I just realized that the savings in buying that one bag of black beans *would pay for TWO instant pots*! Your video shows how clear, simple, correct and easy this is; *especially* with your timing charts (for all sorts of beans/grains) from the plants prep cooking course! 😀 Plus the scratch cook means you control not both the sodium, and the "saltiness" which can effect a whole dish. There is so much sodium variation in "plain" (never mind the "no sodium ADDED" misleading label) some canned beans go from the tiny 35mg/can to almost 1800mg/can for the "same beans." WIth basic beans, it makes tacking nutrients easier in chronometer et al. 1. MONEY SAVINGS 2. FRESHER FLAVOR 3. CONTROL TEXTURE - (soft for hummus, firm for salads).
Perfectly said and so true!!! Thank you for this comment John. 🤗🙌🏻🙌🏻 I never even paid much attention to how much sodium is in canned beans but WOW! So helpful, thank you. And I love that you showed you can buy 2 instant pots with the black bean savings. 🤩👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I have an instant pot and mostly use dried, but here in the UK a can of beans is 30-50p and I've never had one before that had salt or anything else added 😅
@@sarahjackson9468 That would be amazing; it seems everything in the states has a lot of salt added by default! Here around Boston, MA: Store-brand cans are 439g/15.5oz of cooked beans ~3.5 - 1/2 cup servings - priced between 0.75-1.00 for "regular" with 350-410mg sodium per serving. The "organic" house brands are about 1.19-1.49 and 120-140mg/serving, there are a few "Low sodium" that sneak in for the same prices and similar 130mg. But the true "no salt added" are 1.29-1.99 and 0-25mg/serving! 1lb bags of dry beans (4 cans worth) are between 1.50-2.99 and have 0-25mgs/serving of beans. Count yourself lucky to not have to pay extra for healthier cans!
Hi. Even when cooking with instant cooker (or pressure cooker) it's recommended to presoak the beans and discard the water to reduce the ammount of phytates and tannis, antinutritional compounds present in the beans. This will make digestion better, help absortion of nutrients and diminish gasses.
I have soaked beans 8 hours, I have soaked over night. I have soaked beans in tap water, I have soaked in tap water. I have soaked in bottled water, I have soaked in distilled. I have cooked on the stove. I have cooked in instapot. I have added salt to soak. I have added baking soda to to soak. I have never had tender beans. I always get tough beans. What am I doing wrong? I live at 4200 ft elevation.
In my experience, the older the beans, the harder they are when cooked. Sometimes cooking for 10 to 20 minutes more solves the issue.l@@patrickhenigin4805
Here's another cool thing about dry beans: if you like falafel, it is made of soaked chickpeas, not cooked. After eight hour soak, you simply food process and fry up
I I'm from Brazil and we eat beans everyday, and it's always dry not canned. And you did it just right. We soaked it overnight and cook it in a pressure pot for about 40 minutes with a bay leaf. After that we can fry onions, sausage in slices and garlic in a pan. After that, we put this delicious into the big pot, salt and pepper. To make it creamier, we smash some cooked beans and cook all together for another 30 min and it's done! We usually make beans for all week and freeze in portions of 250g.
The instant pot was a game changer for me when it came to cooking dry beans. It's now my preferred way to cook beans, and they taste so much better than canned.
Sorry but this is a potentially dangerous comment. You should NEVER cook Kidney beans in a slow cooker or crock pot because they do not get hot enough to destroy the toxin that naturally occurs in Kidney beans. You can easily get very sick by eating Kidney beans from a slow cooker.
