wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (07/10/85)
The recent posting of the "Frugal Gourmet"'s red-beans-and-rice recipe mentioned the concept of soaking dried beans overnight, and then draining them and discarding the water they had soaked in, and then, when cooking the beans, adding more fresh water. I have seen this in other recipes, too. Does anyone know why this is done? I always thoroughly wash (several rinsings until the poured-off water is clear) dried beans before soaking. I then soak them overnight and use both the beans and the water they soaked in as ingredients. (I have lately taken to using this soaking period to add dried herbs and spices to allow them to rehydrate along with the beans.) The result tastes good, depending on how well (in terms of quality, not time) I cook the beans. Can anyone advise me if there is some advantage, in terms of flavor or texture, to discarding this soaking water and not using it to cook with? I would think that there are nutrients leached into this water which should not be wasted. Is this discarding advice aimed at people who don't wash the beans first? I could see it in that case; but if the beans are washed first, I would think the soaking water would be worth using to cook them in. Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
ewj@hscfvax.UUCP (850039@P.Fuller) (07/13/85)
Soaking beans reduces the cooking time. Pressure cooking can accomplish the same thing (of course, certain beans like split peas and lima beans should never be pressure cooked). Folk wisdom recommends discarding the soaking water as a way to eliminate the elements in the beans that cause flatulence. Minerals may be lost but the benefits of eliminating gas may outweigh the loss of some nutrients.
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (07/15/85)
> The recent posting of the "Frugal Gourmet"'s red-beans-and-rice recipe > mentioned the concept of soaking dried beans overnight, and then > draining them and discarding the water they had soaked in, and then, > when cooking the beans, adding more fresh water. I have seen this in > other recipes, too. Does anyone know why this is done? > One of the reasons I have heard is that the water leaches out the substance responsible for "gas". This was attributed to a non-digestible sugar, a pentose. This seemed a bit odd to me so I conducted a test. One batch soaked and cooked, the other soaked, drained, soaked, drained, and cooked. Couldn't tell much difference, though there did seem to be a little less gas... Anyone out there in net.land know if there is any truth to this particular wives tale? -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)
cottrell@sdcsla.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (07/16/85)
I quote from the "Delta Queen Cookbook", by some friends of mine in Ithaca, NY who lived in a house that vaguely resembled a steamboat: Fartless Beans Beans contain trisaccharides [sp?] which require an enzyme to digest. Humans lack this enzyme. These undigested trisaccharides are consumed with gusto by normal bacteria in the lower intestine producing hydrogen and CO2 (farts). If you wish to de-fart beans, you must get rid of the trisaccharides. They are water soluble so you can get rid of them by discarding the soak water and changing the cooking water after the first half hour of boiling. Of course, you also lose some of the nutrients, but that's tough. Add 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast if you are afraid of catching pellegra or beri-beri or kwashiorkor or fallen arches. with concern, Jim [disclaimer: I am simply quoting; I don't know how true this is, but I assume they were "concerned" with keeping their co-op house running smoothly, as it were.] gary cottrell (cottrell@nprdc) ARPA (sdcsvax!sdcsla!cottrell) USENET
mj@husky.uucp (Mark A. Johnson) (07/16/85)
<CHOMP>
I saw the PBS broadcast of The Frugal Gourmet where Jeff Smith
(I think that's his name) discussed cooking with beans. He
said that soaking the beans overnight and discarding the water
makes the more socially acceptable. It literally knocks the
wind out of the things.
Soaking or cooking beans in baking soda water does NOTHING for
beans in this way. Intestinal gas is not produced by an acid/base
reaction, but by the fermentation of sugars called ogliosaccharides,
which are found in beans. Human digestive chemistry cannot
break down ogliosaccharides, but there are anaerobic intestinal
bacterial that love the stuff, and cheerfully produce volumes of
hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and sometimes methane, much to the
distress of their hosts. Research into this area has been
going on at least since WWII, when the Air Force funded
studies on the development of hybrid 'Windless' beans. It
seems Air Force pilots were developing cramps from
the expansion of internal gases at high altitudes, where
the atmospheric pressure is much lower.
