There are almost as many "favorite" methods for preparing beans as there are cooks. To clear up the confusion, the Califonia Dried Bean Board and USDA scientist carried on ten years of research to develop the best way. For the best combination of flavor, digestibility and nutrition, follow these steps:
1. Buy Good Beans
Look for firm, clean, whole beans of uniform size and color. Stick with C & F Foods brand for guaranteed consistent quality!
2. Wash and Sort
Rinse dry beans in cold water.
3. Boil and Drain
For each pound (two cups) washed, sorted dry beans, add six to eight cups of hot water in a pot large enough to permit expansion. Boil for three minutes, cover and soak for one to four hours, adding water as needed to keep beans covered. Drain off soak water and rinse.
4. Cook
Put soaked, drained and rinsed beans (one pound of dry beans makes four to six cups of cooked beans) into a three to four quart pot with six cups of hot water, two tablespoons shortening, and add two teaspoons of salt. Boil gently until the beans reach the desired tenderness (depending on variety, usually one to two hours).
Preparation Notes:
In recipes calling for slow all day cooking, soaking is not essential but soaking shortens cooking time. And, when you use the boil-soak method (Step 3 above), the taste, texture, appearance and digestibility of the beans are improved. For even better digestibility, also discard the cooked water. Test shows that no important amounts of nutrients are lost.
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