Don't soak your dried beans • Hacker News Board

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#51

Post by bunderbunder » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

tdicola wrote: post #8

I am genuinely curious, why is this post on Hackernews' front page? Yes I know this type of comment is typically frowned upon (and will happily accept the downvotes), but seriously--a story about cooking beans with some vague science and anecdotes?

Per the guidelines: "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting."

It doesn't say anything about it having to be computer-specific, or technology-specific, or even maker-specific. Just that it has to be something hackers would find interesting.

And considering that it made it to the front page, QED.

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#52

Post by analog31 » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 7:28 PM UTC

curlyquote wrote: post #2

I was under the assumption that uncooked beans contain enzyme inhibitors (which make digestion more difficult), and germinating the beans before cooking reduces the effectiveness of these inhibitors. This article isn't nearly as scientific as I hoped it would be.

Perhaps germinating the beans also triggers a process similar to malting of barley for beer making. It breaks down some complex sugars, making them easier to ferment, and perhaps easier to digest as well.

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#53

Post by pauldino » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 7:29 PM UTC

tdicola wrote: post #8

I am genuinely curious, why is this post on Hackernews' front page? Yes I know this type of comment is typically frowned upon (and will happily accept the downvotes), but seriously--a story about cooking beans with some vague science and anecdotes?

I assumed it had something to do with PG's beans & rice being a small bit of YC lore...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=525529

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#54

Post by benihana » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 8:13 PM UTC

I thought the reason to soak the beans was not for texture or flavor, but to make the easier to digest. Ya know, that whole 'beans beans are good for your heart' thing?

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#55

Post by bstpierre » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 8:29 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #43

Havoc wrote: post #9

I thought it's a safety issue. Not sure which type but one of the beans definitely have to be soaked.

Kidney beans should definitely be soaked prior to cooking. The FDA recommends soaking dry kidney beans for 5 hours then cooking them for half an hour to dissolve the toxin they contain. It takes a surprisingly low number of beans to induce the toxicity, as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_vulgaris#Toxicity

The information in that wikipedia article seems incomplete or contradictory. It says that boiling for 10m degrades the toxin. If that's the case, why is cold soaking for 5h necessary?

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#56

Post by tzs » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 8:38 PM UTC

maxk42 wrote: post #17

Please do not spread this incorrect information! The reason you soak beans is not to improve the flavor. It is to dissolve the flavorless and indigestible sugars that give you massive bean-gas when you eat them. If you soak beans well before cooking -- then change the water and cook them -- then change the water again and rinse them well before finishing the cooking process -- you will have a tasty, nutritious treat…

Harold McGee has addressed this [1]:

"The main reasons for presoaking beans are to shorten the cooking time substantially, and to leach out the indigestible carbohydrates that make beans gassy. The disadvantage of presoaking is that you also leach out many other soluble materials, including vitamins and minerals.

"You retain more nutrients by cooking the beans in the soak water, but you also retain the gassy carbohydrates. I recommend soaking beans, then cooking them in the same water at a bare simmer for at least a couple of hours, even if they’re soft before then. Extended cooking breaks down the gassy carbohydrates."

He also suggests adding salt to the water when soaking [2]:

[1] http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/a-healthy-way-t...

[2] http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/harold-mcg...

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#57

Post by mark_l_watson » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 9:00 PM UTC

spodek wrote: post #34

Want to drop your bean preparation time down to about two minutes? Cook them in a rice cooker. Just put them in with about 3:1 water to bean, press the button, and it turns itself off when they're done. Cooking time is still about an hour, but preparation time is a couple minutes. I add olive oil, salt, and herbs (meat eaters can add bacon, ham, or whatever), which may add another minute to preparation time. You can…

Nice idea, I will try that. A question though: I have always heard that adding salt to cooking beans makes them tough. Add salt at the dinner table to taste.

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#58

Post by meandthebean » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 9:22 PM UTC

mark_l_watson wrote: post #57

spodek wrote: post #34

Want to drop your bean preparation time down to about two minutes? Cook them in a rice cooker. Just put them in with about 3:1 water to bean, press the button, and it turns itself off when they're done. Cooking time is still about an hour, but preparation time is a couple minutes. I add olive oil, salt, and herbs (meat eaters can add bacon, ham, or whatever), which may add another minute to preparation time. You can…

Nice idea, I will try that. A question though: I have always heard that adding salt to cooking beans makes them tough. Add salt at the dinner table to taste.

The salt thing is mentioned in the article. According to the author it's better to add salt before cooking.

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#59

Post by freehunter » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 10:16 PM UTC

bstpierre wrote: post #55

freehunter wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kidney beans should definitely be soaked prior to cooking. The FDA recommends soaking dry kidney beans for 5 hours then cooking them for half an hour to dissolve the toxin they contain. It takes a surprisingly low number of beans to induce the toxicity, as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_vulgaris#Toxicity

The information in that wikipedia article seems incomplete or contradictory. It says that boiling for 10m degrades the toxin. If that's the case, why is cold soaking for 5h necessary?

10 minutes of boiling for regular kidney beans will degrade the toxin. If they're dried, however, you need to soak them in order to rehydrate them.

"ten minutes at boiling point (100°C, 212°F) are sufficient to degrade the toxin. For dry beans... soak at least 5 hours."

Re: Don't soak your dried beans

#60

Post by anateus » Fri, Jan 09, 2015, 10:45 PM UTC

Here's a paper on PubMed that found soaking reduces oligosaccharide content (that's what gets eaten by your intestinal flora to produce flatunelence) but not nutritional content: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12489819

Eliminating sugars and starches likely impacts both the texture and flavor, however. Likely negatively.