I know pricing is regional but where I am I can often get whole chickens for < $2/pound, and dry beans are going to be better on everything except arguably time (and that only if you don’t plan ahead).
Yeah, dried beans are the way to go. You can get a pound of beans for around the same price as a can and those will double or triple their weight when soaked. I’ve found you can skip the overnight soak (though its preferable) by cooking them in a pressure cooker for about twenty min with a pinch of baking soda.
We’ve got an instant pot, and cook dry beans 2x / week… don’t need the baking soda, if you do them for a bit longer — 32 minutes for small (like black beans) and 40 for garbanzo beans.
And yeah. A IP or any pressure cooker makes a huge difference for us not having to soak them first
I’ll try that next time for sure. My last batch of fava beans got too soft, so I just blended em to thicken the curry, but I like the texture better when they’re whole.
I know pricing is regional but where I am I can often get whole chickens for < $2/pound, and dry beans are going to be better on everything except arguably time (and that only if you don’t plan ahead).
Yeah, dried beans are the way to go. You can get a pound of beans for around the same price as a can and those will double or triple their weight when soaked. I’ve found you can skip the overnight soak (though its preferable) by cooking them in a pressure cooker for about twenty min with a pinch of baking soda.
We’ve got an instant pot, and cook dry beans 2x / week… don’t need the baking soda, if you do them for a bit longer — 32 minutes for small (like black beans) and 40 for garbanzo beans.
And yeah. A IP or any pressure cooker makes a huge difference for us not having to soak them first
I’ll try that next time for sure. My last batch of fava beans got too soft, so I just blended em to thicken the curry, but I like the texture better when they’re whole.
I’m not saying there’s a trick, but I’ve heard other people having issues if you don’t use enough water.
2x water to beans works for me.
Rinse the beans, to get any dust and crud off … if there’s an inch of beans then fill it so that an inch of water on top of that
For me, nearly all the prices for those items are cheaper. Eggs, for example, cost $1.25/dozen here.