Slow cook your beans on a wood stove in the winter time... Get yourself some canning jars, and can them when they are cooked... I do this with all my stews, soups, beans, etc. It doesn't take any more energy to cook a big batch as it does a small batch... When I make stews or soups etc. I cook 3 quarts at a time... when the batch is almost done I will bring the canner up to a boil... when the batch is done I will fill 2 one quart jars with the (beans,soup,stew,etc) and place them in the canner... what's left in the pot is lunch, or dinner (there's only two of us eating; one pint is a healthy serving size)... So now you have dinner and two quarts of canned beans... In the winter, when I have the wood stove running, I will have multiple pots of whatever I am canning; whether it be beans, lentils, stewed tomatoes, or whatever you want to preserve for eating throughout the year... For storing dried beans (I probably have almost 20 different kinds of beans- black eyed peas, red beans, white beans, black beans, navy beans, great northern, lima, peruano, kidney, too many to list... lentils, rice, barley, wheat berries, split peas, chick peas, etc)... Anyway; for storing the dried beans, and others listed above, I use clean, dry, canning jars with a jar vacuum sealer...the keep them in a cool dark place... they will last longer than if you leave them in the plastic, paper, or cardboard boxes that they come in... I also do this with my cream of wheat, 5-grain, oats, flour, etc... I have been buying everything in bulk for about 40 years... they used to come in 25 lbs bags or boxes, but since covid the prices have gone way up and the poundage has gone down... they are now in 20 lbs bags and boxes... I thought twice about telling people this, because now the prices are going to go up and the poundage is going to go down, and it will be harder to buy things in bulk...but the end is near and Jesus will be here soon, so I guess I don't mind sharing this information... Don't just prepare for you next few meals, prepare for the hard times that will soon be here...
Been cooking dried beans for more than 7 years now. Used to buy 4 lb bags of beans at superstore, but since Covid I switched to order larger bags at Costco, way cheaper. Instant pots are my life savers (own 2/6L, 2/8L) … I prefer soaking the beans overnight to shorten the instant pot time, only 15-20 minutes max depending on the type of beans.
Even though I can get canned beans cheaper than 1.49 each, I know using dry will cost less. You've convinced me. I get my new instant pot tomorrow and will be batch cooking some beans!
I prefer to pressure can into mason jars for shelf stable beans that are ready to go. Just rinse and check them, place in the jars, add water, then pressure can. After it is done and sealed, they can stay on the shelf way beyond the guaranteed 18 months. Just check the seal anytime you open a jar.
New to your channel...your enthusiasm is pretty contagious. This bean video is what grabbed my attention ...well, it was actually suggested to me. Glad I followed RU-vid's suggestion. Your "no preachy" style for eating plants is so refreshing. I am definitely going to finally attempt cooking my own beans. YOU sold me!
Aww thank you so much! What a sweet comment. 🤗🤗🥹 So glad you’re sold to try them out… please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions along the way!
Love your channel! If you shop around and find a local Health Food Store, sometimes they can get you bigger bags at a deeper discount. We buy the 25 pound bags and it's even cheaper!
Another benefit is that the home cooked beans, etc taste SO MUCH better than the canned! There's no comparison in flavor - for the win! Nice video!! Debbie in WA Ü
As per ayurveda use little amount of asetafodia while cooking beans. It helps your stomach to digest beans more efficiently. It also helps to reduce gass, bloating, indigestion problems because of beans.
My dogs were just a little bit overweight by 5:00 to 8 lb. I always hated just giving them bagged dried food even though it was of good quality not some cheap brand. I myself is plant-based so I decided I would start making homemade wet food for my dogs using lentils. I put a pound of lentils in my instant pot along with dehydrated rosemary which is beneficial for your dogs carrots broccoli and cook it for 9 minutes letting the instapot release by itself for about 30 minutes. I usually have to add a little bit more water even though I fill the pot up to the maximum fill line. I then take muffin tins and just fill the muffin tins with the mixture put it in the freezer and it creates these little lentil pucks. I put them in a bag freeze them and every morning I put them on a dedicated plate put them in my little toaster oven turn on the toaster part for maximum to defrost. After they're cooled and ready given about 10:15 minutes I add them to their bowl along with half of the dry food I give them. No problems with digestion they've lost their weight they are very healthy and active I have a 10-year-old pit that acts like 10 months old. I know what I'm giving them is good wholesome non-processed food from a can. They love it
I tried doing this with beans, and my dogs turned up their noses. However, having added curry to my own beans for dinner, suddenly, my beans were wanted. Lesson learnt to not give boring beans to my dogs. A dog's nose knows!
