Comments on: Slow-Cooker Pinto Beans

By: Saving at Home: Scratch Cooking from a Little to a Lot

Saving at Home: Scratch Cooking from a Little to a Lot — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:45:41 +0000

[...] you can often times save 60+% just by buying dried beans and cooking them yourself. We love these slow-cooked pinto beans, for [...]

By: TexasBruin

TexasBruin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:57:10 +0000

I’ve been cooking beans almost weekly for years. There are two issues with beans: 1) phytic acid, and 2) lectins. Phytic acid is minimized by fermenting (but not soaking). Regarding lectins, there is a serious concern about lectins that do not get leached out our denatured (or otherwise neutralized) with simple soaking. I am not sure about fermenting’s effect on lectins. However, it is simple to render lectins harmless. Boiling for 10 minutes, draining, and then further processing (soaking and cooking) effectively denatures the lectins. It should be noted that heating beans to less than 80C actually increases the lectin toxicity. Crockpots only reach a temperature of 75C.That’s why they should be boiled (100C) first for 10 minutes.

Lastly, I love your blog! Best Regards, TexasBruin.

By: Rapunzel

Rapunzel — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:02:11 +0000

I have these simmering in my crockpot right now, can’t wait to try them!

By: Nicola

Nicola — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 00:19:02 +0000

I love beans in the slow cooker. It is the only way I have ever made them. I got my recipe from http://hungerandthirstforlife.blogspot.com/ when it used to be named differently. Anyways, I soak my beans with some salt. In the morning I drain and rinse. I add fresh water, a couple of spoonfuls of lard, and a chopped onion. I let it cook all day and then for refried beans I cook an onion in lard and add beans by the spoonful and mash. So easy and so good. This is all from the aforementioned blog. I have played with the recipe a few times by adding meat, different spices, garlic, and so on. I live in the southwest and I eat my fill of beans and these are some of the best I have had. My boyfriend has told me not to change the recipe because he greatly enjoys them too.

By: Sarah @ Mum In Bloom

Sarah @ Mum In Bloom — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:06:08 +0000

Well.. my bean meal was a failure I soaked the beans for 24 hours but in plain water – I forgot it had to be boiling water. I cooked them in the slow cooker for 8 hours and we looked forward to the wonderful smelling supper all day then.. crunch, crunch, ewww. I’m so new at this and it took a phone call to Grandma to figure out what I’d done wrong. I won’t give up though and am making these again next week. I’m also going to do as Naomi does and soak and freeze some small batches… I’ve been caught a few times now not having beans soaked when I wanted to add them to meals.

Thanks girls

By: Cathy

Cathy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:25:10 +0000

Yum, your seasonings sound good! We eat various beans in several different recipes, but nothing exactly like that.

By: Naomi

Naomi — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:49:09 +0000

Beans DO freeze well, dried, soaked, cooked, no matter what form. I sometimes soak a good portion of beans, drain them and freeze in meal-sized portions. All I have to do then is get some out and cook them whenever I want some for dinner. I’m a North Carolina girl who was raised on pinto beans. It was poor man’s food, and we ate A LOT of them! They were seasoned with salt and pork fat back, and they NEVER tasted bland. We absolutely loved them. They usually comprised the meal, along with biscuits or cornbread, sometimes some mashed potatoes.

For me, adding spices and herbs to the beans ruins the taste, because I like the flavor of the beans themselves; not that they aren’t wonderful added to chili or other dishes though. The only time I ever cooked beans that were bland was when I soaked them in whey water as per NT method. Yes, then you do need to add something to them to give them some flavor. I stopped using whey in my soaking water and now just soak them for a day or so. Also, as a child and also in my adult years, beans did not usually cause gas for us because we ate them on a very regular basis, sometimes twice a week, but at least once a week. And my mother never soaked her beans more than maybe six to ten hours, just until they were softened. And she always added salt to them at the beginning and the beans’ skins were not tough like some “experts” tell you they will. Do I sound like a bean cooking expert? Maybe I am, since I have been cooking and eating them from babyhood. But beans, especially pintos, remain one of my favorite comfort foods.

I have heard that the carb content of foods is modified through sprouting. I don’t know why that rule would not also apply to beans; does anyone?

By: Sarah @ Mum In Bloom

Sarah @ Mum In Bloom — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:43:07 +0000

These beans look delicious and I’ve been searching for a good crock-pot recipe. I think I’ll soak my beans today (Thurs), cook them tomorrow (Fri) then have it on hand for lunch over the weekend. Where I’m from in Nova Scotia, beans were a Saturday night tradition. I wonder if they freeze well…. I love the photo too &, as always, your blog.

By: Elizabeth from The Nourished Life

Elizabeth from The Nourished Life — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:04:08 +0000

I agree – the photo makes me want to make some right now. I loved seasoned beans (but like Motherhen68 I eat them rarely because of the carbs), and your recipe looks like it will hit the spot. Love the dollop of sour cream on top, too.

By: Alisha

Alisha — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:07:26 +0000

Thanks for the recipe. I’ve really been into beans while pregnant. I’ll have to give this one a try!