Heirloom Beans by Rancho Gordo (Steve_Sando)

[Shelby]

8 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

What is the black bean that's so lovely that came in the bean club order?

I'll be able to tell you Wednesday--finally got a shipping notice  

[Paul Bacino]

On 12/7/2019 at 2:47 PM, TdeV said:

I've just received my Instant Pot and have successfully steamed water. 😛

Now I'm thinking of doing some of the beans from the last Rancho Gordo club shipment in the Instant Pot.

Could I please have some instructions about how to long to cook them? Soak first, right?

And what to cook them with?

I do soak mine--over night  --sometimes quick soak- sometimes never /  I have pressure cooked alot of beans.  Beans your not familiar with,  I incremental cook them about every 15 mins.  till you get it correct with that type of bean..  IE  Royal coronas can take up to 45mins to an hr.  Yellow eyes may only take 15 mins after soak.  Just example.  I always soak my bean with some type of Miropix--I also add beyond bollion some time s too--or minimally garlic and onion..

 

FWI-- some beans  may not even take 15 mins  --   ( probably the bigger the bean the longer the cook / and if the beans are a bit older )

Quote

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Paul Bacino (log)

[SLB]

6 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

What is the black bean that's so lovely that came in the bean club order?

 

Frijol Negro Santanero de Oaxaca.  

[blue_dolphin]

Two boxes landed on my doorstep together this afternoon:  my bean club shipment and a new cookbook, Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes by Joe Yonan

Must be a sign!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Two boxes landed on my doorstep together this afternoon:  my bean club shipment and a new cookbook, Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes by Joe Yonan

Must be a sign!

 

Hope there are no wildfires near you.

 

[Shelby]

I got my beans today!  

 

I am not complaining because they were all ok since they are in plastic bags, but I can't believe they made it.  The box was a day late.  It came wrapped in a saran-like plastic.  The box itself was falling apart and soaking wet.  The labels are falling off the bags it was so wet lol.  I always wonder what happens in transit.

[suzilightning]

OK all you enablers.  While reading this section on Stupid Bowl Sunday I ordered some beans.  I'll try to figure out who to cook for and what to cook with them as HIMSELF doesn't like to eat beans as he "expresses himself" .   

Uhhhhh…. trust me when you drink beer you do the same.😛

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I had planned to cook beans to go with tonight's grilled ribs.  I forgot.  And how do you choose which beans to cook when you have about twenty kinds.  That's a statement, not a question.

 

[SLB]

@JoNorvelleWalker, unless you're working with a recipe, you just pick random.  If you sweat the selection, you'll keep saving them.  Just pick random.  

 

**one thing to note:  I separate out big beans, which I prefer to use in salads in summer.  And I separate out lentils, which I also pretty much confine to summer.  And, finally, I separate out the black-eyed peas, which I don't usually eat except for new years (no reason for this -- I would eat black-eyed's year round, but now with all these other beans, it just seems . . . unnecessary).   

 

So there's not usually the full-twenty to pick from.  Randomly.    

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, SLB said:

So there's not usually the full-twenty to pick from.  Randomly.    

 

Shut the door, they're comin' through the window

Shut the window, they're comin' through the door

 

Tonight I'm cooking up a pot of Moro.

 

[TdeV]

On 2/3/2020 at 8:12 PM, TdeV said:

Rancho Gordo Spelt (Farro Grande) in the Instant Pot

 

Did this spelt last night (Dinner thread here). Two go-rounds: first 12 minutes High Pressure with 20 minute rest, second 4 minutes HP with 15 minutes rest. They were nominally still underdone but left in the pot at ~160F for 5 or 10 minutes.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Over two more nights I boiled the Moro beans into submission.  They were eventually quite good.  As would have been pebbles cooked that long.

 

A colleague at work mentioned she had quit the bean club.  She was inundated by more beans than she could eat.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 2/8/2020 at 10:22 PM, SLB said:

And, finally, I separate out the black-eyed peas, which I don't usually eat except for new years (no reason for this -- I would eat black-eyed's year round

 

I recently found out that my sister who abhors coffee and eggs, eats black-eyed peas every morning for breakfast, and has for years. It's probably healthy, but how she got there is a mystery to me?

