bean counting

overlandflyer

overlandflyer

Well-known member
some handy information from The Bean Institute...

bean counting.jpg

except i have a correction based on actual measurement yesterday...

One 15-oz can of Red Kidney beans = 1.33 cups
One 40-oz can of Black beans = 3.5 cups

doing the math, these work out to be essentially the same (vol/wt).

next time i make chili i will reverse the cans/ types and see if i get the same results.
after that i hope to start using dry beans exclusively, but i just wanted to confirm the equivalencies.
basic rule i use for chili is one 15 oz can for every lb of meat.
 
I usually get about 7 cups out of a pound of dry beans in my instant pot, but it does vary between bean varieties, amount of water, and cooking time...
 
i think i have enough information to ballpark it. i'm going to make some chicken chili tomorrow which generally uses white beans. i got some mini white beans and a package of Great Northern (apparently another name for Navy) beans. the recipe calls for 5.5 cups so i'm soaking a cup of each in hopes of yielding ~6 cups after cooking. probably be a bit over, but close enough for my taste.
 
I just cooked 1 lb (minus about 10 broken/disfigured dry beans) of Navy today in the instant pot for 25 minutes and got 6 3/8 cups. I get a bit more out of pinto and black beans.
 
half way through the process and i took the time to measure the hydrated beans.
2 cups dry have expanded to 4¾ cups after soaking overnight (~8 hours).
starting to cook right now... update later today.

my scale can only accurately measure up to 10 oz, so to me, cups are an easier unit to work with for large quantities.
 
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Red beans and rice were once a specialty of mine, I always started with dry beans, little measuring and no written recipes. I was quite good at getting as much fat as possible into the beans, they were always a hit. Beans are a good way to high fat, but people know subliminally that it's there, so the more the better, so long as it remains kind of hidden.

Now I am reluctant to try non-fat added beans, just won't seem the same. Still I appreciate hearing about your beans, might motivate me to give it a try. I know LaMa does a lot of beans as well.
 
well, not much of a change... after ~90 minutes, the beans were tender enough, but now only measure out to 5 cups. a little less than expected, but i'll live with it. after all, it's not rocket science... it's chili.

here is something that i hope someone checks me on... when i boil some things like when i par-boil sausage before grilling or as with the beans i'm making today, i inevitably get a foam layer on top of the water. up until recently i had always thought... damn... how did i not rinse that pot out thinking it was remnants of dishwashing and tried my best to skim it off. turns out, this is the effect of proteins and starches lowering the surface tension of the water and creating the bubbles. nothing to be concerned about. DOH..!!! wish i had learned this 40 years ago.
 
alligatorob said:
...might motivate me to give it a try....
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frankly i was never much of a bean person growing up. my mom cooked up some baked beans occasionally, but i'm sure i rarely tried them. actually the thing that has changed my mind about beans more than anything else is linked to a reason many people avoid beans in the first place... the gas generated in your lower intestines with its inevitable release. to oversimplify the process... this is caused by a complex sugar that your stomach has a hard time digesting. in turn, most of this unused energy is then consumed by the "good" bacteria which resides in your lower gut. add to that, the increased fiber beans can add to your diet which lessens the effect of carb sugars and you have a vegetable that provides your body an amazing amount of good nutrition.

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in retrospect, trying some of the chili just now, the beans may have been a bit too al dente, so i'll give it another round before i get fixed on the dry to cooked ratios. in all fairness, they probably would have plumped up more with another 30 minutes or so of cooking ... or maybe a bit longer soaking.

never seems to make much sense to complain about my own cooking, though.... :)
 
A 1 lb bag of dry black beans (minus about 15 broken/deformed dry beans) soaked overnight, then cooked 11 min in the instant pot followed by a 15 min natural release, yielded almost exactly 6.5 cups drained this afternoon. Presoaking isn't necessary with the Instant Pot, but it does seem to cut way down on gas...
 
Y'all have motivated me to try a pot of beans. I used to make red beans and rice, but used way too much fat for my current diet. I am now at about the mid-point, or maybe closer to the end. Here is what I did (no recipe):

Took all of our remaining stock of over ripe tomatoes and much of the peppers, cut them up and put them into a stock pot along with some onions and garlic. It filled the pot.

