My experience cooking beans in a pressure cooker was an unmitigated
disaster. I didn't pre-soak the beans, and generally followed the
directions in a bean recipe book I had purchased. I used about two
cups of beans and filled the cooker with water to about 3/4 point.
I have an "old style" cooker with a weighted pet-cock on the pressure
release hole that "sort of bobs up and down slightly" while at cooking
temperature. Anyway, it never bobed...So I kept on cooking for about
1/2 hour.
I was unstairs and heard the pet-cock "explode" up into the air. It hit
the ceiling with tremendous force. Beans were shooting up at the ceiling
like a fire hose!! I threw a towel over the top...it just blew the towel
away. Beans kept on coming!!! The ceiling was turning bean colored. I
tried to take it to the sink to cool it off...beans kept on coming.
I left a trail of beans everywhere. Finally after pouring cold water
on it I stopped the stream.
It took me almost two hours of scrubbing to clean up the mess. My wife
wasn't home and by the time she got home, it was finally cleaned up.
And I was exhausted. (She did discover some beans on some cups that
were on the counter...no doubt she wondered where they came from). I
never told her about it. I was ashamed.
I have never used a pressure cooker to cook beans again. Yvonne
doesn't even like beans, and they give me a lot of gas. I do
like beans however, but now eat the canned variety, or cook them
"regular."
The beans I cooked were a "mixture" and I'm sure they had lentils
in them...BIG MISTAKE.
I don't trust this situation and would never do it again.
Mike Rosenblatt of the legume club.
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