I have long had a fantasy that I would be a bean baker. After PMC (bless him) gave me a copy of Thorne's Serious Pig, my fantasy had a chance of becoming a reality.
Of course, despite the fact that Thorne's recipe had only five ingredients and three steps, I felt that—in the spirit of F,NRS—I had to simplify. After all, Thorne recommends pre-soaking the beans, but then mentions that he finds no evidence that it helps. He also requires par-boiling, but he does it in the bean-soak water, and then uses that bean-soak/par-boil water in the bean pot, so I can't see any reason for doing it in advance of the main bake. Of course my objection is a theoretical one (you ain't throwing off the par-boiling water, so you ain't getting rid of anything, and if it is just boiling them, well they can just boil in the oven, dammit).
Well, I was wrong and a disaster ensued. Will post again when I get a recipe that works.
ps. I also used the wrong beans; I used white kidneys instead of Thorne's recommended yellow eye, great northern, or white navy.
ReplyDeleteWith presoaking and parboiling, my own beans turned out great last night, I must say. Of course, I used red kidneys, which Thorne suggests for "Up-North Baked Beans", and the result is more "beany" than I really like. Think I'll stick with white navies for the baked beans and use the kidneys for red beans and rice (cf. later in Serious Pig). Still, I'm really looking forward to eating a big plate of these babies with some "pain aux 9 céréales" from Eric Borderon's bakery in Quebec City for lunch. Heaven.
ReplyDeleteThorne and other sources specify a cooking time for presoaked, parboiled beans of about 5-6 hours in a "slow" (250 degree) oven. As it happens, I put my beans in the oven at 8 pm last night and was not going to get up in the middle of the night to tend them (although I have been known to do so when making demi-glace). So when I went to bed at 11, I turned the heat down to 190-200. At 6:30 this morning, when we normally get up, the beans were creamy and delicious but the liquid needed thickening. Another hour at 250 with the lid off did the trick.
ReplyDeleteFrom "BOSTON baked: Why are we living in the land of the bean' - and who's still making them the old fashioned way?" in the Patriot Ledger: Ryan [exec chef at Durgin-Park Restaurant] says the secret to making delicious baked beans is the parboiling. "You have to parboil them long enough so when you take one bean and put it between your thumb and forefinger, it should be semi-soft and the outer skin should fly right off. If you don't parboil them enough, they'll never get soft, no matter how long you bake them," he said.
ReplyDeleteFrom the American Dry Bean Board web site: Add salt only after beans are cooked to tender. If added before, salt may cause bean skins to become impermeable, halting the tenderizing process.
ReplyDeleteOK, so why does Cook's Illustrated advise skipping presoaking and parboiling in the Jan/Feb 2003 issue? Maybe the beans they use, "small white", have exceptionally thin skins, so even when toughened the cooking continues. Look forward to your post after you enjoy your successful next batch.
ReplyDeleteI take back what I said about the red kidneys being too beany. They're fantastic; had 'em for lunch and again for supper. Nathan gave them an enthusiastic "hmmm, das good" and Ben asked for thirds. Marie-Lou also liked them (and really liked the red cabbage coleslaw I served with them) and admitted she had been skeptical. Tonight in our upstairs hallway: a reenactment of the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles. "Hey boss, any more beans?" "Hoooee! I think you've had enough!"
ReplyDeleteThanks PMC, this is the only possible reason to parboil before baking: you parboil them sans salt. (At least that's the only reason I can see that is consistent with general principles of chemistry and causality.)
ReplyDeleteActually, I ate my beans tonight; they are tough but edible. I am confident that with parboiling next time I will be a satisfied baker.
Hogg-
ReplyDeleteBefore you make any final declarations re: beans and their edibility, I would seriously urge you poll the Fuzz about it. As you may or may not be aware, I have a personal stake in certain aspects of your relationship from this point onward.
And I concur. One should never, ever salt beans or other legumes during the initial cooking process; the results have been known to compromise the strongest of marriages. Why do you think I'm still single?
I re-made the beans but (a) parboiling with no salt, and (b) going 20 hours in a crock pot rather than 6 in the oven, and they were much, much better. Once I have perfected the recipe, I will post it.
ReplyDelete