http://selfreliantsisters.blogspot.com/2008/11/mexican-pinto-beans-tortillas.html
Here are two pretty good videos on how to cook Mexican pinto beans from dry beans you have in food storage. We are all so accustomed to buying cooked beans in a can, that many of us don't know how to use the dry beans.
Towards the end of the first video she mentioned a cookbook that talked about adding baking soda to the beans. What I found is that the baking should be used during the soaking cycle because the soda increases the alkalinity of the water. This article http://www.endtimesreport.com/pinto_beans.html#HEALTHY%20PINTO%20BEANS explains some of the benefits of doing so. Lye is just a much stronger way to get your water more alkaline. Another thing is to soak your beans at least 16 hours before cooking. Soaking removes the tannins and phytates found in most seeds which are nutritional inhibitors if they find there way into your intestines. Soak and discard the water to get rid of those inhibitors and then start cooking with clean water.
ReplyDeleteIn an emergency fuel is a precious commodity and to simmer beans on a stove for 3-4 hours uses a lot of fuel. One method to minimize fuel use is to use a retained heat cooker or thermal cooker such as a wonder box or vacuum pot. http://thermalcooker.wordpress.com/category/thermal-cooking/demonstrations/