save or toss bean broth

[AlwaysAgnes]

Do you save/consume the cooking liquid from your beans? It seems like it would add a lot of flavor and nutrition to a soup or stew but I've never even tried to use it. I'm afraid of digestive distress. I just cooked two pounds of black beans and feel guilty dumping the bean broth. I haven't dumped it yet.

I generally pre-soak my beans using the quick 1-hr method and discard that hot water. I then rinse the beans and add fresh water to cook. I do consume this cooking broth along with the beans. I wouldn't consume the soaking liquid though.

If you consume or are not afraid of consuming the broth in regular ol' canned beans, the liquid in your un-soaked homemade beans wouldn't be much different. I read here https://www.edenfoods.com/faqs/view.php?categories_id=5 that Eden canned beans are probably the only ones that are presoaked. I very rarely buy Eden brand. And I very rarely ever consume the liquid in canned beans.

[Chumly]

I always pre-soak the beans and discard the water and rinse before cooking. I then add at least 2 cups of water to every cup of beans and cook in the IP for 40 minutes and allow to cool for at least an hour before removing the lid. There's always extra water, which I usually blend with the beans with spices to make a thick sauce or paste (depending upon how much water) before storing in containers.
I've found this to be versatile way to prepare beans. I can use it as a vegetable dip, a sauce to pour over vegetables and/or starches, or a soup I can heat up and eat with a spoon. Since I started doing this, I notice it has been much easier to stay on plan!

Michael

[victw]

CMD,

It totally depends - I also change the pre-soak liquid. I buy most of my beans from Rancho Gordo beans. I find a lot of the white beans do not make a broth that I like. But the pintos and other heartier beans often make a broth that makes the beans edible to me like a soup with the broth. Rancho Gordo is really good about noting when a bean makes a yummy broth.

Vic