Adding cold water during cooking of beans and cooking time
After soaking dry beans, I place beans on heat, so they boil for couple of hours, and they cook pretty well. But if I add just one cup of cold water (at room temperature) during boiling, temperature of the mixture would drops for some minutes. But then the cooking time of the beans would increase significantly, and it seems they wouldn't cook well ever.
For most of the beans I experienced this process, but I can't figure out why?
Best Answer
If you want to speed up the cooking time and need to add more water, heat it on stovetop or in microwave till steaming, then add. Cook at lower heat just at or below simmer to keep beans more intact and with a cover on to avoid water loss in the first place. NEVER add salt at the beginning of the cooking process, only once desired doneness has been reached. If they just won't get soft (really hard water), add a tablespoon of baking soda to the cooking water, but then they will get soft really fast so watch carefully.
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Quick Answer about "Adding cold water during cooking of beans and cooking time"
Yes, it can increase cooking time, but the beans should eventually soften. (It is possible to have beans that will never soften even with long cooking, but those were just grown under bad conditions. To my knowledge, you can't turn good beans into hard ones that won't cook just by adding cool water.)Can I add water to beans while cooking?
Cook in just Water, Slow and Low Huh? It's true. Contrary to what most of us have been taught just plain water will do a better job than all the lard and oil in the world. Boiling beans can toughen them, so stick to slow and slow, simmering your beans and adding more filtered water if necessary.Do you add hot or cold water to beans?
Hot soaking is the preferred method since it reduces cooking time, helps dissolve some of the gas-causing substances in beans, and most consistently produces tender beans. Quick Soak. This is the fastest method. In a large pot, add 6 cups of water for each pound (2 cups) of dry beans.How do you soften beans for cooking?
Beans That Are Still Hard After CookingAdd 1/4-1/2 teaspoons of baking soda to encourage softening and give your beans another 30-60 minutes to cook while simmering (your liquid should be hot, but not rapidly boiling).Should I add more water to beans?
Beans expand as they soak and cook, so you may need to add more water to the pot as you go along. Don't forget to stir your beans occasionally so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. This is also the time to make sure they have enough liquid.Making spicy Lentil Soup - first full recipe in the pressure cooker and it was so quick and easy!
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Answer 2
Because the "cook time" begins when the temperature is high enough for the pot to "simmer". By adding lower temp water you are dropping the pot temp to under "simmer" in effect "pausing" the cooking time until the pot reaches "simmer" again. Once the pot reaches a high enough temp to simmer again the cook time picks back up again. The pause in the middle adds minutes to the over all time it takes to cook your beans.
Answer 3
We cook beans a lot at home; and I just learned from my mother that we don't add cold water to simmering beans, we also don't add any sauces earlier on during the cooking; or the beans would harden. You can always top up your beans with boiling water, and only add the sauce once they are done.
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