Baked beans still firm after soaking and hours of cooking
I decided I would make baked beans for a BBQ at my MIL's this past weekend. I've never made baked beans but decided that it was time since I love them so much! I found a recipe for Southern Baked Beans (using Navy beans). It was from a food blog.
During the description/commentary of the dish the blogger said they could be made with dried beans but she uses canned to save time. The recipe only mentioned canned beans. I couldn't find anything to tell me the ratio canned:dried beans so I decide a 1:1 ratio would be good. After putting a 24oz bag of beans in a cake pan (the recipe called for 32oz canned beans), I decided that was A LOT of beans so didn't add the remaining 8oz. I rinsed them first then soaked them for 15-18 hours. I rinsed them again and put them in a pot with the rest of the ingredients.
The recipe said to bake them at 350 for about 40 minutes and they should be done. After an hour and a temperature increase to 400, the beans weren't anywhere close to being done. At this point I decided they were probably very old beans. :( I moved them to the stove after another 30 minutes. They boiled on the stove for another 1 1/2 hours and were still rock hard (I kept adding water so they wouldn't boil dry - and this was on medium to medium-low heat).
We left the beans at my MIL's and she cooked them "off and on" (her words) the next day and declared they were done. They are not done. :(
Now that they've been cooked then refrigerated then cooked then refrigerated again, can I attempt to salvage them? I've read that adding 1/8 tsp baking soda per cup of beans will soften them. Is it too late to try this - add the beans, more water, and a small amount of baking soda and cook them a little more? I've put so much effort into these stupid beans I can't just give up! LOL
Best Answer
Since it's hard to know the age of your beans, it's best to cook them before you start adding sauce ingredients. My approach is:
- soak them about 20 hours. Depending on how much water they soak up you may add more halfway through - if you set them soaking in the early evening, check them in the morning
- drain, rinse, and then boil for about two hours, checking to see if they are soft. If they're not soft, don't move on, keep them boiling (a low boil, but more than a simmer)
- once they're soft, drain them, add the sauce and whatever else (onions, bits of ham) and put them in the oven. I typically give them an hour in there but at this point it's about reducing the sauce, getting the flavours to mingle and soak in, that sort of thing.
My beans come from the local farmer who supplies all my fresh vegetables, but I don't always use them all right away. This week I cooked some cranberry beans from the late summer of 2013. They were creamy and soft using this technique.
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Quick Answer about "Baked beans still firm after soaking and hours of cooking"
Beans That Are Still Hard After Cooking Your last resort is to add baking soda, as described above. Add 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).Why are my baked beans still hard?
This is most likely because the dehydrated beans you are using are old. It seems to be a growing problem to find fresh dehydrated beans in the US. This would happen to my family all the time when we used to make slow cooked Red Beans and Rice. I thought it just needed to be either soaked or cooked longer.You're Doing It All Wrong - How to Cook Beans
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Answer 2
The secret to cooking beans is to not add the sauce ingredients, especially the molasses, until the beans are totally cooked. Once the molasses is added the beans seem to no longer cook.
Answer 3
This is most likely because the dehydrated beans you are using are old. It seems to be a growing problem to find fresh dehydrated beans in the US.
This would happen to my family all the time when we used to make slow cooked Red Beans and Rice. I thought it just needed to be either soaked or cooked longer.
Answer 4
I rinse my beans in cold water to remove any bad seeds - so to speak. Next I soak them over night in my five quart dutch oven with plenty of water(About twelve hours). Next, I put them on the stove and bring them to a slow rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about two hours adding water as needed. For the final phase I add my secret family ingredients and move them into the oven. Set oven to 250 and bake (Covered) for eight hours. Remove lid and continue baking 1/2 hour to brown the top of the beans. Let your beans cool completely before canning (I use 1 quart plastic square tubs). Freeze your beans before serving as this helps further soften your beautiful new batch. Thaw, place in sauce pot and heat over med/low until bubbly hot and serve. This process has been handed down through my family since the mid 1800's. Take pride in your baked beans and ENJOY
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