[Maison Rustique]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

 

A colleague at work mentioned she had quit the bean club.  She was inundated by more beans than she could eat.

 

 

I am not quitting, though I am also inundated. I often wish there was a Bean Club Lite version with half the amount we receive. Two people just can't eat that much.

[MelissaH]

7 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Over two more nights I boiled the Moro beans into submission.  They were eventually quite good.  As would have been pebbles cooked that long.

How hard is your water? When we were in Belgium for three months on sabbatical, we tried cooking beans once, and they didn't soften after being soaked overnight and then boiled for a couple of hours. We did some research and discovered that the tap water in our area was high in calcium. After that, we looked carefully at all the bottled water labels and chose one that was much softer to lug home and cook our beans. It worked beautifully.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

 

I am not quitting, though I am also inundated. I often wish there was a Bean Club Lite version with half the amount we receive. Two people just can't eat that much.

 

Unfortunately, Steve can correct me, I think it comes down to shipping costs.

 

[TdeV]

I wonder if it would be possible to sign up to receive only 2 shipments per year?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, MelissaH said:

How hard is your water? When we were in Belgium for three months on sabbatical, we tried cooking beans once, and they didn't soften after being soaked overnight and then boiled for a couple of hours. We did some research and discovered that the tap water in our area was high in calcium. After that, we looked carefully at all the bottled water labels and chose one that was much softer to lug home and cook our beans. It worked beautifully.

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/136349-do-brita-type-filters-work/?do=findComment&comment=2162319

 

For the soak and initial cook I used my double filtered deionized tap water.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

23 minutes ago, TdeV said:

I wonder if it would be possible to sign up to receive only 2 shipments per year?

 

Yes but then the item you really want will be in the shipment you did not receive.

 

[TdeV]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Yes but then the item you really want will be in the shipment you did not receive.

 

You are always bang on the money, Jo.

[rancho_gordo]

Too many beans. What a great problem to have! 

The Bean Club isn't for everyone. You do get a few exclusives and maybe a little more attention but "a la carte" makes more sense for many people. 

 

The current club ends up being 1/2 a pound a week. A lot of Bean Club people order more than that. It really is for the fanatic, in the best sense. 

Our problem is that we're a relatively small company. After this holiday season and then the Bean Club plus a lot of press out of the blue, another model isn't practical for the foreseeable future. We just expanded to 8,500 ,members (from 5,000) and we thought that would be that. It sold out in a matter of days. We have well over 5,000 on the waiting list and a very low "churn" rate. It's not for everybody but it seems to be great for those that love it. 

Remember, we have dozens and dozens of the same beans available on the website for you to get as you like. 

 

Just today Evan Kleiman on KCRW's Good Food did this:
<https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/mcdonalds-in-black-america-and-cool-beans/food-nerd-alert-beans-are-trending>

I will tell you, after 19 years of pushing and working hard, I will never get used to this recognition. It's surreal and wonderful and I am old enough to understand that not everyone gets to work and and be rewarded. I am one lucky fellow. 

Edited February 15, 2020 by rancho_gordo (log)

[heidih]

Ha do not be shy You have given people bean education and are doing good work.  When I tell some of my former employees from Mexico  (Mostly from Michoacan and Oaxaca) about your work they get wide eyed and can not believe people care.

Edited February 15, 2020 by heidih (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

At the moment I have a pot of Silvia Flor de Junio on the stove for dinner.  On the Paragon, actually.

 

I explained my problems to another coworker and instead of sympathy he placed an order with Rancho Gordo.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Silvia Flor de Junio made fantastic broth which burned my hand and tongue.  (Treating the affected members with ice cream at the moment.)  Some bean varieties are OK, and some are really not.  Then there are those that make the whole experience worthwhile.

 

[heidih]

David Lebovitz linked this article yesterday. Wow!   https://thetakeout.com/canned-vs-soaking-dried-beans-which-better-rancho-gord-1841421154