AboutDeborah Robinson Expertise I love to cook and collect recipes. I'm not a chef but the things I prepare are big hits at pot lucks - and everyone signs me up for their favorites before I get a chance to decide what I want to bring. I'm not a vegetarian - and I enjoy cooking foods from around the world. My least favorite regional food is the food of Japan - but I have picked up some great recipes while living in Asia. Cooking is my hobby and a great way to get rid of stress for me.
Experience I have lived in Libya, Morocco, Chad, Japan, Indonesia and Niger. I have learned to cook foods of the Middle East and India as my favorites. Friends from around the world share recipes with me so I'm not limited to recipes from my 'homes' worldwide.
Question i have just started to try cooking beans for my family. i soak the beans overnight or boil them for 3minutes and then leave them in the pot before cooking them. i do throw away the beans that are wrinkled or have tears in the skin. but i always end up with most of my beans being broken after i cook them -- that is, the skins are broken, and many of the beans are broken in half. How do I cook the beans so that most of the beans stay intact? Thanks.
Answer Kathleen,
My apologies - I tried several times to get to the site the first day I had the question but was unable to get through ... and then it completely slipped my mind.
First of all, I don't understand why you throw out beans that have wrinkled skins as that is perfectly normal for a bean that has been dried and is now wet ... look at your fingers when you swim or spend a long period of time in the water washing dishes and you will have wrinkled skin. I hope you won't throw out your fingers! = ) And once they cook, you will find the wrinkles are gone. Trust me on this!
Now, aside from the fact that I think you have wasted perfectly good beans, the cracking apart issue is inherent with dried beans and peas ... the skins have flaws in them and as they bump into each other in the cooking process they naturally tear apart. But they are still the same flavor and have the same nutritional content. I don't think anyone expects them all to be in one piece!
I have heard that you can put in some baking soda before you boil them, and that that will keep them more intact, but I don't know if that is true or not and I don't know how much you should use.
Personally, I would spend less time worrying about it and just enjoy the yummy dish that you are making. I don't think you will ever get them all to stay whole.
