In my endless quest for the ultimate chili recipe, I recently tried “Black Bean Ancho Beef Chili with Avocado Salsa,” from p. 51, The Ultimate Chili Book, by Christopher B. O’Hara (Lyons Press, 1981). As instructed, I soaked 1-1/2 cups of dried black beans for one hour, drained them, and added them to the recipe at the appropriate time, brought it to a boil and simmered it for 20 minutes. But it came out barely edible – the beans were harder than nuts. I tried the recipe again, this time soaking the beans overnight. Same result. Perhaps this is a misprint? Should the beans be cooked separately before adding them to the chili? If so, for low long at what level of heat? And should other beans – pintos, kidneys, garbanzos – be prepared the same way? I usually use canned beans in my chili but I’ve read that it’s much better if you start with dried beans. But before I try that with a different bean I want to make sure I’m doing it right.
BTW: Is the “black bean sauce” in some Asian recipes made with what we call frijoles negros, or do they use a different “black bean”?
whenever i make chili, i soak them overnight, drain them off, then put them in new water just above the bean-line, cook them on low after bring to a boil. When done, i add them to the chili. Should take about 50 minutes for black beans soaked overnight.
Asian black beans sauce is made from specially fermented black soybeans, which you can usually only find in Asian groceries. They are soft and pasty, very salty, and have a strong cheesy/soy sauce smell and flavor. You just use a teaspoon or so with other ingredients to make the sauce.
I’ve also had trouble with hard black beans and find that soaking and cooking them separately is the best plan. You can always add the cooking liquid to the soup/chili, if you want the flavor.
You can soak the beans for only one hour if you bring them to the boil for a minute or two first. Then take them off the heat, and one hour later, bingo, soaking done.
The beans will still need about 1-2 hours of simmering time though. You could pre-simmer them before adding to the chili, or add them right away and simmer the chili for 2 hours.
Another thing to watch out for: Beans become tough if they are cooked with salt, so don’t add any salt until after the beans are cooked.
Thanx, guys! Tell me, do all kinds of dried beans require the same amount of soaking and/or cooking time? I.e., if I want to make my chili with pinto beans, kidney beans and black beans, can I just mix them all together prior to soaking?
Incidentally, the way to tell if the beans have soaked long enough is to bite one in half. If the inside is dry and crunchy, they need more time (the centre will look whiter than the rest also). If it is crisp, but not dry (basically the same texture as a raw, undried bean or pea), then soaking is done. Don’t worry, they taste good like that, although I think if you ate a lot you would get a tummyache. It’s pretty much the same way you test pasta for doneness.
Another factor to consider is the age of the dried beans. The older they are the longer they take to soften up. Over a year old and it takes quite a while.
On a side note, I’ve often heard that you shouldn’t add salt or it will toughen the beans. However, Cook’s Illustrated looked into the matter in an issue some years ago and found that not to be the case. I salt beans all the time and haven’t had any tough ones yet. Cook’s did find that acid ingredients will prevent the beans from becoming soft though, so you might want to add anything acid later in the cooking process.
A pressure cooker is the only way to go if you cook beans often. It will eliminate soaking, cut down cooking time, and make your life a whole lot better. You can also use it to make soups and sauces taste like they’ve been simmering for hours. Since I lost mine I don’t even bother, and stick to canned beans.