I have been eating whole food plant exclusive since 2020. I have resisted getting a pressure cooker or IP. I have several useful appliances. Now I'm pulling out my rice and multi use cooker and manual and seeing if I could use it, hands off, to cook those dried black beans and chickpeas in my pantry. I'd love to reduce my already low grocery bill even lower.
I am by no means a vegan, but looking to eat healthier, so adding beans to our menu is something I'm looking at doing. I like the way you explain things in a simple, easy to understand way. I've never heard of adding seaweed (or combu?) to beans while cooking. I might have to research this to find out more. You really caught my attention when I realized you're in Canada. So refreshing to be able to buy the exact same ingredients. Thanks for a great video!
Aww what a sweet comment! So glad you're here and love that you are incorporating more beans. Yes, give kombu a try! I usually get it at my local Asian market as it's cheaper there than amazon. ca 😊😊
Since I bought my Instant Pot, maybe five years ago, I haven't bought canned beans. I also cook large batches, portion them out and freeze them. This way I can thaw and add to a recipe. I'm loving your channel. I'm on a weight loss journey and I get amazing inspiration from you. ❤ I'm also a Toronto girl!
Lol as a Mexican-American I was raised on beans. My mom never bought canned, she prepared them herself. The same w my grandma, they do t believe in canned beans.
I love beans! Great video! I was wondering when someone was going to post something about the cost of dry versus canned beans. We just moved and you should see my house! We have food grade buckets we bought at Costco filled with our dry beans and we are currently using them as seating. Lol. I'll have to send you a picture when I get my house in order. Might take me the extent of the lease to get it done, though.
Oh wow! Haha that sounds like a great picture. 😆😆 I need to get some of those food grade buckets myself I think, now that i've been buying so many items in bulk. Bonus that they double as seating in a pinch! Hope that the move is going smoothly other than that. 💕
Love cooking my own beans and totally agree with you! I would store my beans in plastic bags because does not use as much space and can store more. I use double sandwich bags to get a cup and a half serving. Also i cooking my beans of choice add rice and seasoning and store again in sandwich bags for burritos or enchiladas. I make my own flour tortillas and freeze. Thanks for tips on things to try at trader joes going there tomorrow will definitely check out😊
I purchased 10kg of Black turtle beans during the pandemic when supermarket shelves were empty. I've been using them ever since and here's my tip to speed up cooking time; add a teaspoon of baking soda or bicarb of soda to the pot, but check the beans regularly else they will turn to mush lol.
Adding baking soda to the water is particularly helpful if you have hard water. I nevcer heard of using a teaspoon. 1/8 teaspoon is enough to be effective.
So many people said not to soak beans that I stopped doing it. My body was not a fan! I would be doubled over in pain for a couple of days. I went back to soaking (even lentils). Everything went back to normal. More power to the people who have no ill effects from the no-soak method but for me it was not at all worth any time saved.
🙌🏻🙌🏻 I have definitely found it better for cooking beans on the stovetop! I haven’t tried soaking for the instant pot but it’s possible too. Do you use the IP or stovetop method?
@@savorymaven Interesting! I’ve never soaked before using the Instant Pot, but also haven’t had any problems with gas or bloating. I do always use the kombu though so I wonder if that’s what’s making a difference! I’m keen now to give it a try soaking before IP cooking and see if I notice any difference. 🤩 Thanks!
Yes I noticed that too! 😢😢 I have a video from a year ago with the same Costco chickpeas and they were $6 last year (instead of $7) and I’m sure the black beans will have increased in price too when I buy them next. 🫠🫠
I got my 1.5 quart crockpot at Walmart for about $10, I just put about a cup of beans in there and enough water, and leave it overnight or during the day. It uses the same electricity as a lightbulb. Beans come out great, don’t need pre-soaking. My gripe is, the prices on beans are going up now that they are becoming popular. Also, beans last forever on the shelf, but they do become much tougher and take much longer to cook as they age
That’s awesome! Didn’t know crockpots could cook beans from scratch. 😃 And yes, definitely gotta check the age of the beans. I automatically cook an extra 5-10 minutes in the IP if they’re older.
