FOOD NEWS
The Ingredient Tip You Need For The Best Cooked Dried Beans
By Grace Allison
Dried beans may not be everyone's go-to ingredient for a delicious meal, but if you add acidic ingredients to these beans at the right time, you will achieve texture perfection.
Whether your acid is in the form of wine, chili sauce, molasses, vinegar, tomatoes, citric acid, or juice, it should be introduced later in the preparation.
The skin of a dried bean contains large molecules called pectin. This pectin coating on its exterior needs to be broken down to reach that tender buttery-filled state.
Boiling the beans in water breaks down this molecule barrier, but acidity can strengthen the pectin fortress. Wait until they have shaken off their pectin coats before adding it.
It should also be noted that different legumes can vary in how long they take to reach a tender state when boiling on a stove.
Great Northern beans can take as little as 45 minutes, pinto beans can take as long as two hours, and large Lima beans can sometimes take a whopping three hours to tenderize.
Soaking beans before preparation can reduce the tenderizing time, and incorporating baking soda into boiling dried beans can also speed up the softening process.