I’ve noticed sometimes that there’s some half-baked videos or blogs or whatever that purport this or that frugal trick, but if you look at the time or math, it’s not actually frugal for you.
What are some examples of that you’ve come across? The things that “aren’t worth it”?
For me it’s couponing. (Although I haven’t heard people talk about it recently–has it fallen out of “style”, or have businesses caught up to the loopholes folks used to exploit?)
Businesses have caught up and fixed the exploits.
For me, it’s dried beans. Beans are an excellent source of protein and fiber, and it doesn’t get much cheaper per serving than bulk dried beans.
But rinsing, soaking over night, and then boiling, only to end up with way more beans than we will consume, and canned beans are almost as good and almost as cheap.
We use a pressure cooker for our dried beans. 20-40 minutes depending on the bean. You don’t have to soak them overnight when using a pressure cooker. I ensure that each batch we make is consumed within five days.
Canned beans are considerably more expensive based on the amount we eat.
If you only eat a can here and there, it’s probably not worth making them from dry.
I’ve found pressure cookers are the only way I can get beans tender. (I’m not a great cook.)
Do you have hard water? That can make beans not get soft if you’re boiling them.
Soaking the beans with baking soda also help tremendously to get softer beans.
See also https://youtu.be/GMBegZ4HQvk?si=8YeRCnCXO-rc4HE4
Thank you! Excellent tips, now I wanna try them all
Get the beans and water to a boil, then turn down the heat until it’s just simmering.
Simmer for 1 hour, then taste test. Most dried beans will be tender, but some dried beans that have been sitting on the shelf for a long time might take up to 1 more hour of simmering, for a total of 2 hours.
I’ve never had dried beans take more than 2 hours of simmering to tenderize.
Dried lentils take much less time, usually about 45 minutes.
Pour off all the water and rinse the beans until the water runs clean. The bean simmering water contains much of the indigestible sugars that make you fart after you eat beans.
Now the beans are ready to make soups and chili or however you want to use them.
But yeah, 20-40 minutes in a pressure cooker is a lot faster.
Dried beans are a huge win for me (with a pressure cooker) because they’re cheaper and tastier… but the biggest thing is that they’re really easy to get in bulk and store. Canned beans are HEAVY and if you walk / bike / take transit to get groceries that can be a big deal too.
Probably not frugal, but instant pot changed my life, in regards to soaking beans. What a time/effort saver.
Can you share your technique? I have a giant bag of black beans and I always reach for a can instead because it’s such a hassle.
Pour em in the pot, fill with water about an inch over the top of the beans. 40 mins, and pull em, or 30 mins with 15 min natural release (recommended, but I almost never do it).
That sounds very easy. I’ll give it a try, thanks!
This is why I go with lentils. They don’t require that lengthy soak so it doesn’t take much more time to make a serving of lentils than a serving of rice.
Agreed. I only keep dried puy lentils and adzuki beans. White beans, kidney beans, garbanzo… nah fuck that.
And even then, I’m making a batch and freezing half.
Also: fuck broad beans entirely. I have no room for that double shelling nonsense.
Soaking and cooking too many beans? That’s just like opening a big can of beans when a small one would suffice.
Get an eletric pressure cooker and you can get it from the pack to ready to eat in an hour at most. With a little confidence you can even use most of that time for other stuff.