Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I'm making Kenji's chili on Sunday, where he instructs to soak the beans at least 8 hours or overnight.

1) just what is the upper limit (the number of hours) that beans can soak in water (with salt). If I start the soak tonight at 11 p.m., does it make any difference whether I rinse them at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. or 6 p.m. tomorrow?

2) assuming the beans are not in the path of direct sunlight, does it make any difference whether the beans are soaked while on the counter or in the refrigerator - does storing soaking beans in the refrigerator allow you to soak them for a longer period of time?

3) after they've been rinsed after the soak, how long can you store them in the refrigerator before being used?

Gerard

Frank, sometimes they come in just too easily...

According to a CI recipe, beans can be brined for 8 to 24 hours at room temperature so there should not be any need to find room for them in the fridge.

After rinsing, I do not think that an additional day or so in the fridge would hurt them, but with an 16 hour window on the brine, it should be possible to find a window of brine time that would make that unnecessary.

I have Kenji's recipe on my list to compare to CI's favorite chile.

I have been tracking down dried chiles for Homesick Texan's Seven Chile Chili. Pendery's failed to notify me that they were out of pasillas, so I didn't find out until I got their invoice in the delivery yesterday. So now I have to wait until I get an Amazon shipment Tuesday to make it. It looks awesome. I will be making a pot of beans to eat ON THE SIDE.

http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/seven-chile-texas-chili

Gerard,

Some notes on soaking beans:

You can soak beans for up to 16 hours on the counter, or up to 2 days in the fridge. Beyond that, they have a tendency to start to either ferment or sprout. YMMV

It is not actually necessary to soak dried beans at all if they are very fresh (as in, harvested this season and air-dried, like from Rancho Gordo or from the farmer's market). It is also not necessary to soak them if you are going to slow-cook them (like in the crockpot).

If you forget to soak the beans, you can put them in a pot full of water, bring it to a boil, and then soak them in the hot water for 40min to 1 hour. This does tend to damage the skin and make them mushier than they would be with a cold soak, but it better than postponing dinner for 8 hours.

Becca,

You can't get dried pasillas at a store where you are? I'd figure there were enough Mexicans around in Louisiana.

I can get a few dried chiles but no pasillas or cascabels... at least that I have discovered.

Gerard - Since Frank seems to be sleeping or rounding up onions (elderly soul that he is getting to be..), what drives you to want to add onions to chili? Truly, it is MUCH better without. With beans, the flavors become muted, etc. AND it's a helluva lot quicker without all that soaking in the tub stuff

I was at tlhe library today and read through the current issue of CI, where they discuss using a pieces of dried kombu seaweed in bean cooking and found that it worked just as well as an overnight brine. If you can get kombu, a piece about 3x5" added to the pot is all you need. According to CI, that is.

If you have not encountered a Cook’s Illustrated recipe that uses brined beans, the formula is:

3 Tablespoons of table salt [54 grams, 1.9 oz]
4 quarts of water
1 pound dried beans

Dissolve the salt in the water and soak the beans for 8-24 hours. Drain and rinse.

They have said that quick brining using boiling water and a 1 hour soak is almost as effective. Brined beans can be frozen for later use.

With a salt concentration about 1.5%, it is 50% of seawater concentration and 25% of the concentration for meat.

While I admire Kenji and his amazing talent in the kitchen he does lack in the area of food history...in response to his heresy I offer the following defense of our State Dish.

Origins and history:

The recipe used by American frontier settlers consisted of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers (usually chilipiquenes), and salt, which were pounded together, formed into bricks and left to dry, which could then be boiled in pots on the trail.[citation needed]

The San Antonio Chili Stand, in operation at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, helped people from other parts of the country taste and appreciate chili. San Antonio was a significant tourist destination and helped Texas-style chili con carne spread throughout the South and West

1977 - The chili manufacturers of the state of Texas, successfully lobbied the Texas legislature to have chili proclaimed the official "state food" of Texas "in recognition of the fact that the only real 'bowl of red' is that prepared by Texans." as designated by the House Concurrent Resolution Number 18 of the 65th Texas Legislature during its regular session in 1977.

Controversy over ingredients.

Beans
Beans (frijoles), a staple of Tex-Mex cuisine, have been associated with chili as far back as the early 20th century. The question of whether beans "belong" in chili has been a matter of contention among chili cooks for a long time

A bowl of Texas-style chili with no beans.Texas-style chili contains no beans and may even be made with no other vegetables whatsoever besides chili peppers. President Lyndon B. Johnson's favorite chili recipe became known as "Pedernales River chili" after the location of his Texas Hill Country ranch. Lady Bird Johnson, the First Lady, had the recipe printed on cards to be mailed out because of the many thousands of requests the White House received for it.

In some areas, versions with beans are referred to as "chili beans" while the term "chili" is reserved for the all-meat dish.

A chili purist's proverb says "If you know beans about chili, you know chili ain't got no beans,"

The Chili Appreciation Society International specified in 1999 that, among other things, cooks are forbidden to include beans, marinate any meats, or discharge firearms in the preparation of chili for official competition.

The last exclusion is waived should one attempt to include beans in any dish and attempt to call it “real” chili.

The term chili is short for the phrase "chili con carne." It is not short for "chili con frijoles."

"Chili con carne" means "chili peppers with meat." It does not mean "chili peppers with beans."

Anything else you need to know the absolute correct truth about, just let me know. My knowledge is exceeded only by my humility.

And now you know...you're welcome.