Cooking beans on the trail / General Quick Recipes

[ryanwheeler007]

So for obvious reasons I'm trying to include beans in my game plan for dinners. As a typical american I've never made beans that didn't come from a can... I've been looking online for recipes and everything says I need to soak for 8 - 12 hrs! I suppose I can work with this, just throw them in my water bottle and drink out of the camel pack. It then says took simmer for 1 - 2 hrs!!! What do I do about this? I'm using a jetboil or a pocket rocket... It just doesn't seem like a fuel efficient or practical way of eating dinner... I hate mountain house... Anyone have ny good QUICK easy recipes? (doesn't need to include beans)

THANKS!!!

[ryanwheeler007]

Uggg I need to proofread my posts... but I'm sure you guys get the drift

[skinewmexico]

You can get beans from a can? Wow.

[JJJ]

I've sprouted pinto's at home and cooked them a little quicker than an hr.
Gonna try sprouting lentils next.

[ryanwheeler007]

Helpful...

[budforester]

Soaking of beans is claimed to lessen the side- effects. Other recipes say to boil, soak for an hour, and then cook. Lentils and black- eyed peas get done a little quicker. I've cooked plenty of beans and brown rice on my SVEA 123, but only on weekend trips. Nowadays, I rarely carry gear for "real cooking". I would relegate beans to a long, lazy evening of simmering on the campfire, or cook and dehydrate at home. There are some dehydrated bean products on the grocer's shelves that I like, too. YMMV... might prefer experimenting at home.

[Feral Bill]

I've cooked lentils on my SVEA in the past, it takes a while but is doable. If you can find the Alesso brand of dry soups they have lentil and bean varieties that are very tasty. A hard core bean fancier wold get one of these. (http://www.gsioutdoors.com/list.aspx?c=4&sc2=37) Usefull in a larger group only.

[WritinginCT]

you could always cook them at home and dehydrate them. That way all you are doing is adding hot water and letting them soak a bit to plump back up. I do this with a multi-legume soup mix and it comes out awesome.

[chronicler]

Yeah, I dehydrate cans of goya beans all the time. They're cheap (99c to 1.25 a piece) and when dried out they're light as anything. Couple those with some minute rice or boiled quinoa and a little bit of cheese, and you've got yourself a kickin dinner (with protein!).

Look into getting a dehydrator. IMO, it's def worth it.

[hoz]

Every time I cook beans at home I dehydrate the leftovers. Kust add boiling water for a quick, tasty, trail meal.

If you use a fatty piece of ham you have to take it out before drying, as fat won't dehydrate.

[fiddlehead]

I agree with the cooking them at home and dehydrating crowd.
I like black beans, add some chilis, carrots, lots of garlic, some onions, a little curry powder and cook them but not too mushy and don't make it soup. (keep a little dry)
Then spread them on plastic wrap on a dehydrator and put them in a zip lock when they are done.
They are awesome on the trail. especially in tortillas.
The only time i would take the time to cook em on the trail (lentils) is if you are taking a day off or winter camping where you sit around a fire all day.
I have met people that soak them all day and carry all the weight and then build a fire and cook em, but that's a lot of work and time.
have fun.

[Newb]

get the goya instant refried beans. mucho yummy.

[JAK]

You have to be careful of some foods, when they say soak and drain. Sometimes its to remove stuff that is hard on your kidneys. It doesn't make a huge difference unless you eat alot of them, and are predisposed to kidney troubles. I am never sure when they say soak and drain which foods really need it and which foods don't.

When backpacking I generally combine grains and lentils, not at the same time. For grains it is mostly oatmeal for breakfast. For legumes it is mostly lentils for supper, usually in the form of soup. Peanuts are also a legume.

I love baked beans though, and on thru-hike I would be tempted to include them now and then. I would rather avoid mail drops. The most practical thing might be cans now and then, like when you resupply at a convenience store and choices are limited anyway, and you could eat them and dispose of the cans right away. Sometimes its fun to bring something in a can and then make something out of the can, like an extra mug or something, or a small hobbo stove or vegetable oil lamp/stove. Doesn't save weight but gives you something to tinker with.

You might try soaking dried beans as you sleep, then drain and rinse in the morning,
and then let them break down a little more while you hike, unless you like them for breakfast. I have many favourite recipes, all from a can, but there was this lady up at Magaguadavic Lake that made awesome baked beans and brown bread and made a great living from hunters and fishermen. Nelly Vance was her name I think.

My favourites included mollasses, and pork, but maple syrup is also good.
I am not sure of my favourite beans for baked beans. There are many.

