Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Pressure Cooking Beans and Lentils


Beans need to be washed and soaked at least 4 hours (or overnight) in a bowl of water, enough to cover them at least 1 inch. Do not soak lentils. If you don’t have time to soak, then do the quick soak method below. NOTE: Do not add salt as it will make the beans so tough they will never soften.

 Quick Soak Method – Put beans in pressure cooker and cover with enough water to go 2 inches above the beans. NEVER FILL COOKER MORE THAN ½ FULL. Pressure cook on high pressure for one minute and reduce pressure with the Quick Release Method.  (Cool pan by running water over it) Go to the next step.

 Whether you have soaked them overnight or through the quick soak method, rinse and drain the beans in a colander. Put beans in cooker (Never fill more than ½ full) and cover with enough water to be 2 inches above the beans.

 If you have a jiggle top cooker, you will need to add 1-2 Tbs vegetable oil to the beans and water to keep the foam from plugging up the cooker. Do not add salt.

 Important: To reach high pressure with beans only use medium heat to do this. This keeps the skins from splitting off the bean when the temperature is too high. Most beans cook at 15 psi (High Pressure) but only need a medium heat to accomplish this. Start timing when 15 psi is reached.

Beans           Soaked/Nat. Rel.     Soaked/Quick Rel.    Unsoaked/ Quick Rel.
Adzuki             2-3 minutes             5-9 minutes                   14-20 minutes
Black                3-6 minutes             5-9 minutes                   20-25 minutes
Garbanzo          9-14 minutes           13-18 minutes               30-40 minutes
Great Northern  4-8 minutes              8-12 minutes               25-30 minutes
Lima                  2-3 minutes              5-8 minutes                 12-16 minutes
Navy/White       3-4 minutes              6-8 minutes                 20-25 minutes
Pinto                  1-3 minutes              4-6 minutes                 22-25 minutes
Red Kidney       5-8 minutes              10-12 minutes             20-25 minutes
Lentils                No Soaking             No Soaking                 8-10 minutes
Peas/Split           No Soaking             No Soaking                 6-10 minutes
Peas/Black Eyed   No Soaking          No Soaking               10-11 minutes                                   



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