I know you have to soak them overnight to rehydrate them and leach out poisonous shit, but is there more to it than that? Can this go along with seasoning them or does the water need to be as clean as possible to make them safe to eat?

  • WashedAnus [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    AFAIK, the overnight soak is more about keeping cooking time to a minimum. Like, I know if you don’t soak pinto beans overnight you can still cook them same day, it just takes a lot longer. IIRC, you don’t want to salt the overnight soak liquid because it might help the skin separate or something. Also, if you haven’t seasoned the soaking water, it’s aquafaba and you can use it in place of egg whites in stuff like whiskey sours and some meringue-like pastries.

    • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      The beanpilled chad takes the lesson from their Desi siblings and uses a pressure cooker for their dried beans.

      You know you’ve got yourself an avid bean fan when they have a pressure cooker in their kitchen.

        • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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          8 months ago

          Honestly you’re better off with a slow cooker if you want to take that route, with the exception being for kidney beans and broad beans as this is not a safe way of cooking those beans.

          A rice cooker only boils the pot for a minute before reducing the temperature down really low so it would extend the cooking time out to what a slow cooker would require, except idk if it would even turn out well in a rice cooker.

          Disclaimer that this is for your typical rice cooker and not a fancy pressure rice cooker - I’ve never used one of those so I can’t attest to whether it would be possible to cook dry beans well in one.

  • DickFuckarelli [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Might be good to rinse them. A soak over night helps them keep their form and consistency when cooking. But a quick boil and rest can do the same. Or you can just cook them and not care that the skin will burst and they’ll look a little wonky (beans more than lentils). Regardless of prep, simmering until tender is all thats necessary - no need to have a hard rolling boil.

    Chick peas don’t require much seasoning as their flavor is distinctive; lentils will benefit from chicken or vegetable stock.

    • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      Boil/simmer your raw kidney beans and broad beans for at least 10 mins before eating (it’s going to require a lot longer than that to cook them anyway…)

      Be careful about putting these dried beans into a slow cooker unless you know what temperature your slow cooker reaches - basically avoid this unless you’re well aware of the risks and you’ve done your due diligence (if this comment is news to you then you haven’t done your due diligence.)

      Don’t eat the sprouts of kidney beans.

      Oh and I guess don’t eat castor beans either.

      Otherwise you’re good; you don’t need to approach legumes like a Pythagorean would.

  • eh, i dont think the toxins are harmful enough that they need to be drained. it’s just best practice to soak for faster cooking time. pro tip for making creamy hummus without spending a ton of time removing the skins: cook chickpeas with a bit of baking soda (abt 1.5 tsp per pound of dry chickpeas). the baking soda breaks down the skin. this prob ruins the aquafaba tho

    • ReadFanon [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      8 months ago

      I think Kenji’s advice on cooking beans is unsurpassed tbh:

      https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-dont-soak-dried-beans-20140911-story.html

      pro tip for making creamy hummus without spending a ton of time removing the skins: cook chickpeas with a bit of baking soda (abt 1.5 tsp per pound of dry chickpeas). the baking soda breaks down the skin.

      Very good tip. I’ll see that and raise you one:

      Buy channa dal/split chickpeas and use that for hummus instead.

      Not only will you roughly halve your cooking time (it’s not like you’re going to want whole chickpeas unless you’re making msabbaha anyway…) but your chickpeas will come pre-skinned and due to the size and grade of the chickpeas used to produce channa dal, it is often cheaper to buy them instead of whole chickpeas.

      • penitentkulak [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        8 months ago

        Note: don’t go whole hog and buy a 10lb bag of Chana dal to start. Apparently I really dislike the taste of desi chickpeas vs kabuli. At least my chickens enjoyed them lol

  • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    8 months ago

    Do chickpeas and lentils have toxins? I’ve only heard that for kidney beans, and even then they’re destroyed by boiling instead of physical removal by soaking/rinsing.

    Anyway, spread them out on a tray and check for pebbles, rinse any dust off, soak them in clean water overnight (or don’t, it just speeds up the cooking time), and simmer (with seasonings, broth, etc) until tender. If they do have the toxins or you’re not sure and want to be safe, then begin the simmering step with about 15 minutes at a full boil.