Beans

I received the following helpful information in an email from Margo regarding dried beans. Thanks for your feedback Margo!

I have enjoyed going through your preparedness web site. Good job!

On your page regarding using dried beans for fat replacement ( http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/search/label/White%20Beans%20Replace%20Fat%20in%20Most%20Baking) may I suggest that you add the following:

After grinding beans in a stone wheat grinder the beans will tend to gum up' the stones. Grinding a cup of dried corn after grinding beans will de-glaze the stones. This is not as much of a problem in a steel grinder, but the corn will still be effective in cleaning the grinding surfaces.

Also, it may not be clear to inexperienced that you are suggesting to grind DRIED beans.

Bean flour can also be added to waffles, pancakes, cookies, bread and most other baked goods to increase the protein content; adding beans to recipes containing grains turns the proteins into complete proteins.
regards,
margo

Cooking Beans

Soaking and cooking beans before mixing with other recipe ingredients helps to get the right tenderness and can minimize final cooking time.

Overnight soaking:
For each 1 lb. dried beans, dissolve 2 teaspoons salt in 6 cups of cold water. Wash beans, add to salted water, and soak overnight.

Quick soaking:
For each 1 lb. dried beans, bring 8 cups of water to boil. Wash beans, add to boiling water, and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak 1 hour.

To cook soaked beans:
For each 1 lb. dried beans, dissolve 2 teaspoons salt in 6 cups hot water, and bring to a boil. Add soaked beans and boil gently, uncovered, adding water if needed to keep beans covered, until tender. Yield 6 to 7 cups.

To cook old hard beans:
Wash and sort to remove any discolored beans or foreign material. For each cup of dry beans, add 2 1/2 cups of hot tap water and 2 teaspoons of baking soda and soak overnight. Drain and rinse two times, then add water to cover and cook until tender and soft, adding more water if necessary.

Adding a tablespoon of oil will cut down on foam as beans cook. Rapid boiling and frequent stirring causes the skins of the beans to break, so simmer slowly and don't stir unless necessary. Stored beans should be rotated regularly. They continue to lose moisture and will not reconstitute satisfactorily if kept too long.

WHITE BEANS REPLACE FAT
IN MOST BAKING

Method 1: Cover beans with water and cook until very soft. Mash until they are the consistency of shortening (use blender). Substitute in recipes cup for cup. Example: If recipe calls for 1 cup of margarine, use 1 cup of mashed beans. Liquid may be added to adjust the consistency. Mashed beans do not keep long in the fridge, so freeze them.

Method 2: Grind beans in your wheat grinder. Store in air-tight container. Replace fat in the recipe cup for cup as above. You will need to add liquid since the ground beans will be part of the dry ingredients.

DIRECTIONS FOR REFRIED BEANS

Add 1 cup dried refried beans to 3/4 cup boiled water, stir briefly, and cover. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. More water may be added for a thinner consistency. Makes about 2 servings.

(Source: "Basic Food Storage Cookbook", South Jordan Utah River Stake, 2003, pg. 11)

Complementing Proteins

Protein is required for growth, body repair, and maintenance. Serious injuries or illness require extra protein. If we do not get enough protein, our bodies will steal it from our muscles.

Our bodies use 22 amino acids to make 50,000 (that's what it said) different proteins we must have to be healthy. Our bodies can make all but eight. These eight are called "essential amino acids" as we must get them from foods we eat. The only foods which contain all eight of these building blocks are meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk products. Soy protein is equivalent to animal protein and has all eight (plus one extra) of the essential amino acids needed to make protein in the body.

Planning meals around these complementary food combinations will provide the complete proteins needed by the body. In many cases it will be better than a meat protein. Complementing proteins should be eaten within the same day.

Wheat + Beans
Wheat + Milk
Beans + Milk
Cereal + Milk
Rice + Legumes
Rice + Milk
Rice + Wheat
Cereal + Legumes

(Source: "Food Storage Recipes - Using only the ingredients contained in the One-Month Basic Food Storage Kit", pg. 34)

Bean Flour

1 cup dry beans = about 1-1/8 cups flour

Dry beans can be ground to a fine flour using a hand grinder and strong muscles for small quantities or electric mill for larger quantities. A small amount of bean flour added to baked goods increases vitamin and mineral content and contributes towards a complete protein. Bean flour is great to have on hand for making "instant" soups, sauces, dips, gravies, and sandwich fillings, and to add to almost everything you cook or bake. When added to boiling water, bean flours thicken in only 1 minute; cooked 3 minutes they are ready to eat (saves fuel, too). This is the quickest way to cook dried beans. Give it a try.

Baby lima and small white beans have mildest taste. Other favorites are pinto, small red and garbanzo. Some varieties of beans require more liquid than others. You will have to experiment. Store flour on cool, dark shelf in an air-tight container. Best used within 3 months.

(Source: "Food Storage Recipes - Using only the ingredients contained in the One-Month Basic Food Storage Kit", pg. 22)

Protein Sources

Wondering how to afford enough protein for your long-term storage?

"Dried Beans, or Legumes, are one of the best protein sources on the planet. People all over the world have been eating them for thousands of years. They keep a long time, are easy to prepare, and cost very little. When they are cooked they more than double in weight. 1 cup dry beans makes 2 1/2 cups cooked beans.

Complete Protein: When beans are combined with a corn product, meat or milk based food, they form what is known as a complete protein. Complete proteins are more nourishing for your body than beans eaten alone. Therefore the old standbys like Pork 'n Beans, Pintos and Cornbread, Split Pea Soup with Ham, and Succotash (Corn and Lima beans), provide more complete proteins, than when eaten alone. When beans are combined with other foods to make complete proteins, the combinations can be exceptionally good tasting."

