Do I need to soak fresh beans?
I have scarlet runner beans in my garden this year. I just picked my first batch of dry pods and shelled them. Most of the recipes I find online assume that you are buying or using dry beans and call for a 4-6 hour pre-soak.
I have cooked dried black beans and pinto beans before using a pre-soak, and the beans are usually hard and wrinkled before soaking and smooth and plump afterwards. My scarlet runner beans are already plump and smooth straight out of the pod.
Do I need to soak them before cooking? What about other bean varieties? If I grew black or pinto beans in the garden, would I need to soak them?
Best Answer
No, you don't need to soak fresh shell beans.
Unlike their dried counterparts, shelling beans don't need a soak before using. Most fresh shelling beans require from 20 to 30 minutes to cook
I'm not sure where they got the idea that most fresh shell beans take 20-30 minutes. You'll find recipes that vary from 10 to 60 minutes of cooking time.
Here's a recipe from the New York Times (maybe behind a paywall - sorry) that has you cook beans for 55 minutes: Shell Bean Ragout. And you may appreciate that this recipe specifically mentions scarlet runner beans as one of the varieties that would work here.
Shell beans take less than half the time to cook than their dried counterparts. Look for varieties such as mottled pink and white cranberry beans, also known as borlotti beans; large scarlet runner beans that are mottled and purple, despite the name; and pale yellow cannellini beans.
I have never seen fresh black or pinto beans being sold, but my guess is this has to do with economics, rather than edibility.
Pictures about "Do I need to soak fresh beans?"
Do I have to soak fresh green beans before cooking?
Letting dried beans sit overnight in a bowl of cold water does nothing to improve their flavor or their texture. In fact, it does quite the opposite. While soaking shortens the unattended cooking time of beans somewhat, the time saved is marginal and there are no other labor-saving benefits.Do you have to soak your beans?
You don't have to soak your dried beans overnight. Soaking beans in the refrigerator overnight will reduce the time they have to cook drastically. And the texture of the beans will also be it their best, with fewer split-open and burst ones. But like we said, you don't have to commit this hard.What beans need to be soaked before cooking?
This quick soaking method works great on the following kinds of beans:- Black beans.
- Pinto beans.
- Red beans.
- Any variety of dried beans.
How long cook beans without soaking?
How to cook dried beans without soakingWhy You Should Soak Beans Overnight Before Cooking
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