Pressure Cooking: Beans

(Egyptian Breakfast Beans)

This post is going to cover pressure cooking beans.  A few of you recently received pressure cookers and asked me for the time chart that I use for beans by email.  Instead of continuing to retype it in emails I decided that it make a lot more sense to put it on the blog.  While I was doing that I wanted to also talk about why you might want to start pressure cooking your beans if you don’t currently.

(Black-eyed Peas over Cilantro and Lime Brown Rice)

Benefits of pressure cooking beans

For most of my adult life when we had beans I bought them in cans. Getting our beans from a can was easier and we didn’t eat enough beans to make the price difference between canned and dried matter.  Once we became vegan beans became a daily part of our diet so I moved to cooking my own from dried beans.  However it wasn’t until I read in “Life OverCancer” that pressure-cooking beans improved their digestibility that I starting using my pressure cooker to make beans. 

It’s true confession time now.  I actually owned my first pressure cooker for over a year before I used it for anything. I bought it because I wanted the reducing cooking time that a pressure cooker offered.  However I also still remembered my mother’s exploding pressure cooker incident and was a little bit afraid of it.  Once I knew it actually improved the digestibility of the beans I was ready to give it a try.

For those of you who were like me and are afraid of pressure cookers please don’t be. The first time you use it you will read and reread the directions (at least I did).  However by the third time you use it you are a pro.  Now I can’t imagine not having a pressure cooker. In fact I love it so much I have a stove top model as well as an electric model and two more on the boat (stove top and electric).  That is huge from someone who was afraid of pressure cookers on three or four years ago.

(Black Beans and Brown Rice with Veggies topped with Vegan Queso)

The benefits of pressure cooking beans include:

• Improved digestibility which also means a reduction in flatulence
• No need to presoak beans
• No BPA like you get from the can
• You control the sodium
• It’s cheaper than buying canned
• Faster than cooking them on the stove
• Faster than using your slow cooker (Crockpot)

You should know that all of our beans are now pressure cooked. I generally cook an entire pound of beans at a time and put some in the freezer to have on hand like canned beans.  I truly believe that once you start using a pressure cooker for your beans you won’t go back.

(Greek Beans over Quinoa)

Cooking chart (Times assumes the beans are unsoaked)

Type of bean	Firm beans (retain shape)*	Soft beans**
Adzuki	16	21
Black (Turtle)	22	25
Black-Eyed Peas	6	8
Borlotti (Cranberry)	28	34
Cannellini	28	32
Chickpeas (Garbanzos)	32	35
Flageolet	28	34
Great Northern	25	30
Lentils (brown or green)	1	5
Lentils (red)	5	5
Lima (baby)	13	15
Lima (large)	9	10
Navy bean	22	25
Peas, Split (yellow or green)	10	12
Pinto	19	22
Red Kidney	24	30
Roman	25	30
Red Beans, Small	26	30
Soybeans, beige	28	35
Soybeans, black	32	37

Notes:

*  Use the time in the firm chart (first column) any time you want the beans to retain some of their shape.  This would be appropriate for salads or when you beans will be used in entrees.

** Use the time for soft beans in the chart (second column) when you want the beans to break down (like for hummus or bean dip).  The longer time list is also good if you are new to eating beans.  By cooking the beans longer you also make them more digestible which will result in less flatulence.

The times given in the chart assume that you are cooking on high pressure and that you allow the pressure to reduce naturally.  Every cooker is different so read your instructions to determine how your machine works. For example on my electric pressure cooker there are two pressure settings (high and low).  This machine automatically stops when the time has elapsed and moves to warm. During that phase the pressure is reducing naturally and the lid will open when the pressure has dissipated.  On my stove top machine there is a knob that I turn to both adjust the pressure and to release the pressure.  However each one is different. 

I hope that helps and that you develop a regular relationship with your pressure cooker too. I love mine and use it almost every day.

(Bean and Mushroom topped Sweet Potato with Avocado)

Happy thoughts:

(Veggie Burger Experiment Today)

1. Let’s hear a woo hoo for warmer temperatures!  Saturday at lunch it was 52 degrees in Baltimore and I was a very happy woman. I love being able to get outside for my cardio.  *happy dance*
2. I am working on a new veggie burger recipe to share with is pictured at the top of this secion. This one is predominately cooked soy beans and brown rice. It is pretty good but I want to tweak it a little bit before I share it with you.  Poor Dan will have to suffer through the last of this batch before I can make another one. ;-)  Don’t feel too badly for him they are good, they just aren’t the bomb which is always my goal.
3. I almost forgot to share the scale impact from last night.  After consuming vegetable tempura and crispy balsamic Brussels sprouts, a white bean salad, roasted eggplant, glazed mushrooms, and a soy cappuccino I was not expecting “good news” from the scale this morning. To my shock I only put on 0.6 pounds after that dinner.  What?  No one was more surprised than me.  Just in case I am still went “uber healthy” on my diet today. 
4. Today I opened a bag of Teavana White Ayurvedic Chai Tea and I really like it.  It contains:  white tea, green tea, cinnamon, lemongrass, candied pineapple pieces (pineapple, sugar), red pepper, bruised black pepper, coconut chips (coconut, coconut fat, sugar), ginger pieces, flavoring, cardamom, cloves.  This stuff has a really nice flavor.  If you like chai tea I would say you should give it a try. We have a few Teavana locations nearby but I tend to order my tea from them and have it delivered because it is easier.

Signing Out:

For some reason I haven’t slept well the last two days.  I think I am going to step up the exercise tomorrow to see if that helps. If not I will try adding more meditation.  I only mention this in case anyone else is having trouble sleeping and is looking for suggestions.  ;-)  In fact if you have any suggestions to share please do.  I am all ears.  ;-)

I hope you are having a fantastic weekend and that you have something fun planned for Sunday. If you are on the east coast enjoy Sunday because the cold is coming soon.  Arrivederci