We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
this?

dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)

Beans will not soften in an acid like tomato. Now that they're in the
chille, you're in trouble. They should have cooked till soft in water
THEN add them.

The tradtitional way to serve chille, by the way, is with beans in a
seperate bowl anyway.

Also, traditional chille beans are pintos not kidney beans.

To cook pinto (or kidney) beans for chille:

Either soak over night or bring to a boil and let stand for "a while" then
drain.

Put them in LOTS of water with salt, and something green chopped and added
(celery leaves, cilantro, etc. etc. .. almost anything) and cook at a
"smile" (just short of a boil). Cook as long as it takes to have about 6
beers then test them. If soft drain and serve in a seperate bowl from the
chille.

RK

On 28 Sep 2003 15:40:43 -0700, (dr owl)
began spewing the following from their cake-hole:

>We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
>sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
>1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
>this?
>
>dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)

I'd say to just keep cooking them longer. Seriously. They'll soften
up. I just made a big pot of bean with bacon soup and after soaking
my beans for about 15 hours and then cooking them about 3 hours at a
low boil/simmer they were still a little bit crunchy. I just
continued to cook them and they softened up and the soup turned out
great. Good luck with it.



--
Travis
'63 VW Camo Baja...
http://bugadventures.dyndns.org
Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.


:wq!

On 28 Sep 2003 15:40:43 -0700, (dr owl)
wrote:

>We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
>sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
>1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
>this?
>
>dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)

Beans cook differently according to age. The older they are, the
longer they take to cook.

Please use pinto beans, not kidney beans, as a side dish for chili con
carne, and cook them and spice them differently than you do the chili.
You'll be happier and so will all who enjoy both the chili and the
beans.

David, an old-time chili maker

>
> Next time, stay on the safe side and use canned beans (drained).
>
Or, better yet, don't use beans at all. Seriously, you got good advice
when they told you to keep cooking them. Time to cook beans varies
depending, among other things, the age of the beans. The older the bean, the
longer it takes to cook, and we have no way of telling how old they are if
we buy them at the store.

"dr owl" > wrote in message
om...
> We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
> sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
> half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
> 1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
> there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
> this?
>


Add a lot of water to the entire mess and cook another hour or so.Maybe add
more spices etc afterwards if it tastes bland.

dr owl wrote:

> We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
> sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
> half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
> 1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
> there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
> this?
>
> dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)

Did you add salt before cooking them as that will make them stay hard -
salt should always be added to beans after they have softened and are
almost - EF

"dr owl" wrote:
>
>We made a large pot of chili con carne

We, what's this *We*... doncha know too mnay cooks spoil the chili...

>( Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>> half hrs per package instructions.

Screw directions, cook until done. Older beans may require slightly longer
cooking times but not so much longer that you'd notice... dried beans do not
lose any nutritional value regardless how long they're stored, even if stored
for thousands of years. The major determining factors governing length of
cooking times for dried beans is type of bean and cooking method... bean age
may add a few minutes cooking time, and perhaps no extra time depending on how
stored and moisture content.

>Added to ingredients and simmered 1/2 hr per cookbook.

Mistake number ten, you used a fercocktah cookbook to make chili...
NEVER use a cookbook to make chili.

>The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the
>beans and save this?

Do you have a dog?

Next time be sure beans are fully cooked before adding to anything.
NEVER cook beans in the chili... cook beans in their own liquid... those beans
meant for adding to chili should not be seasoned during cooking. Actually
canned beans are best for adding to chili.... if feeding a crowd you should
seriously consider serving the beans separately.

To learn more about beans go he http://www.americanbean.org


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

Okay, your first problem is that there are beans in your chili...

--Blair
"Add another half-pound of meat."

In article >,
travis > wrote:

> On 28 Sep 2003 15:40:43 -0700, (dr owl)
> began spewing the following from their cake-hole:
>
> >We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
> >sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
> >half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
> >1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
> >there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
> >this?
> >
> >dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)
>
> I'd say to just keep cooking them longer. Seriously. They'll soften
> up.

If the liquid the beans are cooked in is acid, they will NOT become
tender. Ever. In many locales, water right out of the tap is acid.

See "On Food And Cooking" by Harold McGee.

Toss a little baking soda in the water while the beans are cooking. If
it fizzes, the water is acid. Toss in a little more.

Isaac

In article >,
dr owl > wrote:
>
>
>We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
>sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
>1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
>this?

Buy yourself a pressure cooker. I don't eat meat so my main source
of protein is beans and having a pressure cooker has saved me lots
and lots of work. Soak beens, pressurce cook for about 15 minutes
and then add to whatever your final dish will be along with the bean
broth instead of water or stock.

