Sous vide beans and other pulses. What's the best temperature?

[benjamin163]

Hello,

I love cooking my pulses and beans and have used a pressure cooker, slow cooker and top stove to do so.

However, the results often vary due to my carelessness.

I enjoy the results of sous vide and wonder whether cooking beans and pulses sous vide would make them deliciously tender without falling apart and going mushy.

I have looked up a few recipes but the temperatures vary enormously.

I'm wondering if there's a more scientific approach. Like, at what temperature do the walls of a pulse break down without breaking apart? 

And does the amount of water the pulses are steeped in matter?

I'm gathering that pre-soaking is no longer the necessity it once seemed.

So I'd love an understanding of the optimum temperature to get fluffy, unctuous beans without the mush.

Any help or opinions greatly received.

[kayb]

Have no information, but would love to learn. Following.

[Shalmanese]

Cooking beans sous vide is potentially DANGEROUS and should not be attempted unless you have a very good understanding of the chemistry behind it!

 

Many beans contain a compound called Phytohaemagglutinin which is toxic in humans and causes vomiting and diarrhea. This protein is denatured after 10 minutes at a high boil but NOT at the 85C temperature typically used to soften pectins in vegetables. Eating beans that have been only been cooked sous vide is a recipe for a bad few nights on the toilet (ask me how I know this!).

 

In order to safely sous vide cook beans, you should first boil them conventionally for at least 30 minutes and then switch to sous vide. But, given the time and effort required to do this, it doesn't seem like much of a gain from just cooking them conventionally.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have to say I'm with @Shalmanese on this.  Though if you vacuum seal your beans in a retort pouch you should be able to safely pressure cook them sous vide.  Not a bad idea, actually.  Modernist Cuisine has a technique of pressure cooking beans in a canning jar.

 

I tremble to think how long beans that require four hours in a pressure cooker would require at 85 deg C.

 

[kayb]

10 hours ago, Shalmanese said:

Cooking beans sous vide is potentially DANGEROUS and should not be attempted unless you have a very good understanding of the chemistry behind it!

 

Many beans contain a compound called Phytohaemagglutinin which is toxic in humans and causes vomiting and diarrhea. This protein is denatured after 10 minutes at a high boil but NOT at the 85C temperature typically used to soften pectins in vegetables. Eating beans that have been only been cooked sous vide is a recipe for a bad few nights on the toilet (ask me how I know this!).

 

In order to safely sous vide cook beans, you should first boil them conventionally for at least 30 minutes and then switch to sous vide. But, given the time and effort required to do this, it doesn't seem like much of a gain from just cooking them conventionally.

 

Well, that's worthwhile to know. Checking that one off the "H'mmmm..." list.

 

[MelissaH]

We'll cook beans (by conventional methods) in larger batches than we can eat at one go, and then vacuum seal and freeze the leftovers. SV works wonderfully for reheating the leftovers.

[blue_dolphin]

I’m not recommending this method for cooking beans, the warnings above are wise, but am sharing this little tidbit on the length of time it would likely take. 
This past weekend, I enjoyed a meal at the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Encuentro at Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana, CA.  One of the participating chefs was Tony Esnault of the Michelin star restaurant Knife Pleat (and formerly Church & State and Spring in Los Angeles) who served a dish of RG Buckeye beans, forest mushrooms, allium crumble and fine herbs. It was delicious. 
When asked how the beans were cooked, he said they were soaked overnight in salted water, then cooked for 24 hrs at 202°. He did NOT specifically say they used sous vide and there are other ways to maintain that temp but it’s in the range where sous vide could work. 
The texture of the beans was more fudgy than creamy. They were tender, but not soft or mushy at all. Not a revelation, it was the flavors that made the dish special, not the texture of the beans but they contrasted very effectively with the texture of the mushrooms

I'm sort of tempted to try it to compare more carefully with conventional cooked beans from the same bag. 

[Deephaven]

On 5/1/2018 at 11:23 PM, Shalmanese said:

Eating beans that have been only been cooked sous vide is a recipe for a bad few nights on the toilet (ask me how I know this!).

Since you told us to ask you how you know this, I'd like to know how you know this....without too much detail. 

[Rickbern]

@benjamin163 I wonder if you ever tried an unglazed clay pot on a gas stove? I think that this method is pretty forgiving and for my purposes I find it yields excellent results. 
 

I have two of these, one small and one medium, I think they’re great and I feel tied to tradition every time I pull one out

 

https://ancientcookware.com/la-chamba-collection/black-clay-la-chamba-rounded-soup-pot-detail

 

edit- sorry, didn’t realize how old this was

Edited 7 hours ago by Rickbern (log)

[Mjx]

On 5/2/2018 at 6:23 AM, Shalmanese said:

Cooking beans sous vide is potentially DANGEROUS and should not be attempted unless you have a very good understanding of the chemistry behind it!

 

Many beans contain a compound called Phytohaemagglutinin which is toxic in humans and causes vomiting and diarrhea. This protein is denatured after 10 minutes at a high boil but NOT at the 85C temperature typically used to soften pectins in vegetables. Eating beans that have been only been cooked sous vide is a recipe for a bad few nights on the toilet (ask me how I know this!).

 

In order to safely sous vide cook beans, you should first boil them conventionally for at least 30 minutes and then switch to sous vide. But, given the time and effort required to do this, it doesn't seem like much of a gain from just cooking them conventionally.

 

I second this.

 

I had a startling and unpleasant experience when I was briefly convinced to try an all raw-food diet, and forgot that merely soaking beans so they're chewable does not mean they're suitable for human consumption; they need at least some heat. The first and only time I ate raw, soaked beans, I chewed and swallowed a mouthful (perfectly acceptable, flavour and texture-wise), but my stomach was miles ahead of my brain on this one, and rejected the beans so rapidly and aggessively that I didn't even have time to feel nauseated, and barely made it to the sink in time to avoid making a mess of the floor. There weren't any other effects, fortunately (after briefly considering the situaiton, I remembered that beans need heat, and cooked them).

 

I'd consider cooking legumes sous vide only if I was making a dish with at mostly-cooked legumes, and wanted to finish them in a sauce and avoid overcooking them (but I've overcooked beans only when I forgot to set a time).