1 pound dried beans (black, beans, cannellini, pinto, kidney- any except lentils, split peas, or adzuki)
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Rinse beans and put them in a large, oven-safe pot (I used an 8 quart cast-iron dutch oven.) Cover the beans with water within 4 inches from the top. At least 3 times as much water as beans....I just eye-balled it.
3. Set pot on the stove top on high heat and bring to a boil....I had no clue that the water would turn black...hmmm, you learn something everyday;)
4. Cover, move pot to the oven and cook for 3-6 hours. Check after a few hours to monitor their progress. Don't cook longer than 8 hours, they will break down and be more like soup.
I cooked mine for 3 hours and they were perfect.
After taking out of the oven, cool completely and pour beans with the liquid into freezer safe containers, leaving 2 inches for expansion. They will keep for 6 months in the freezer.
I used my food scale to get 15 oz. into each container ( the same as the amount in a can.) I got four cans worth. I also labeled my container with the date six months out. So was it worth it? The dried beans cost $1.49 so that's 37 cents per container. Now I know that canned beans do not cost very much to begin with. The taste was a little different...I think it was because I didn't add any salt...the texture was the same. It really took me barely any effort at all and I will definitely try this using kidney beans as well, because my family loves chili. Plus dried beans are easy to store and it's nice to know that they are not in cans that could have BPA lining in them....so for that it's worth it! I used these #5 plastic containers because I had them on hand. They are safe for freezing and do not contain BPA. I would have prefered freezer glass jars, but I didn't have any...so I might get a case to have for these types of foods.
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