# Anyone cooked dried lima beans (butterbeans) before? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440 "2005-01-12T21:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/1 "2005-01-12T21:06:35Z")
My husband raves now and then about the cooked butterbeans his mother sometimes made. According to him, she just boiled them up with a ham bone and some onion = nirvana. I figured I’d give it a go. I mean, I’ve cooked other dried beans (whites, northerns, pintos, kidneys, navys, etc.) with good results, why should this be any harder? Since they’re a new variety for me, I was meticulous in following the instructions on the packet. Basically: soak over night; drain; rinse; drain. Put soaked beans in pot, add 6 cups of water, bring to a simmer, cook with the pot lid tilted until ‘desired state’ of tenderness, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Okay, I also put a hambone and a chopped onion into the pot, but no other deviations. At one hour into the cooking timeI decided to check, in case more water was needed. Uh. “Desired state of tenderness” ? 1 1/2 to 2 hours??? After just one hour what I had was a pot full of bean mush. Not just over cooked beans, beans overcooked to the point they have completely fallen apart and can’t really be called beans any more. What I have is a pot full of bean soup/mush with a whole bunch of empty skins floating in it. :mad: Why? Was it the ham and onion? I’ve cooked them with other beans in the past without inducing instant mushification. Or, as I darkly suspect, did the company screw up it’s instructions? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/2 "2005-01-12T21:17:50Z")
I called my mom about this… and learned more about beans than I needed to know. You owe me. Big. OK what follows is what my mom knows about cooking dried bean or peas. She’s old, she’s southern and she knows of what she speaks. **DRIED BEANS** Bean (seasoning or meat) - length of cooking time Black-eyed peas (_salt first_) – 1 to 1½ hours Big butter beans (_whitemeat or ham_) – 2 to 2½ hours Little butter beans (_whitemeat or ham_) – 1½ to 2 hours Great northern beans (_whitemeat_) – 2½ to 3 hours Pinto beans (_whitemeat_) – 4½ to 5 hours Green beans (_salt first, add whitemeat_) – 3½ to 4 hours (add new potatoes last hour) The beans should be covered with water. Bring to a boil, drain water off and repeat. After draining 2nd time, rinse beans and cook as directed above. I have gotten really lazy and when I drain and rinse the 2nd time, I put the beans and seasoning into a crock-pot with about ½ to ¾” water above beans. Cover then turn to high and cook all day. To get think soup, mash some beans and return to pot. > [@DeVena's Mom](#): > > You can cook them on top of the stove in boiler or in crock-pot – they’re still good! My mother gave me these instructions while we were visiting a few years before she died. She never parted with her recipes willingly. I should have gotten her biscuit recipe too. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/3 "2005-01-12T21:20:18Z")
Sigh. Yeah that’s it. My mom uses ESP to cook dried beans. The word is \*\*thick \*\* not **think**. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/4 "2005-01-12T21:37:20Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > My husband raves now and then about the cooked butterbeans his mother sometimes made. According to him, she just boiled them up with a ham bone and some onion = nirvana. I don’t think a dried lima is the same as a butterbean. Southland Frozen Foods markets a frozen butterbean, which I’ve used successfully…they look like frozen lima beans, only pale brown and speckled, and they taste WAYYYY better. I put a package of 'em into boiling chicken stock, with chopped onion and red pepper, and simmer for an hour or so. They’re great with fried chicken and cornbread, and they’ve never turned into mush. Dried limas, I’ve used interchangably with any other dried white bean. They make a very good Greek bean soup, fr’instance. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/5 "2005-01-12T21:57:12Z")
DeVena and Ukulele Ike, thanks for the answers. Which leave me mystified, of course, since your timing agree with the recipe, and unless somehow the beans would have reconstituted themselves if I’d cooked them another half hour… Is a puzzlement. BTW, usually when I cook beans I use this big stainless steel pot. This time I used a cast iron Dutch Oven. That couldn’t have caused it, could it? BTW2, it was hubby who told be that large dried limas were teh same as butterbeans, but I agree that it must not be so. At least, the only other time I’ve seen/eaten butterbeans, they were golden in color, making sense of their name. The dried limas were just white. Oh, well. I actually like bean soup. I’ll toss in a couple of cans of other beans, some more seasonings, and serve it with corn muffins. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/6 "2005-01-12T22:24:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Which leave me mystified, of course, since your timing agree with the recipe I think the key is that DeVena’s directions don’t call for soaking the beans overnight first. You just go ahead and cook the dried beans. That’s how usually do it, and they turn out well. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/7 "2005-01-13T03:24:49Z")
Absolutely the best butterbeans I’ve ever eaten were Greek style. I remember standing in the kitchen of a greek taverna and picking out my dinner and being overwhelmed by the heavenly smell wafting from a big pot of these babies. This boy likes his baked beans and I knew I had to try them. I doubt if I could ever replicate them exactly but I’ve tried. Here is the basic recipe for [Fassolia Gigantes Plaki](http://www.greek-recipe.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=100) If you like butterbeans these are definitely worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/8 "2005-01-13T04:00:31Z")
Butterbeans are indeed different from (although similar to) lima beans. Less starchy-bready, sweeter, tastier, smaller. If you’re doing dried ones, consider a pressure cooker. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/9 "2005-01-13T15:33:11Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > I think the key is that DeVena’s directions don’t call for soaking the beans overnight first. You just go ahead and cook the dried beans. That’s how usually do it, and they turn out well. Well…as I said, the instructions on the package called for a presoak, and gave directions for both a ‘boil 2 minutes and let sit for an hour’ and an ‘overnight in cold water’ method. Maybe the overnight soak is more thorough, or something, and they should have given instructions for different final cooking times depending on presoak. Anyway, all ended well. The bean soup was absolutely yummy: the disintegrated limas made for a really thick, satisfying broth, and with a couple cans of beans for color contrast and texture (I used black beans and speckled ones) plus bits of ham and diced up leftover kielbasi, plus bits of carrots and celery and some spices…excellent soup! When I’ve recovered from the trauma of this, I will attempt butterbeans as butterbeans again. Only next time I’ll check on them every 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/10 "2005-01-13T21:58:40Z")
Frankly, if a good 1/3 of my granny’s butterbeans didn’t fall apart and create the thick soup, it wasn’t a good batch. That’s part of the butterbean lurve. BTW, a smoked turkey leg is a pretty decent low-fat substutute for a ham hock, if you’re a rather large human like myself. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-cooked-dried-lima-beans-butterbeans-before/284440/11 "2005-01-13T23:10:59Z")
A little poke around on [http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html](http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html) reveals that the name “butter bean” is applied to both lima beans and fava beans. Anyway, fava beans shed their skins when you cook them, so maybe that is what you had.