Ok, people, I'm gonna do it.

[ErinM]

I'm going to cook dried beans for the first time ever.

I'll be going to the co-op tonight to purchase them. My choices include:

Adzuki
Baby Lima
Black Turtle
Cannellini
Dark Red Kidney
Garbanzo
Great Northern
Navy
Pinto
Small Red

I am taking any and all suggestions, advice, recipes, tips, and ideas. Links to previous threads welcome, I'm search impaired.

Happy Saturday!

[sneezles]

Yeah Erin!
My two favorites are pinto and small red beans but I've truly never met a bean I didn't like. I use the quick soak method:

cover beans with cold water about 2 inches higher than the beans, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for 2 hours. Drain, raince and proceed with recipe.

[Robyncz]

Personally, I wouldn't start with a black bean because they're kind of hard to get "right." They tend to come out chalky, and that would be a disappointing first effort!

I'd totally go with pintos. Hard to screw up and oh so yummy.

(no matter what you choose, your house is going to smell like **** for a little while, so be prepared!)

[ADM]

.(no matter what you choose, your house is going to smell like **** for a little while, so be prepared!)

Try adding 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire to the cooking water. You won't be able to notice it in the final taste of the beans.

[bobmark226]

Erin, why don't you think of what kind of dish you want...then go from there.

Think of types of cuisines and what they use; pintos, cannellini, black beans, red beans, while there are no hard and fast rules, all would be used mostly in certain type dishes.

For a novice, I wouldn't do chickpeas straight out of the gate. Adzukis, because of their sweetness, have very limited use.

Bob

[Tutalady]

I made my TX husband some red beans the other day and now have the anasazi beans that I want to try this week.
I like the little white navy beans too. Don't really care for black beans......they never seem to get nice and tender....even the canned ones; maybe it is their "skin".

[jessicacoy]

If you like pintos and Mexican food, I'd go with those. They are my kids' favorites by far (although the RG Vallarta beans scored VERY highly with my VERY picky 5 year old last night....go figure!) Anyway, I rinse my beans off and then soak my beans in water for 4-6 hours (whatever works with my schedule....or not at all on the occassions that I forgot to get them soaking like last night). When it's time to cook I pour the beans and the soaking water into a pan, bring to a boil for about 5 minutes and then simmer until they are as done as I'd like them (I just pick a bean out and taste it every once in a while) the time totally depends on the bean, just keep adding water so they are covered if it evaporates out. This is basically the method that Rancho Gordo recommends and I am sure that there are clearer instructions on the RG website that you can use with any bean.

Let us know how it goes!