Hey Maddie, thanks for doing the math! I knew cooking the beans myself was cheaper and healthier, but the actual savings are really impressive! It took getting gifted with an instant pot (which I didn't think I needed!) before I made batch cooking beans and whole grains a habit... you have no idea how many batches and pot bottoms I destroyed from cooking them on the stove! Even cooking them in the IP though, I still prefer soaking them overnight for a few reasons. One, for the beneficial changes that occur when the dried seed begins to germinate, and two, for leaching out the antinutrients in some beans and also the undigestible oligosaccharides (fart fuel ) Last but not least, I've had an issue a few times with uneven cooking without the soaking, where most of the beans are fine, but there are some annoying ones that refuse to hydrate and stay crunchy, yuk. Of course, soaking also shortens cooking time, but since I'm here most of the time, that's not really an issue for me. I love my IP mostly for the hands-off, no babysitting convenience, not to mention the savings!
Hey Char! Oooh those are some great points. I haven’t soaked beans in so long and have definitely gotten out of the habit of it, but I have heard it does improve them in many ways, so I might experiment with some batches and see how it goes. 🤩🤩 Thanks for the suggestion! Do you add anything to your soaking water?
I’m convinced! I’ve been resisting buying an instant pot but now I’m seeing how much use I would get out of it. The only thing I would add to this excellent video is to be sure and sort the beans to remove any debris. ☺️
Wohoo! They’re honestly so helpful. I cook all my grains in there every week, rice comes out perfectly, quinoa, steel cut oats, etc. And pasta!! My new favorite thing to cook in the IP! No more babysitting the stove! You’re gonna love it and please reach out if you have any questions. 😊😊
ngl, i started getting mildly annoyed by the 3rd mention of "instant pot" already. not hating, but a proper high pressure cooker, that gets up to 20-25 PSI is the real shit. things like chick peas or big pieces of beef shank, that normally take upwards of 3 hours, become fork tender in 40-50 minutes, and that kind of temperature and pressure (the boiling point raises with pressure, up to 280-300F) just gives things a special flavour, you cant get witherwise.
I soak them overnight, 45min in the Instant pot, let them sit in the switched off pot for 1h.Drain the water. FINiSH!!!! If you want to speed up the process add 1tsp of bicarbonate, while cooking.
Aquafaba = Fart Juice💨😂. Question: What is the dry amt to make the equivalent to 1 can of beans? Sometimes I just want 1 can worth of freshly Instant Pot cooked beans. Thoughts?
🤣🤣 Have you tried cooking with kombu?? I don’t find aquafaba making me gassy if I’ve cooked with kombu. 😃 Yes! 1/2 cup beans should equal approx. the same quantity as a can, as most cans are 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans, and beans approximately triple in size when cooked. For this video I made 1 1/2 cups dry beans for each bean variety so that I could make 3 “cans” of each. 🤗
@@LetsEatPlants I must try Kombu…if I eat beans on the regular, the gas is diminished but I’ll try kombu. Thanks for the measurements, as well🌼💛. For me, Bean Math is hard🤪
@@Smudgemom2003 Yes give it a try and see if it helps. 😃 Haha the math was hard for me too! Because the cans list milliliters and ounces and I was like… how do I know how many grams to cook to make those ounces!? 😂😂😂 So I ended up using cups, which isn’t precise but close enough! I think what I ended up cooking was a bit more than a can, but pretty close. 😊
i had not et beans for nearly 20 years and just now ate black and pinto beans with white rice, black olives and chicken with taco sauce and coconut oil. Now need to wait and see how my belly deals with it. They were dry beans, soaked 24 hours.
Ok but you didn’t really explain how to cook chickpeas. Is it the same as the black beans? Do you know how long to cook them on the stove? How about the instapot?
