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1:40 pm
October 10, 2009
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Night before last put navy beans to soak, yesterday at 7 a.m. put in crockpot for Boston baked beans. Instructions were cook on low for 8 hours. OK, should have been done by 3 p.m. Right? Not! Took into consideration instructions were probably for low altitude and cooked another 3 hours. Nada. Let cook until 9 p.m., turned off and restarted at 8 a.m. today. It is now 11:30 and they are still "al dente". This is not right. Right now I will have to put them in the Vita-Mix! What have I done wrong. Just purchased the beans 1 month ago. I know someone out there will have the answer. Thank you all for helping me out.
(to chop the beans)
3:53 pm
December 14, 2010
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They must cook at close to 210 degrees F. I don't know your evevation but 5,000 feet could make a substantial difference.
4:49 pm
October 10, 2009
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Thanks Ross. We are at 6100 feet. The crockpot on low is 225, so they really should be done, i.e. soft and not al dente. They taste scrumptious so I guess that almost 20 hours of cooking they are as done as they will ever get! DH baking Bosting brown bread as a go with and there will be sauteed cabbage as well. Ice cream for follow up. I can always count on good answers from Ross.
6:22 pm
December 14, 2010
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Water boils at 212 degrees F at sea level at 6000 feet it is down to about 200. Check it out with a pan of boiling water and a thermometer.
11:57 pm
February 22, 2010
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My husbands Aunt swore that her beans never got done if she used water from her tap. She would always "borrow" water from us…we lived about 12 miles away in another town. I thought she was crazy but someone else from that area said the same thing!
One time I got a bag of beans that took forever to cook. I was cooking them on the stove top and I had to keep adding water and boiling and boiling and boiling. They still had a slight rattle at suppertime. A couple of weeks later I finished off that bag with some beans from another bag…and what do you know… I had some beans in the same pot that were done way before others. I think it might just have been that bag of beans.
12:15 am
November 7, 2011
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I don't know if you have hard water but I learned the hard way to take care of this. Baking soda. Just a dash will "soften" the water, but some people have said in other blogs that the water gets a soapy taste. I haven't noticed this because I don't put much in. The only other option would to use bottled water. I have taken to buying the 5 gallon jugs for drinking and cooking since the water here is so incredibly hard.
9:01 am
June 16, 2011
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My mom always said Don't add salt until the beans get soft or they won't get done. I know if put salt in at the beginning they have to cook forever to get done. If I cook boston baked beans or pork n beans in the crock pot I put in all the ingredients called for except salt. Adding the salt after the beans are soft. Also you might try bringing the beans to a hard boil after soaking. Turn off the heat, and let sit covered for about 30 minutes before putting in the crockpot. The last time I made pork n beans the recipe said to cook on low for 8 hours, but I cooked them on high for the first 4 hours. Otherwise they would not have been done by supper.
11:19 am
October 30, 2009
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hmmm, all very interesting. I also have "issues" when I put pintos in the crock pot. I also was always told not to add salt…..but it just dawned on me that our tap water here has been softened, which means some salt. Does anyone (probably you know, Mr. Ross!) if this is enough salt to make a difference?
1:02 pm
December 14, 2010
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I make baked beans often and I have heard that old beans are more difficult to cook but have never experienced that problem. If I soak them overnight and then bring them to a boil and mix everything together and bake them all day adding water as needed then they always get done. However I live at 430 feet above sea level.
1:26 pm
February 10, 2009
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Yep, I follow the recipe if I have one, using salt or no salt as it says, and I've cooked the same type of beans one time and they do fine, but a different package another time, same recipe, will take longer! I don't doubt that hard water might cause issues, because things do cook differently with our newer well vs the old one, but I think mostly it's the age or the brand of the package of beans mostly.
Beans are always best the second (or third) day anyway, so I if you can do it the day before, then reheat for the supper or event, you'll be better off anyway. (yes, I know it's too late now though, but maybe next time!)
You guys are killing me! First the Lasagna then this about a good pot of beans, I better go get busy with dinner or I'll go crazy!!
2:32 pm
October 10, 2009
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I'm really glad I started this topic, so many great ideas. We have soft water and no, I didn't add any salt until we ate last night. They finally got to a point where they were the consistency of good pasta, but not like beans really should be. Anyway, the baked beans were the best tasting I have ever had – used the recipe from Cook's.com. Also found a 100 year old recipe for Boston brown bread which was baked insted of steamed. It was more cake like and INHO was much better than what DH has made before in the coffee cans and steamed.
Have a great rest of the weekend. I appreciate you all very much, my unseen friends in the chicken coop!
4:22 pm
October 17, 2010
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mamawolf, would you please post the baked brownbread recipe on Farm Belll? I love brownbread! Thank you.
8:33 pm
December 20, 2011
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This has all been most interesting to me, I'm glad you posted too Mamawolf. I knew altitude was a factor in baking but it would never have occurred to me that it would matter in cooking a pot of beans, or the soft vs hard water or the salt before or after. If I ever leave FL I will have to start all over!
11:01 pm
November 7, 2011
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Lajoda said
… or the soft vs hard water or the salt before or after. If I ever leave FL I will have to start all over!
I've been here in Florida for about 1 1/2 years and I have had to tweek a lot of my recipes because of the water issue.
The first time I made chicharo I nearly burned down my apartment because they didn't soften at all.
11:57 pm
December 14, 2010
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When I am wanting to be certain that the beans are properly cooked I soak them over night , bring them to a boil, ladle them into quart jars and process them in a pressure cooker at 10 psi for an hour and a half, no lids on the jars. They are always tender when I finish.
9:00 am
October 10, 2009
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Brookdale I will post the recipe today. It was sooooooooo good.
Ross, I never thought about cooking, PCing and going from there. You always have the knowledge to any problem I raise.
P.S. Recipe was posted on Farm Bell; should appear soon.
1:37 pm
March 3, 2011
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Hmmm…never heard the one about the water. We have well water but it does go through a softener so I guess there is some salt there. I find that any beans I cook in the crockpot had better go on the night before if I want them to be tender by dinner. We are at dead flat sea level so altitude is certainly not an issue. Age sure is though – the older the beans the longer they take. I once had one of those pretty jars of 'bean soup' somebody made up and gave me as a gift. The ones with the layers of beans and little seasoning packet included in a mason jar with a pinked calico square tied over the lid with rafia. Very cute, very country. I admired it for a very long time….like a couple of years…..and then decided I should cook it up. 
Those beans stayed hard as rocks~~forever!
4:13 pm
December 14, 2010
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Dried beans need to soak for at least 12 hours and maybe more. I have never accepted the "quicksoak" approach for preparing dried beans.
11:45 am
October 10, 2009
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Break out the wet noodles for my chastisement! When I posted the Boston brown bread recipe the other day I neglected one of the basic ingredients. There is also 1/3 cup molasses in the recipe. Would one of the administrators please add this to the recipe on FB please? I don't know how to do that. Thanks and I am sorry for the lack of ingredient. 
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