This is my first time making beans using dried beans rather than canned. I soaked a pound of black beans overnight, and now they’re in the crock pot with 6 hours to go. But a pound of black beans is a hell of a lot of beans. It’s just my husband and I, so I was going to make a soup out of half of them, but does anyone know if I can freeze the other half without screwing up the texture?
Also, I dutifully rinsed and sorted all the beans, but I’m not really sure what I was supposed to be sorting out. I pulled a few beans out that looked kind of shriveled, but otherwise…nada.
I have frozen cooked beans and don’t recall there being any impact on the texture (or flavor). I think once they have been boiled whatever impact freezing and thawing would have is pretty much irrelevant.
Regarding picking over the beans, you are looking for ‘foreign’ objects, mostly small stones, sticks, and insects – especially the stones. You might also want to keep your eyes open for beans with insect bore holes, which tend to float when you rinse the beans.
My italian grandmother used to cook dried beans for hours every weekend, but I use a pressure cooker now. For most types of beans the cooking time with a pressure cooker is just 15-30 minutes after soaking. Pressure cookers are also great for making very tender meat stews and curries.
Finally one tip on black bean soup – add about one Tbsp of sugar. It rounds out the taste nicely and emphasises some of the more subtle flavors of the bean. I also add a bit of sugar to chili and to Indian kidney bean and chick pea curries.