Aww thank you! For the huge bag of black beans that I bought last year (22 lbs.), I actually still have it stored in its original bag! But I keep a smaller portion of beans in the kitchen for everyday use. I have large glass jars that I use for beans (similar to this amzn.to/3zqkg4S) and I refill them every month or so, as I run out. The original bag gets stored in my pantry and is only accessed when i need to refill the jars. I haven't had any problems storing them this way, but I have thought about getting something like these bins amzn.to/3Mgiw5Y in the future, as I do buy quite a few things in bulk (beans, rice, flour, etc.), so I may need to upgrade my storage system one of these days. 😅
Good stuff! Don't forget the benefits of less packaging waste. The impact of recycling one plastic bag is much less than that of recycling a bunch of metal cans :)
Great vid! I eat lots of beans and lentils many different ways. I volunteer at a food pantry and clients have come to appreciate the quantity of dry vs can, finally!
Thank you! Usually I leave some of the cooking liquid (aquafaba) in there, but it’s not necessary. You can freeze them dry if you wish, it’s really personal preference. 😄😄 I think they’re slightly more “supple” if they’re stored in liquid, but it’s probably not even noticeable. 😆😆
You’re welcome! I actually originally got the idea from Eden organics… I saw they had kombu in their ingredient list for their canned beans so I looked into it and turns out it’s super beneficial! Enjoy. 🤗🤗
I've used dried beans since my grandmother used them back in the 60's & before. I've always though how wasteful it is to ship canned beans around the country. I also add dried chiles of various kinds & aromatics to the pot to add flavor.
Excellent video! I also love my Instant Pot for beans. I would add that soaking beans overnight also greatly increases the nutritional value of the beans and is worth the extra time.
Love the idea of buying in bulk - unfortunately I have a storage problem - maybe one day. In the meantime I cook for one so it really is not too expensive.
I hear ya! I am only cooking for 2, so usually I buy the smaller bags (between 3-5 lbs.), I think even the smallest bag of dried beans will be cheaper than canned! But of course it’s always up to personal preference. 😄😄
I wonder if your personal time, cooking, storing, washing containers(detergent electricity, labor) freezer space (electricity,labor), etc.. will not add up a 125$ over time... Maybe it would be best if we could buy these frozen beans with nothing added to them from the supermarket, instead of us prepping them. It would be beneficial for those ppl who have a very limited time for cooking.
Good points! I didn’t include those in the calculations as I’m in the kitchen already when I do food prep… but I do agree some people may not want to cook from scratch if they feel they don’t have time! Would be great if supermarkets sold frozen beans. 😃😃
Cooking a big batch of chickpeas while I am typing this. Thanks for this interesting video. I did not think of freezing beens before, but will do that now too. Btw I love your sweater! :) Btw 2, can not figure out why you do not have way more subscribers! Have been vegan for over 10 years and always on the lookout for vegan yt cooking channels and just recently found you. I guess yt is not promoting you much. :(
I don’t soak. Just start them in the crock pot overnight. I’m obsessed with black beans and their beautiful velvety liquor. I cook one pound, add 8 cups of water add salt (2 tsp) cumin and garlic powder (both tablespoons) and a capful of liquid smoke stir and cook on low for 8 hours. 😜
I love the convenience of canned. However, the voice in the back of my mind always reminded me of overspending and how unnatural canned is. Recently I've started budgeting expenses more formally; your cost analysis convinced me to switch!
Problem with having to freeze cooked beans is that you have to have consistent electricity... which is the reason I'll have some tinned AND dried when moving into my van. I have a shuttle cooker - an unpowered Thermos cooker, not a pressure cooker
Could never understand how cowboys ate beans on trail, beans take too long to cook. Did an experiment, put 1/2 cup dry pinto beans in my nutribullet blender for just a couple seconds and chopped up the beans. Brought to a boil 2 minutes, turned heat to low for 1 hour, they took less time to cook if they are made smaller. A person could make broken up beans like coffee and still get the nutrients.
Unfortunately beans are frequently sprayed with glyphosate right before harvest and thus pesticide contamination is high. To avoid this choose organic beans!
dried beans are better in every aspect....except shelf life.... so i always keep a few cans of beans......just in case of any emergency i have some food. but i also have several bags of different kinds of dried beans, for day-to-day use.....once in a while i will cook a can of beans, to keep the inventory rotating.