(Source: www.bulkfoods.com/bean.htm)

Where Have You "Bean" All My Life

This information and some of the following bean recipes come from a handout I received many years ago at a Relief Society Homemaking Night. The woman who taught the class knew a lot about beans and actually used them on a regular basis. I was impressed with her variety of recipes. I hung onto the handout thinking it might come in handy someday. (My young family wouldn't eat beans at the time.) Although I haven't tried her recipes, I thought we might be able to survive on the chocolate Pinto Bean Fudge if times got really tough. :)

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

WATER
For all dried beans, use 3 cups of water for 1 cup of beans when soaking and cooking. Always drain the water from soaked beans and use new water for cooking. By using fresh water and adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar to cooking water, the after effects of eating beans that most of us suffer, are reduced to a minimum.

HARD WATER
In a hard water area, the beans will soften up faster if a scant 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda is added to soaking water for each cup of beans.

SOAKING
There are two methods of soaking beans. You may soak your beans overnight to use the next day, or the following quick method may be used for those who don't think that far ahead. Put beans in measured water (3 to 1 ratio), bring water to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover, and soak for 1 hour. Then they are ready to cook. For cooking instructions, refer to cooking schedule on other sheet.

TOMATOES
Wait to add tomatoes until cooking beans are almost tender so softening will not be delayed.

SERVINGS
One pound of beans will provide 8 to 9 servings of 3/4 cup each. One pound equals approximately 2 cups of dry beans.

(Source: Homemaking Night handout, W. Thueson)

The Dried Bean

Low in cost, high in nutrition, and rich in good, earthy flavors, dried beans are one of the best food bargains going. Cooking beans is easy and requires little attention, but you need to know the basics and plan ahead a little.

BEAN BASICS

1. 1 cup dried beans yields 2 to 2-3/4 cups cooked beans. (1 lb. = 2 cups dried beans)
2. Use 3 cups of liquid for every cup of beans.
3. Beans keep for a week in the refrigerator after cooking - cook an extra cup for an extra recipe.

COOKING BEANS:
1. Cooked Beans - If a recipe calls for cooked beans, don't pull out your can opener, pull out your crock pot. To get 2 cups of beans (the same as a 15oz. can) put 1 cup well-rinsed beans in 6 cups water and add 1 teaspoon baking soda (it's alkaline--like meat--so it softens beans). Just before you go to bed, turn your crock pot on low and let them cook all night! In the morning you have cooked beans!

If you don't have all night, quick-soak the beans by bringing them to a boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them soak for 1 hour. Then resume cooking.

Long-soaking has the beans in cold water overnight (to increase size.)

To cook soaked beans drain the soaked beans, add fresh liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until beans are tender. This will take 1 to 2 hours depending on the type of bean and their age. When the beans are tender add salt to taste. After the beans are cooked is the time to add tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegar, etc. These are all acid foods which hardens beans and should be added after the beans are cooked.

Fresh beans cook quicker, but even old beans will get soft. To cook old hard beans wash and sort to remove any discolored beans. Add 2-1/2 cups hot tap water and 2 teaspoons baking soda and soak overnight. Drain and rinse two times, then add water to cover and cook until tender and soft, about two hours, adding more water if needed.

Adding a tablespoon of oil will cut down on foam as beans cook.

2. Selecting Beans - Buy beans that are graded so they will be the same size, color, and age. Beans, peas, and lentils should have a bright uniform color. Loss of color usually indicates long storage, lack of freshness, and will take longer to cook. Eating quality is not affected by age. Cracked seed coats, foreign material, and pin holes caused by insect damage are signs of low quality.

3. Storage Tips - Dry beans, peas, and lentils should be kept in tightly covered containers and stored in a dry, cool place, 50 - 70 degrees F. After opening a package, they should not be mixed, preventing uneven cooking.

4. Beans and Gas - Eat beans regularly in small quantities. Then your pancreas makes the enzymes needed to digest beans. If you seldom eat them, you won't have the needed enzymes and you will get gas.

If gas is a problem try cooking your beans at a very high temperature and remember to discard the soaking water before you cook you beans.

(Source: West Jordan Oquirrh Stake "Basically Speaking" Cookbook)

Legumes

BEANS

Dry beans contain from 20-25% protein and are the best source of vegetable protein. They contain appreciable amounts of calcium, iron, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B1 and B2. Combined with corn products they form a complete protein. The following dried beans are considered in this listing:

• black
• kidney
• lima
• garbonzo (chick peas)
• navy
• pinto
• red
• white

Dry beans are used in all kinds of soups, stews, casseroles and main dishes. When combined with other grains their nutritional value and protein equivalent is greatly increased. Beans, especially mung beans, are excellent for sprouting.

LENTILS

Lentils are an excellent source of protein. They contain approximately 24% protein as well as Vitamin C, Vitamin E, iron, phosphorus and potassium. Lentils are used in soups and stews to increase the nutritional value. They are sprouted and used in salads. Lentils are combined with other grains or beans and formed into loaves and baked as a meat substitute or main dish. They are used in casseroles and can be substituted in any recipe calling for dried beans. To cook lentils before adding to recipes use 3 cups of lentils, cover and simmer 1 hour.

DRIED PEAS

Dried peas or split peas contain 22% protein which is made up of the eight essential amino acids, thus making this legume an excellent addition to a family diet. Dried whole peas can be sprouted until soft and eaten like fresh green peas. Dry peas can also be cooked and used as split peas in all kinds of soup and stews. Split peas also make excellent casseroles or meat substitute main dishes.

(Source: West Jordan Oquirrh Stake "Basically Speaking" Cookbook)