Friday, February 20, 2015

Cooking Pinto Beans Without Soaking

Pinto beans add a healthy amount of fiber to your diet.


Cooks generally fall into two schools of thought when they reach for a recipe that calls for dry pinto beans--to soak or not to soak. Old-school cooks prefer to soak their beans for 12 to 24 hours before they use them. If you are in a hurry or you balk at planning ahead, you can skip the lengthy soaking process in favor of the fast method. If your recipe calls for beans cooked in large amounts of liquid that will be simmered, you can eliminate even the fast method. No matter what recipe you intend to use, you can prepare pinto beans in less than two hours. Add this to my Recipe Box.


Instructions


1. Sort the pinto beans, discarding stones and black or malformed beans.


2. Place the colander in the sink and pour the beans into it. Wash the beans for two to three minutes, rinsing well. Drain the water.


3. Pour the beans into a large pot and cover them with water. The water level should be 3 inches higher than the beans.


4. Bring the beans to a boil on the stove. Lower the heat to medium low or to a simmer. Cover the pot with a lid. Simmer the beans for about 10 to 15 minutes.


5. Turn off the heat. Let the beans sit for one hour with the lid on.


6. Drain the water from the beans using the colander. The beans will be ready for you to proceed with your recipe.

Tags: beans into, Drain water, fast method, pinto beans, your recipe