~Deepak
--
Deepak Saxena - - http://www.plexity.net

"Isaac Wingfield" ha scritto

> If the liquid the beans are cooked in is acid, they will NOT
become
> tender. Ever. In many locales, water right out of the tap is
acid.

It is a lifetime that I'm cooking beans in tomato sauce, and they
DO become soft.
What kinda beans are you using, Mercedes or BMW?

Vilco

"Mr. C" > wrote in message
...
> (dr owl) wrote:
>
> >The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
> >there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
> >this?
>
> I feel your pain ...and I've not yet thought of a solution (I'm a
> geezer), short of picking out the beans.
>
> Next time, stay on the safe side and use canned beans (drained).
>
Once you have added acid ingredients (tomatoes etc.) to cooking beans they
stop getting more tender. No amount of aditional cooking will soften them.

Ken.

I've been trying for years to get my red beans (pinto) as soft and tasty
as Momma used to make for us to take to the cotton patch for lunch.
Finally succeeded. Soak them, overnite if you can otherwise 2-3 hours
in warm water. Then slow cook for at least a few hours. I use a slow
cooker and sometimes just let it go all night. It don't hurt to have
the chili in then too as it only gets better.

Deepak Saxena wrote:
> In article >,
> dr owl > wrote:
>
>>
>>We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
>>sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>>half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
>>1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
>>this?
>
>
> Buy yourself a pressure cooker. I don't eat meat so my main source
> of protein is beans and having a pressure cooker has saved me lots
> and lots of work. Soak beens, pressurce cook for about 15 minutes
> and then add to whatever your final dish will be along with the bean
> broth instead of water or stock.
>
> ~Deepak

Chili is proletarian enough that I have no problems just using
canned beans. Red kidney beans, and I dump the bean gravy in
too -- near the end; they don't really need to cook.

This is not a popular dish with native Texans, but I learned to
make chili in Colorado.

--
Mark Shaw contact info at homepage --> http://www.panix.com/~mshaw
================================================== ======================
"This time I think the Americans are serious. Bush is not like
Clinton. I think this is the end." - Uday Hussein, April 2003

On 28 Sep 2003 15:40:43 -0700, (dr owl)
wrote:

>We made a large pot of chili con carne (Gazzaniga's low salt, lowest
>sodium cookbook) Soaked red kidney beans overnight. Cooked 1 and a
>half hrs per package instructions. Added to ingredients and simmered
>1/2 hr per cookbook. The beans are not cooked well and are crunchy. Is
>there anything we can do at this point to rescue the beans and save
>this?
>
>dr owl<---- clearly not a wise owl :<)

Keep cooking them. If the beans weren't old they'll eventually soften
up. Putting in an acid ingredient before they were soft will slow the
process way, way down but if you're patient they'll eventually be
good.

Now if the beans were old and developed hardshell you'll cook them
until Hell freezes over and they still won't soften. Some problems
just cannot be cured. Don't throw it away though. Strain out the
beans, give them a whirl in the blender or food processor until
they're broken up nicely then put them back into the pot and cook
until it tastes done. May as well cook it down thick and use it for
hot dog chili.

Put whatever beans you like in your chili, or don't put in any at all.
Only thing that matters is whether you like the end result.

Personally, I do use beans, but no tomato products in mine, but that's
just me.

......Alan.


Post no bills

(Mark Shaw) writes:

>Chili is proletarian enough that I have no problems just using
>canned beans.

Nothing wrong with canned beans... they're inexpensive and a great time
saver... and generally cooked far better than most folk's from scratch.

>Red kidney beans, and I dump the bean gravy in
>too -- near the end; they don't really need to cook.

If yer gonna dump the beans into a pot of chili there's no reason not to dump
in bean liquid too.

>This is not a popular dish with native Texans

Since when are there native Texans... other than for Native Americans, rejects
from Arkansas, and generational trailor trash everybody in Texas is an illegal
alien and/or a transient, just passing through.


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

PENMART01 wrote:
> (Mark Shaw) writes:
>
>
snip
> Since when are there native Texans... other than for Native Americans, rejects
> from Arkansas, and generational trailor trash everybody in Texas is an illegal
> alien and/or a transient, just passing through.
>
>
Well kiss my grits!

TwoTon writes:

>PENMART01 wrote:
>> (Mark Shaw) writes:
>>
>snip
>>Since when are there native Texans... other than for Native Americans,
>>rejects from Arkansas, and generational trailor trash everybody in Texas
>>is an illegal alien and/or a transient, just passing through.
>>
>>
>Well kiss my grits!

See, transient Carolinas, just passing... gas! LOL


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."