OK, I know of the many merits of beans. They store well, provide near-complete protein, etc. As I work into storing more long-term food, I'd like to think about putting away beans. I am, however, a proponent of "use what you store/store what you use" as well as its near cousin "try out everything before you are going to depend on it"

That being said, I have a slight problem: I've never had beans before. The only thing I've really had is the Bush's/B&M Baked beans in a can, and obviously this isn't what we're talking about here.

So, I need some help. What kinds of beans are there, which are better, how to cook them. This last is a big one. I just don't know what to do with them. I want to start cooking some for my family and make sure we'll like 'em before we start putting them away. Thanks in advance for anyone's help.

well head on out to the store and buy a few 1 lb bags and try them.

IMHo beans are beans.well not really. but if cooked right do well.
ones that i store are
lentils,black beans, pinto beans, and northern beans.

way ive done em si shove em in the h20, add in some meat(nomrally a ham/shoulder bone or such) and let ems immer down all day or to a boil. then i add in my spices... and letit slow cook all day or over night.
this is where a ducth oven will come into play. just keep em on some coals for a few hours and wham done..


i dont drain em or any of that. just let em cook away. YMMV

We eat a lot of beans here at the casa. We keep a lot of canned beans for a heat and serve , quick meal.
But do a lot of beans from scratch of dried beans. For me pintos are our main source. As I grew up with them and am use to their nature.
Pintos we buy in 25 lb bags.
I load up a large stock pot and par boil for about 45 Min's them let them sit over night. Then in the morning pour the water off them, rinse and refill the pot with water adding salt. ( Here we call that boiling the farts out of them ).
Then bring up the heat to a simmer. After a couple of hours will add a large diced onion and what meat I'll use. Like a ham hock, a left over ham bone or sausage.
About an hour be for they'll be done I'll add the spices garlic, cummin seed or Chili powder whatever your choice. If you put the spices in too early you'll cook all the flavor out of it.
I'll use catsup to give it a good tomato and vinegar taste.
Experiment , beans are cheap and theres a lot of bean recipes out there.

Lol Alaskan, you are my main MANNNNNNN....... in Cuba the main staple of food ir rice and black bean that they eat just about every day.

I have at hand 500# of rice and 400# of black beans with about 250# of pinto beans.

As long as you have blk beans and rice you can always add anything else that you would like to eat and that would give you all the energy that you need for the day.

Make the beans the day before and that will give you another quick meal for lunch and meanwhile you are cooking the next meal for that night and the next day's lunch.

When it comes to beans, I get pretty frustrated at what's available and the cost of same down here in Oz. Years gone by, I could buy red kidney beans in 25 lb. bags easily and cheaply. Now any type of beans are usuall only sold in small packets of 500 grams or 1 kg. and the prices are crazy. I currently have small stocks of kidney, pinto, harricot, adzuki and soybeans, plus green and yellow split peas, dried peas and red lentils, but would like to tripple what I've got. Also, try to buy wheat for home milling here and you get some real strange looks and comments - "You want to make your own flour? Why would you want to do that? Just buy it from the supermarket." I've read that wheat can be bought from feed stores, and the only difference from milling quality is that it isn't winnowed, (cleaned of chaff), as much, so I'm going to check that out as a source.

Alaskan, I used to buy 25lb. bags of red kidney beans to make chilli con carne with, and used the same method to prepare them as you do. After making a big batch of chilli I'd put it in the fridge for a couple of days and the flavour would really develop. The same goes for curries and stews.
Do you use a pressure cooker at all? They are good for softening beans, but are also great for cooking up those tough cuts of meat and making them tender.

We stock pile beans, rice, salt, spices.

We eat beans, rice, salt, spices.

We like beans, rice, salt, spices.

Mexican dishes with the above, cajun dishes with the above and redneck dishes with the above.

Complete proteins, good tasting, add meat if possible, add fresh veggies if possible.


Red beans and rice with dried garlic, dried onion and cayeene pepper.

Kidney beans and rice with chili powder.

Lima beans with a little garlic, salt and pepper and corn meal cakes.

Northern beans with salt pepper and corn meal cakes.

Black-eyed peas with extra garlic and onion over rice.

Bidadisndat: Yes we use a presurecooker or I should say ma does.
When I was a little guy, I was in the kitchen when my aunt opened one be for all the pressure had bled off.
I remember the loud noise and spaghetti sauce dripping off every surface in the kitchen, including my aunt.
My wife make a dish in the pressure cooker with chicken gizzards and gravy, served over rice. Pretty good stuff.
This time of year with 4 ft. of snow on the ground , a big pot of soup and some fresh bread really hits the spot. Ma saves back some leftover roast,
pork or beef and make a big dutch oven full of barley soup, another favorite.
Thats how we eat in the north country..........Dennis....

Some of this stuff you just gotta bump....LOL

Semper Veritas

good bump lol