I have some dried borlotti and butter beans from last year. Will they still be OK to use?
Should I soak them first, if so for how long? And how long should they be cooked for?
Thank you!
Dried beans help needed
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Yes.
Yes, until they are completely smooth. As they soak the skins will wrinkle as some bits soak quicker than other, when they become smoth again they will have absorbed as much water as they can. The simplest thing to do is to put them in a bowl with plenty of space for them to expand, assume they will double in size, fill the bowl with water, cover and leave overnight, or while you are at work.
Probably about an hour for the butter beans, but may be rather less for the borlotti's. Change the water, ie. do not cook in the soaking water, putting in enough water to cover the beans plus an inch, bring to the boil, skim any scum off the top, cover and turn the heat as low as possible. Don't add salt until the beans are cooked.
It is a bit difficult to be precise about bean cooking times, the basic rules are the bigger the bean the longer both soaking and cooking will take; and the older the bean the longer the cooking will take.
HTH
Yes, until they are completely smooth. As they soak the skins will wrinkle as some bits soak quicker than other, when they become smoth again they will have absorbed as much water as they can. The simplest thing to do is to put them in a bowl with plenty of space for them to expand, assume they will double in size, fill the bowl with water, cover and leave overnight, or while you are at work.
Probably about an hour for the butter beans, but may be rather less for the borlotti's. Change the water, ie. do not cook in the soaking water, putting in enough water to cover the beans plus an inch, bring to the boil, skim any scum off the top, cover and turn the heat as low as possible. Don't add salt until the beans are cooked.
It is a bit difficult to be precise about bean cooking times, the basic rules are the bigger the bean the longer both soaking and cooking will take; and the older the bean the longer the cooking will take.
HTH
I cooked some of last years Borlotta beans yesterday,I soaked them from 7am till 3pm but I poured boiling water over them to start with as it seems to speed up the soaking process.Then I put them in fresh cold water and cooked them for 40mins before adding them to a Chilli where they had another 30mins or so.They were not tough at all and were very tasty.