# Dry Beans with No Soak??



## procrastinator (Sep 19, 2017)

I haven't been able to find the answer by searching and decided to just ask.

Is it possible to make a batch of beans without soaking the beans beforehand?  I know there are 2 basic ways to soak, overnight or a quick boil then sit for an hour.  I am curious how long it would take to just start with unsoaked dry beans.  The brisket will be in the smoker for 12 or so hours so what happens if I stick some unsoaked beans and water (and other ingredients) in a dutch oven alongside the brisket at 250ish degrees for 12 hrs?  Kind of a "set it and forget it" type of thing.

Also my goal is a Ranch Style Bean so any recipes that you've found to be like the canned ranch style (black can with old west writing) are appreciated.


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## tropics (Sep 19, 2017)

Procrastinator said:


> I haven't been able to find the answer by searching and decided to just ask.
> 
> Is it possible to make a batch of beans without soaking the beans beforehand?  I know there are 2 basic ways to soak, overnight or a quick boil then sit for an hour.  I am curious how long it would take to just start with unsoaked dry beans.  The brisket will be in the smoker for 12 or so hours so what happens if I stick some unsoaked beans and water (and other ingredients) in a dutch oven alongside the brisket at 250ish degrees for 12 hrs?  Kind of a "set it and forget it" type of thing.
> 
> Also my goal is a Ranch Style Bean so any recipes that you've found to be like the canned ranch style (black can with old west writing) are appreciated.


I do dry beans in under 45 min. 

Beans in cold water start the burner add some baking soda,brings up the PH and they just become tender

Hope it works for you

Richie


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 19, 2017)

I can say not to add salt to the beans till the end. Salt can keep beans from getting tender. Old beans won't get tender to easy either. So you get them at a store that has good turnover of product. Other than that, it takes an extra hour tops (in oven not pre cooked or soaked). I only do baked navy beans for baked beans in the oven or navy beans for bean soup. They need to simmer though.. if your not seeing them bubbling after a couple hours you better go to plan B .. my beans bake about 6 to 7 hours in the oven 350.


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## daveomak (Sep 20, 2017)

I have found trying to hurry "some" cooking processes leaves me with a somewhat inferior product...  Using a pressure cooker seems to maintain quality...

A good article on cooking dry beans....

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-beans-in-a-stovetop-pressure-cooker-193867


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 20, 2017)

Procrastinator said:


> I haven't been able to find the answer by searching and decided to just ask.
> Is it possible to make a batch of beans without soaking the beans beforehand?  I know there are 2 basic ways to soak, overnight or a quick boil then sit for an hour.  I am curious how long it would take to just start with unsoaked dry beans.  The brisket will be in the smoker for 12 or so hours so what happens if I stick some unsoaked beans and water (and other ingredients) in a dutch oven alongside the brisket at 250ish degrees for 12 hrs?  Kind of a "set it and forget it" type of thing.
> 
> Also my goal is a Ranch Style Bean so any recipes that you've found to be like the canned ranch style (black can with old west writing) are appreciated.


Never made ranch style.. they are the ones with chili peppers and garlic in um.. toasted and rehydrated chili's. Yum.. should be ok over 240 250 degrees covered heavy pot. Keep an eye to make sure they have enough water in them after a few hours.


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## noboundaries (Sep 20, 2017)

Procrastinator said:


> I haven't been able to find the answer by searching and decided to just ask.
> 
> Is it possible to make a batch of beans without soaking the beans beforehand?  I know there are 2 basic ways to soak, overnight or a quick boil then sit for an hour.  I am curious how long it would take to just start with unsoaked dry beans.  The brisket will be in the smoker for 12 or so hours so what happens if I stick some unsoaked beans and water (and other ingredients) in a dutch oven alongside the brisket at 250ish degrees for 12 hrs?  Kind of a "set it and forget it" type of thing.
> 
> Also my goal is a Ranch Style Bean so any recipes that you've found to be like the canned ranch style (black can with old west writing) are appreciated.


I've always soaked beans by habit.  I remember being told it helps reduce the body music after eating them. 

As a result of the question above though, I looked online.  Evidently folks are noticing better flavor without any increase in body music.  Now I'm curious and ready to try unsoaked beans.  Starting with hot water, not cold, seems to be a key to getting better texture.  Very interesting.


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 20, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> I've always soaked beans by habit.  I remember being told it helps reduce the body music after eating them.
> 
> As a result of the question above though, I looked online.  Evidently folks are noticing better flavor without any increase in body music.  Now I'm curious and ready to try unsoaked beans.  Starting with hot water, not cold, seems to be a key to getting better texture.  Very interesting.


May have read that same article like 6 or 8 months ago. Yep.. Guess the natives south of the border do it that way.


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## johnmeyer (Sep 20, 2017)

Click on the following link for another great article on soaking and cooking beans:

Cooking Beans 101

This is from Christopher Kimball, the guy who started "Cook's Illustrated," and ran the two "test kitchen" PBS TV shows until he left a year ago (and the two shows immediately "jumped the shark").

I learned a tremendous amount from reading this article because it explains why I never could get really good results with dry beans. The answer: we have really hard water, and that screws up everything. He provides a simple solution to the problem of using hard water (adding salt to the soak), but since I have a water softener, I can also simply soak and cook the beans in the soft water. I also have a water distilling machine (I used to keep tropical fish) and the distilled water would work as well.

It also talks about what happens when you add vinegar or other acidic liquids (not a good idea) and what happens when you add a little baking soda to go in the other pH direction (generally good things).

Finally, a pressure cooker makes a huge difference in any dried bean recipe. I use the "Cooking Under Pressure" book by Lorna Sass to give me times and basic recipe ideas.


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## procrastinator (Sep 20, 2017)

A couple suggestions for a pressure cooker but that seems counterintuitive to my goals. It probably makes a great pot of beans, but I'm thinking of a way to put the beans and brisket in the smoker at the same time and pull at the close to the same time. Or put beans in a couple hours after the brisky, without having them reduced to refried. I'm just gonna try with some great northerns and see what happens. I'll update Saturday afternoon when they're (over)done.


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## bluewhisper (Sep 21, 2017)

I'll bet it will work.

In cold weather I like to make baked beans overnight. I start with dry beans, mix up a tomato-based broth, maybe with some onion, then leave them in the oven at about 225 or so, and go to bed. In the morning the house smells like baked beans when I get up.

Since I'm used to home-made baked beans, canned baked beans make me gag on the huge amount of sugar.


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