For beans I want to use in salad or pasta , after soaking overnight I put in a steaming basket in the pressure cooker for 15-20 minutes. You get a dry fully cooked bean!
Split beans are usually just over cooked, so if you follow a timetable for cooking then you should be able to avoid it. 😊 Sometimes I overcook them on purpose so that they’re easier to blend!!
I bought my IP specifically so I could switch to mostly using dried beans, and I am delighted with how many other things it does for me as well. Thanks, Maddie - another great video from you, so useful and as always, encouraging for those of us lacking confidence in the kitchen.
Totally agree and that's what happened with me as well. 😂😂 I thought I'd only be cooking beans but here I am making our weekly oatmeal, rice, quinoa, pasta, etc. in there. Love it!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
😂😂😂 I’ve had a few comments wondering this! I think it’s bc I’m from California and we abbreviate everything? Also I lived abroad for 8 years and I heard “kgs” used commonly… but definitely could have just been the people I hung out with. 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Whenever people do these videos about saving money and beans a really big issue that is rarely spoken about is pesticides. Lentils and beans that aren't certified organic are dried with pesticides. You will pay a higher price for organic bulk beans but won't have a side of pesticides with your nutrition.
That’s a good point! You can definitely buy organic dried beans.. I’m sure it would still be cheaper than organic canned! I am keeping an eye out for organic bulk beans!
I've read that soaking your beans for 24 hours, draining the beans, rinsing, and then cooking them on the stove or in an instant pot makes them more digestible and more nutritious. Does cooking them in the IP without soaking provide the same benefit?
Yes I’ve heard that as well about soaking! I use a piece of kombu to help with digestibility. It seems to help! It can be used for instant pot cooking or stovetop. 😊
You can't really do a proper cost analysis by merely counting the cost of dried beans v. the cost of canned beans. For one thing, you haven't included the cost of your labor cooking them, the cost of the fuel needed to cook them, the cost of the equipment necessary to cook them, the cost of storage and containers, etc, etc, etc.
If that works for you that’s fine! Just fyi Dr. Greger does warn there is such thing as too much iodine, and kombu is a very concentrated source: nutritionfacts.org/video/too-much-iodine-can-be-as-bad-as-too-little/
One way to get affordable organic dried beans is to set up a buying club at an organic food distribution company. Anyone can do it and the savings are huge.
I used to use a larger piece as well, until I heard Dr. Greger’s take on iodine. 🙂 nutritionfacts.org/video/too-much-iodine-can-be-as-bad-as-too-little/
They will often have a best before date, but that is usually just for optimal quality and can actually be used past that date (not same as expiration). Often they just need to be cooked longer if they’re older.
You definitely can! I didn’t want to get too technical because there’s of course going to be cost in everything… gas for driving to get 1 bag of beans vs. every week or few weeks to get cans, water usage, electricity used to store the beans in the freezer, etc. So this is just a general comparison, but of course if you wanted to be precise you could take those other variables into account. 😊
There's a store close to me that sells overstock groceries. I was able to get black beans, garbanzos and lentils cheap. The best deal was split peas at 6 pounds for $1. I bought over 100 pounds at that price.
I remember you telling me about that deal when I did a video on beans around this time last year! I’m curious how much you’ve gone through. (Or how long it took you to use those up.) 😃😃 I’m still working on my 10kg black bean bag, but I’m down to probably the last kg, so getting close. It’s been a year since I bought it, so feeling pretty accomplished. 😅
I cook 4 cups dry (about 2 pounds) a week. I'm still going through them. I'm using the expired ones first, although the date doesn't concern me much. Although my focus is on dry beans, I also bought a bunch of canned beans at 4 cans for $1.
@@LetsEatPlants I have friends buying a cow from a rancher. When I heard the final price from the butcher would be $9 per pound, I thought about my no-waste, shelf-stable, easy storage, delicious, nutritious bean haul at less than 1/30th the price.
@@soyboy2238 Wow 2lbs. a week! That’s great! I agree about expired… usually just means I need to cook them longer. 😆😆 But good thinking to at least use them up first. And totally agree about the price compared to meat. Almost no comparison! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
