PRESSURE COOKING BEANS

Pressure cooking beans is fast and easy, but you can’t just throw in the beans and clamp the lid on! For safety, you MUST presoak beans, removing loose hulls; measure water and add some oil when doing so; and watch your timing. Oil helps reduce the foam from the beans as well as helping keep the skins from popping off and clogging up the vent tube.

This is the basic formula for pressure cooking beans in a standard 15 pound pressure cooker:
1 cup dried beans, soaked before cooking plus 4 cups water plus 1 tablespoon oil (2 tablespoons for soy beans, fava or large lima beans) plus NO salt, acids, sugar, vinegar or tomato until after cooking.
When the cooking time is up, quick-release the pressure cooker under cold water to avoid foaming or sputtering at the vent.

Here are the details. Rinse and soak beans before putting in the cooking pot, carefully rubbing hrough the soaked beans and pouring off all loose or floating skins before cooking. Soaking beans for 12 hours (overnight) will also greatly reduce the cooking time and give a more tender bean.
Cooking time for the pressure cooking portion of time is according to the chart below. If the beans are not tender after recommended cooking times, continue cooking uncovered, adding additional water if the level is below the top of the beans. Cooking times may change depending on the quality and age of the beans. Cranberry, garbanzos and soybeans are the slowest cooking types. Black-eyed peas, split peas and lentils do not need to be soaked or even presoaked. You can cook them unsoaked and they cook very quickly. Be sure to presoak very old beans overnight before cooking by bringing to a boil and then covering.
If your beans are over one year old, they may take much longer to cook; in fact some very old beans never do get tender.

Pressure presoak: a 1 hour method

• Measure the dried beans, write it down. You will need 1-2 tablespoons oil for each cup of dried beans.
• Place the beans in the pressure cooker with 4 cups of water for each cup of beans
• Bring the cooker up to pressure, so the weight on top will start jiggling
• Turn off the heat, remove the cooker from the burner and let it sit for 1 hour
• Open, notice the water level, you will need this level.
• Stir to loosen skins and foam and pour off the all the soaking water, skins and foam. This also removes some gas-causing compounds
• Then add fresh water back to the same level it was and add the oil, 1-2 tablespoons for each cup of dried beans.
• Proceed by cooking the beans for the time indicated in the table.

  PRESSURE COOKING BEANS: COOKING TIME
  Beans,1 cup dry	Soaked 12 Hours	Pressure presoaked one hour	Unsoaked (not recommended)	Yield
  Adzuki	5-9 min	9-13 min	12-14 min	2 cups
  Anasazi	4-7 min	7-10 min	20-22 min	2 1/4 c.
  Black turtle	8-11 min	14-18 min	20-25 min	2 cups
  Black-eyed or field peas§	-----	-----	9-11 min	2 1/4 c.
  Cannellini small white beans	9-12 min	14-17 min	22-25 min	2 cups
  Chickpeas (garbanzo)	10-12 min	21-25 min	30-40 min	2 1/2 c.
  Christmas spotted lima	8-10 min	10-12 min	16-18 min	1 1/4 c.
  Cranberry	8-12 min	20-25 min	30-35 min	2 1/4 c.
  Fava*	12-18 min	16-22 min	22-28 min	2 cups
  Flageolets	10-14 min	10-14 min	17-22 min	2 cups
  Great Northern	8-12 min	14-18 min	25-30 min	2 1/4 c.
  Lentils, large brown	------	-------	7-10 min	2 cups
  Lentils, green	------	-------	8-10	2 cups
  Lentil, soup	------	-------	8-10	2 cups
  Lentils, red tiny	------	-------	8-10	2 cups
  Lima or butterbeans, large**	4-7** min	8-12** min	12-16 min	2 1/2 c.
  Lima (baby)	5-7 min	8-12 min	12-15 min	2 1/2 c.
  Peas, split yellow or green	------	------	8-10 min	2 cups
  Peas (whole, green)	------	------	16-18 min	2 cups
  Pigeon peas (gandules)	6-9 min	15-18 min	20-25 min	3 cups
  Pinto	4-6 min	7-10 min	22-25 min	2 1/4 c.
  Navy (pea)	6-8 min	10-13 min	16-25 min	2 cups
  Red kidney	10-12 min	12-15 min	20-25 min	2 cups
  Scarlet runner	12-14 min	12-16 min	17-20 min	1 1/4 c.
  Soybeans**	9-12 min	15-20 min	28-35 min	2 1/4 c.

  *Skins stay chewy after cooking unless the beans are pureed.

  **Requires 2 tablespoons of oil for each cup of dried beans.

  § If you have adjustable pressure, reduce to medium (10 pounds) for dried field peas and lentils.

  PRESSURE COOKING GRAINS

  This is the basic formula for pressure cooking presoaked grains in a standard 15 pound pressure cooker:
  1 cup grains, rinsed or soaked before cooking plus 2 cups water plus 1 tablespoon oil plus NO salt, acids, vinegar or tomato until after cooking.
  When the cooking time is up, quick-release the pressure cooker under cold water to avoid overcooking or foaming or sputtering at the vent.

  Rinse all grains under lukewarm water before cooking. Do not add salt to water for cooking grains since it will toughen the grains and inhibit hydration. Measure water and add 1 to 2 tablespopons oil when doing so; and watch your timing. Oil helps reduce the foam from the grains as well as helping keep the skins from popping off and clogging up the vent tube.

  §Before cooking tough or whole grains, such as wheat berries, unhulled or pearl barley, soak in four times their volume of lukewarm water for at least four hours or overnight. If unable to soak grains beforehand, add 15 minutes to recommended cooking time.

  *Do not presoak white rice before pressure cooking. White rice can be cooked without preparation, and converted long grain rice will give you the fluffiest, most unsticky results. If you are cooking brown rice, soak as a whole grain or bring it to a boil and boil 5 to 8 minutes before reducing heat and covering to pressure cook.

  PRESSURE COOKING GRAINS: COOKING TIME
  Measure	Rinsed; see notes about soaking§*
  Barley§, pearl, 3 cups	15-20
  Kamut§, whole	12-15
  Oats§, steel-cut	8-11
  Oats§, whole	10-12
  Rice*, basmati, 1 1/2 cups	5-7
  Rice§, brown, 3 cups	12
  Rice*, converted, 1 1/2 cups	5-7
  Rice*, long grain, 1 1/2 cups	5-7
  Rice*, short grain, 3 cups	4-6
  Rice, wild, 3 cups	22-25
  Rye§, berries, 3 cups	15
  Wheat, berries§, 3 cups	15