Go to the Recipe: Sous Vide Navy Beans
Very excited about this as beans are healthy and delicious food that I don't ever cook due to the unpredictability of the result and the "wind" as you say. But how do I know what hardness, etc. my water is? Also, can this ratio and technique be applied to any sort of dried beans?
If your water leaves a lot of white residue all over tea kettles, and such things, then it's pretty hard. If you find that your water takes forever to rinse soap off your body, it's a good bet your water is very soft. At The Fat Duck, we used distilled water for beans because the tap water was so hard. And, yes, this ratio of water is a good starting point for most beans, but it doesn't hurt to add a little extra the first time you're trying it with a different kind of bean.
Just made a batch of the beans using RO water and while they took about 30 min longer, RO filter must need to be changed, they turned out great. Have another batch soaking in distilled water for a comparison of the two.I think it was just the beans. Used distilled water for the second batch, soaked for 21 h and they will still take extra time to finish.
Any good recipes for sous vide lentils?
Couple of questions:--What's your take on salting during the soak step? I've run side by sides and found that salt added to the soak step reduces split/blown out product when cooked in traditional top-of-stove and oven methods.--Why vac seal the beans? Is there a reason that open zip wouldn't work?Thanks!
Hi Carolyn: Yes, I have heard that salting can help minimize split out—although tests I tried years ago were inconclusive. But if it works for you, there is no reason not to do it (but do reduce the salt in the recipe to adjust for salt added during soaking). As for the vacuum sealing, that's simply for convenience. You can do this without vacuum sealing.
Thanks, Chris.
Can you then use these beans for a bean stew like a fabada? Can I dispense with the salting as I would use the beans and salt when I make the fabada? Thanks!
Can thèse sous vide cooked beans be used to make classic 'Baked Beans'?
I've seen other bean sous vide recipes skip the soaking step and instead cook the beans in the water longer. What do you see as the pros/cons of this approach?
I was looking for a 'baked beans' recipe too, when I came across this. I think I'm going to SV plain, then add the other ingredients, and cook quickly at a bare simmer on the stove top and see if the SV beans will soak up the flavors.
The recipe mentions some benefits of cooking at 176 degrees, but does not say for how long at that temperature. Does anyone know their intent?
What would happen if you added a bit of Pectinex SP-L to the water - and maybe cooked for 30mins at 40C before going to 90min @ 90C? Could this be a way to counteract hard water?
Did anyone ever answer this?
Check beans after 75 minutes.
I'm working on a lentil soup. Think the hard little devils take about the same amount of time as Navy beans. I would add half the ingredients to the sous vide bag & process the rest in a pot to develop flavors.
Don't repeat my mistake.
I thought I would be clever if I added tomatoes and spices to the bag.
Turns out, it's actually common knowledge that beans and lentils don't get soft in a acidic environment.
In fact, one might even want to add soda which helps to cook legumes soft.
White residue on the kettle doesn't necessarily mean the water is hard -- ours has been tested and is extremely soft, very high in sodium and calcium, and leaves white residue and water spots on everything. A dime-sized dollop of shampoo produces more than enough suds to wash hair and body.
Hi Chefsteps, is it possible for you to provide me with some background reading on the influence of the water (hardness, acidity etc) on the firmness of the beans? I am quite fascinated by it!
I think the test report got it backwards. Calcium in water is hard water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water
Any tips on sealing the water in the bag? Food saver will vacuum out water.
Hi William, you can simply submerge it in the water with out sealing the bag and clip the top over your pot. Or if you like you can do the same thing in a mason jar, just make sure the lid is not fully sealed tight. If it is there is the possibility of the jar breaking as the heat expands the water inside the jar.
I use a Food Saver to vacuum-seal my sous vide bags. I have two ways to seal them when the bag has liquid:
1) For a bag with a thick, viscous liquid, you need a quick finger: start the vacuum process, and when liquid just begins to rise, pounce on the Seal button. Inspect for gaps, and reseal just above your original seal as needed.
2) For thinner fluids, like this recipe, position the machine near the counter edge, set your bag to be sealed in place, and adjust the bag (and maybe the machine) until most of the air is out of the bag. Tap the sealing button in a relaxed, leisurely manner.
I have found that the Chef Steps advice about adding spoons, forks, rocks, or old jewelry to the bag does not work as well as just getting the air out of the bag.
I made these last and after soaking for 24 hours it took about 3 hours in the sous vide at 194 degrees. Nice consistency with no split beans. Soaking cranberry beans now.
Yo water hard Jennny
