At 9:16 AM -0700 9/29/97, Michelle Leberte wrote:
>When you soak beans, can you keep them out overnight or should you soak
>them in the fridge?
When I soak overnight, or quick soak in the summer I do it in the fridge
just to be safe. If they ferment as they soak, it seems like the flatulence
increases in both volume & pungency... I learned this one the hard way
loooong ago as young hippie on the way to the rainbow gathering: I made
slightly-fermented-chickpea-hummus to eat on the trip, and yow!! a little
VW bus full of tooting hippies is definitely at risk for spontaneous
combustion! (underwriters take note?)
Re: cooking beans in general
Ever tried doing it in a rice cooker? I think it's the easiest way of all.
Though slower than a pressure cooker, it requires absolutely no stress or
supervision. I presoak them as usual, add the same porportion of water to
the origonal quantity of dried beans as I would for stovetop cooking, turn
on the cooker and forget about it. I have a fairly nice Japanese rice
cooker whose instructions firmly forbid that I attempt anything of the
sort, but I've noticed no ill effects to the beans or to the cooker, and it
definitely correctly senses when the beans are done (or at least when the
water is gone, which is hopefully at the same time).
Noel
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