Ya learn something every day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark A. Johnson -- Eastman Kodak Company -- Information Products
UUCP:...rochester!ritcv!husky!mj W:(716) 726-9952 H:(716) 227-2356
(The Name Says It All)
--
Mark A. Johnson -- Eastman Kodak Company -- Information Products
UUCP:...rochester!ritcv!husky!mj USPS: 450-D Northglen Drive Rochester NY 14626
W:(716) 726-9952 H:(716) 227-2356 (The Name Says It All)doug@escher.UUCP (Douglas J Freyburger) (07/17/85)
> The recent posting of the "Frugal Gourmet"'s red-beans-and-rice recipe > mentioned the concept of soaking dried beans overnight, and then > draining them and discarding the water they had soaked in, and then, > when cooking the beans, adding more fresh water. I have seen this in > other recipes, too. Does anyone know why this is done? Time-Life books "The Good Cook" series "Dried Beans & Grain" warns that: "It is a little-known fact that beans, lentils and peas - fresh or dried - must be boiled before they are eaten. All contain toxins called lectins, which cause stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea... Only boiling destroys lectins, lower temperatures do not." I've heard similar tales about soaking beans elsewhere. I think this means it is okay to use the drained liquid as long as it is boiled. I use it occasionally in stews that can use the extra favor. Then again, it could be that these lectins are fat-soluble instead of water-soluble, so they don't end up in the water. Any chemists out there know? Douglas J Freyburger DOUG@JPL-VLSI JPL 171-235 ...escher!doug Pasadena, CA 91109 DOUG@JPL-ROBOTICS, etc.
eac@drutx.UUCP (CveticEA) (07/17/85)
In response to the question of why you discard the water beans have soaked in: I am told that sometime the water is bitter. I have never noticed this so I usually ignore any instruction to discard the water and have never had any problems. Betsy Cvetic ihnp4!drutx!eac
bobn@bmcg.UUCP (Bob Nebert) (07/18/85)
> Soaking beans reduces the cooking > time. Pressure cooking can accomplish the same thing (of course, > certain beans like split peas and lima beans should never be pressure > cooked). Folk wisdom recommends discarding the soaking water as a way > to eliminate the elements in the beans that cause flatulence. > Minerals may be lost but the benefits of eliminating gas may outweigh > the loss of some nutrients. >> If you put about a tablespoon of baking soda in your water when >> you soak your beans the problem of gas is greatly reduced and >> the taste of your beans is not effected. >> >> sdcs!bmcg!bobn
kasey@trsvax (07/18/85)
I discard the water that soak my beans in because I always add about 1/2 cup of baking soda to the water to eliminate flatulence. Works great!!!!
gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler) (07/18/85)
> > ...soaking dried beans overnight, and then > > draining them and discarding the water they had soaked in, and then, > > when cooking the beans, adding more fresh water. > > One of the reasons I have heard is that the water leaches out > the substance responsible for "gas". Couldn't tell > much difference, though there did seem to be a little less gas... > > E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems > It may work little bit, but the reason in only incidentally related. I have found that virtually gasless beans can be cooked using Adelle Davis' method from her _Lets Cook It Right_ cookbook. In this method, you drop the beans A FEW AT A TIME into fully boiling water--never so fast that the boiling stops. She claims that this breaks down the (whatever) that is indigestible. I don't know about the truth of the claim, but repeated experiments indicate to me that it works. To the extent that an overnight soak in cool water does the same thing then one could expect a lessening of gas in beans cooked more conventionally. Gene Mutschler ...{harvard, seismo, etc}!ut-sally!oakhill!cyb-eng!batman!gene
megann@ihuxi.UUCP (Meg McRoberts) (07/25/85)
> > I discard the water that soak my beans in because I always add about 1/2 cup > of baking soda to the water to eliminate flatulence. Works great!!!! my grandmother used to do this, too, and it does improve the consistency of the beans. but somewhere i read that it also does a real job on the nutrients and wasn't recommended, so i gave it up. any truth to that? meg mcroberts ihuxi!megann (312)979-5004