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kittyfam

Why did my freshly purchased navy beans take so long get tender?

8 years ago

First off, I didn't check the date on the bags since I just bought them from a larger supermarket that goes through items pretty quickly. A few days later I went back to look at dates on their remaining bags, and all varieties had a year to go before expiring. So I think they were fresh and from that same batch.

So I was going to make Boston baked beans, and used two 1-Lb bags of navy beans. Sorted, rinsed, then soaked overnight. Next morning I rinsed them, and put in crock pot on low with water, syrups, spices, salt, vinegar. After 3 hours or so I checked, and they were completely crunchy. Turned to hot, cooked for 2 hours, checked, still crunchy. Since they were for a party, I got worried, transferred to large pot on stove top, cooked at a medium rolling boil for around 2 hours, without a lid since there still was so much water in them, very liquid. The beans were more tender than before, but still crunchy. So my husband put them in our electric pressure cooker for a little less than an hour, and this time they were finally thick and tender. But with a little bit of a burned flavor.

Even though I have made my own beans from dry many times before (but never navy beans and never in crock pot) I am worried about using this recipe again. What went wrong?

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