Beans

[Mikey]

Got my first shipment today from the Rancho Gordo Bean Club. Can't wait to try some of these out.

[mvscal]

Do they sell pinquito beans? I love the Santa Maria cookout and they are the staple legume, but are really hard to find. Camelia's is my go to, but they are more Southern focused.

[Mikey]

Do they sell pinquito beans? I love the Santa Maria cookout and they are the staple legume, but are really hard to find. Camelia's is my go to, but they are more Southern focused.

I’ve bought them there before. Their inventory seems to rotate a bit but they appear to be available.

https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/sa ... quito-bean

[Mikey]

Looking forward to trying the Moro beans. They’re supposed to make a great chili, even though not the traditional red beans. Like a cross between black beans and pintos.

[mvscal]

Interesting. I have found that paying a small premium to order beans from producers with high turnover makes a noticeable difference. The red beans and rice I make with Camelia beans are always perfectly creamy. I've also found that water makes a difference as well. We have have very hard water here. It's great to drink and great for pickles, but horrible for cooking beans. I use distilled water for beans.

[Mikey]

Yeah, paying $6 or $7 for a pound of beans seems like a lot when you can get them in the grocery store for $1 to $2. But a pound of beans goes a long way, and the quality and selection makes a big difference. Our local market used to carry about a dozen varieties of bulk beans and I started using them a lot during COVID. Now it’s just pintos and peruano beans in big barrels and a few varieties in plastic bags. I’m just getting started with some of the oddball varieties that Rancho Gordo has.

Interesting about the water and I never considered that. Our water is semi hard but I never considered not using it. We have an RO system in the kitchen so I might try using that beans.

[Mikey]

Interesting. I have found that paying a small premium to order beans from producers with high turnover makes a noticeable difference. The red beans and rice I make with Camelia beans are always perfectly creamy. I've also found that water makes a difference as well. We have have very hard water here. It's great to drink and great for pickles, but horrible for cooking beans. I use distilled water for beans.

Another tip, which you may already be aware of, is don’t add any salt until they’re almost done cooking.

[Mikey]

Trying out this recipe today.

https://www.ranchogordo.com/blogs/recip ... 93a9&_ss=r

[mvscal]

Interesting. I have found that paying a small premium to order beans from producers with high turnover makes a noticeable difference. The red beans and rice I make with Camelia beans are always perfectly creamy. I've also found that water makes a difference as well. We have have very hard water here. It's great to drink and great for pickles, but horrible for cooking beans. I use distilled water for beans.

Another tip, which you may already be aware of, is don’t add any salt until they’re almost done cooking.

Not so fast, my friend. Always salt your beans.

https://www.seriouseats.com/salt-beans- ... ood-or-bad

[mvscal]

You might also be interested in these folks. Their masa harina is top quality.

https://masienda.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqFb ... oDKqd5my9t

[Mikey]

Interesting. I have found that paying a small premium to order beans from producers with high turnover makes a noticeable difference. The red beans and rice I make with Camelia beans are always perfectly creamy. I've also found that water makes a difference as well. We have have very hard water here. It's great to drink and great for pickles, but horrible for cooking beans. I use distilled water for beans.

Another tip, which you may already be aware of, is don’t add any salt until they’re almost done cooking.

Not so fast, my friend. Always salt your beans.

https://www.seriouseats.com/salt-beans- ... ood-or-bad

Oh, I always salt my beans. Just not in the way he describes. My response would be "to each his own."

Interesting write-up and I'm sure it's a valid opinion. I say opinion because I'm not all that impressed with his pseudo-science, which I have a number of problems with.

• He uses one batch of one kind of beans. Not exactly a large sample. The results may translate to other kinds of beans, but how do we know that?

• He puts a lot of his effort into comparing weight gain and now much water is absorbed. But what's the actual relevance of those numbers? It comes down to which is more pleasing to eat and he says the the salted ones tasted better (to him) but doesn't expand much on that. It's an opinion.

• He counted the burst beans as well but, again, one batch of one type of bean. I've never had a problem with burst beans, and honestly don't really notice them in the finished product. Beans that burst while cooking, IMO, actually add to the creaminess of the broth.

• His final "scientific" conclusion seems a little mixed up. First he says that sodium in the water allows greater water penetration into the bean cells, which doesn't seem consistent with his experiment on weight gain. But in the next paragraph he says that when unsalted beans cook the interiors swell up faster. How do those two statements jibe? Maybe they do but his explanation, to me, fails the logic test

I know that this guy is a world famous food expert and stuff, but this seems like a pretty hastily put together piece.

Here's another opinion from someone who has a lot of experience with many different types of beans.

https://www.ranchogordo.com/blogs/recip ... rdo-manner

My thoughts:

I do always salt my beans, but near the end of the cook as suggested by Rancho Gordo. This option actually isn't considered in the experiment.

I've been trying to cut back on sodium consumption over the years. Along with refined sugar, it's something that food producers and restaurants have been successful in addicting most Americans to. I've gotten used to a lot less salt. Most processed foods and what I get at a lot of restaurants seem way oversalted to me. If you wait until the end of the cook you have a lot better control. If you add salt at the beginning, and then it seems oversalted when done, there's nothing you can do about it. If under salted, then you can add salt, so why not just wait? Also, most of the beans I cook are being added to something else and salt is usually adjusted at the end of the process. Usually better to under salt, if salting at all, at the beginning and then adjust later.