Then I let them cook slowly overnight and this morning used the immersion blender to reduce the chunks of things. I then added a bit of water, enough for the beans to cook. Added 1 pound of red kidney beans this morning and have been slow cooking ever since. I just tasted it, not bad but without enough spice I think. Also could use some lard, but think I will avoid that.

I will probably let it cook a few more hours and then figure out what to do with it. So far it's a bit disappointing given that I have my old red beans in my head, but I think it can be made edible. Hope so anyway, I have a lot of it.
 
I know my taste buds have reset compared to before so I find flavor in foods others find bland, but I've found just a little meat (especially a more fatty cut of meat) makes the beans taste a whole lot better without adding many calories.

That and lately I've been putting jalapenos in pretty much every bean dish so I'm too busy gulping water and blowing my nose to worry much about flavor...
 
i used to watch an Asian cooking channel and among other tips, always remember the basic tenet that ... meat is added to a dish more for a bit of flavor rather than an imposing slab that is the center of attention.

i love hot peppers, but recently i've begun to discover the last 10% of their trip through my digestive system less tolerable then it used to be... :flame:
 
Err2 said:
I've been putting jalapenos in pretty much every bean dish so I'm too busy gulping water and blowing my nose to worry much about flavor...
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Ha! Same here, I use either jalapenos or Tabasco sauce, sometimes both. I always have used a lot of hot sauce and eaten hot peppers, I love them, but since dieting I am eating even more. I think hot spicy food is more filling, I did some research on it a while back and found there is a scientific basis for it. Flyer so far I don't think the peppers are effecting my digestive system, but am not sure.

Err, I will try to add a bit of lean meat to my concoction and see how that works. Not to all of it, my wife is a vegetarian and she may (or may not) want to eat some of it. I am going to cook overnight again tonight and call it done in the morning, but without meat, will have to get some ground beef or something. Thanks for the suggestion.

The concoction right now, quite thick. I am doing the last part in the oven, on very low, to keep it from burning. Not very spicy at this point, the peppers I used were mostly bell peppers and the few that were not are not very hot.
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interesting find this morning... one would think these are the same...

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the small red beans were $1.85/lb... the frijol rojo de seda (red silk beans) were $3.15/lb.
the silk beans did seem slightly shinier.

i have to plead ignorance on this one.
there is an 800 number on the package.
maybe i'll have a chat with them today.
 
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alligatorob said:
The concoction right now, quite thick. I am doing the last part in the oven, on very low, to keep it from burning. Not very spicy at this point, the peppers I used were mostly bell peppers and the few that were not are not very hot.
View attachment 38397
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Looks good! My concoctions are typically something like this one I made today:

1 cup black beans, 5.2 oz rotisserie boneless/skinless chicken (I don't normally use this much chicken, but I wanted to get rid of the costco container & make more room in the fridge):


Remainder of my celery:


Long pepper & jalapeño:


Cumin, black pepper, & 1 scoop whey isolate:


2 tbsp Salsa Verde:


Microwave for ~2 minutes and stir:


Nice mix of crunch & squish textures, enough food for 2 filling meals, & it fits my custom macros quite nicely:
 
My lunch today, a cup of my concoction on a cup and a half of riced cauliflower. Lots of filling food, under 300 calories. Still trying to figure out how to spice the concoction up a bit, but with some salt and Tabasco it was pretty good.
IMG_1927.JPGIMG_1928.JPG
 
1 lb of great northern beans soaked overnight and cooked in the instant pot for 20 minutes (waaaay too long) yielded 5.5 cups of mushy beans. I find the taste quite different from navy beans (probably better if I hadn't overcooked them), but they are pretty similar nutritionally:


Nutrients per 100g...........Navy........Great Northern
Protein.............................22.3g........21.9g
Fiber.................................15.3g........20.2g
Calories............................337...........339
Carbs...............................60.8g.........62.4g
Sugar...............................3.9g...........2.3g
Potassium.......................1185mg.....1387mg
Calcium...........................147mg.......175mg
 
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