[JAK]

Here is a recipe that could be adapted to life on the trail...

INGREDIENTS
2 cups navy beans
1/2 pound bacon
1 onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
Soak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approximately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

Modifications for Backpacking...
Well the soaking could be done at night, and the ingredients could be simplified and modified to suit practical quantities and what is readily available. So the baking is the tricky part. With a small wood fire it would be easier on fuel, but you would still need to work out how to avoid burning the beans to the pot. Small wick type burners for vegetable oil or tealights might be better than alcohol for a long slow cook. Cooking time might be reduced by soaking longer, and perhaps by starting the soak with boiling water rather than cold water. Not sure. To make better use of fuel if you did that you might combine the hot soaking with the hot water bottle trick, but without Bisphenol A. To cut down on burning when using a thin pot you could add extra vegetable oil or lard before adding the beans, but that 1/2 pound of bacon sounds like it would do the job.

The quantities for Baked Beans might be easier when cooking for a crowd. In winter bacon is manageable as you don't need to use it all up at once. In summer it might be easier to use vegetable oil and jerky. The other ingredients you could just wing it I think.

[dradius]

I would get a dehydrator if you plan on making a lot of meals, you will definitely save money. But, if you want to buy stuff that is already dehydrated, this is a great site http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Dehydrated-Beans_c_2.html

[Blissful]

You can get dried refried beans out there.

[Unclegorb]

I tried this out the other day and it was damn good.

- Dehydrate some bean "powder" (Video Recipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44RzBxOjgSQ)

- Mix bean powder with water in camp and spread on tortillas (its like SPICY refried beans)

- Then top tortillas with half of a Knorr's Southwestern Rice and Veggies Pack (Seasoned Rice, Corn, Peppers). You can find them at any grocery store.

- Roll-up and enjoy! They taste like vegitarian burritos or something. I'm also going to take a crack at mixing in a (foil) packet of chicken.

[JAK]

I like refried beans, and that does sound really good, but I think baked beans are different.
I wonder though, if after you made baked beans, if you could 'refry' the leftovers?

[TrippinBTM]

I don't have a dehydrator, but is there a way to buy dehydrated beans? I know they're in some of the Knorr sides and stuff, so they have to be out there by themselves, right? That'd be awesome, I love beans.

[budforester]

Maybe scroll back through the thread; there were some links and suggestions earlier. Google turns up some dehydrated food suppliers. In grocery stores, instant refried beans seem to be widely available; I liked the Zatarain's red beans & rice, but I've had to cut back on salt.

[hoz]

No dehydrator? Spread beans one layer thick on a cookie sheet. Heat oven to 150 (LOW) place in oven with door ajar. (A wadded up dishtowel between door and oven will do.)

Check and stir every hour until dry.

[emerald]

Brown rice and lentils fueled my through hike. I would take the time to prepare and dehydrate my meals beforehand today, assemble mail drops and have someone ship them to me just as I did then, even if I were the only person on the A.T. who still believed in mail drops.

Other than to reduce my pack weight, I wouldn't do much different than I did before.

One of my favorite things to eat when leaves and temperatures fall is soups. I've often thought pea powder either precooked and dehydrated or not would be an item I'd like to have in my pantry.

I like squash too. Dried and powdered pumpkin or squash could likely be used to produce a nutritious soup in the field quickly. It wouldn't take much effort to dry canned pumpkin.

[Erin]

I dehydrated alot of beans, which were fine, then found them at the local health food store. Mine had no spice, theirs did. I would still dehydreate and add stuff like taco seasoning, etc.

[atraildreamer]

I have tried this at home and it works!

If you think that a Mentos in a bottle of cola is a gas (pun intended :)) wait 'til you see what happens when you mix the baking soda in the bean water! :eek:

http://www.drmirkin.com/recipes/degas.html

De-gassing Beans

If you're bothered by gas when you eat beans, try this simple cure for your problem. Put the beans in a large pot and cover them with water. Bring them to a boil and take them off the heat. This breaks the capsules surrounding the beans and allows stachyose, verbascose and raffinose, the gas-causing sugars, to escape into the water. Stir a teaspoon or so of baking soda into the water (to make it more alkaline) and let the beans soak overnight. Drain the soaking water off the beans and rinse them several times. (If you eat the soaking liquid, you will cause unbelievable discomfort for yourself and those around you). Then proceed with your recipe to cook the beans.

[boarstone]

Cook the beans at home, dehydrate, add water when ready to eat let set, heat and eat.