Confusion about cooking beans

[katcol79]

Hi all,

I’m new here, though I’ve had budgies a good number of years. I only recently have gotten into better feeding habits. I’m looking for some guidance on cooking beans.

I’ve fed my keet L’Avian Plus’ Bean Cuisine on pretty much a daily basis for the past six months or so. It’s a dry mix cooked in water on the stovetop that can be frozen in ice cube trays. I chop up some fresh veggies to mix in with it, and he loves it. I decided to try to make my own mix similar to it (ingredients include navy, pinto and small red beans; split peas and lentils; also barley, brown rice and pasta).

When I started reading about how to cook beans, I learned about the hemaglutin toxin in dried beans and how it has to be destroyed by cooking.

Here are my problems/questions:

1. I can’t seem to find a consensus on what an appropriate cooking time is. Several things I’ve read (from other threads on here, holisticbird and human food sites) have been talking about 40 minutes to an hour or two and more. On the other hand, I was looking at the kitchen sink recipe here on BirdBoard, and Lissa points out that after bringing the beans to a boil, she only cooks them for about 20 minutes; otherwise the beans get too mushy. This has been my experience as well; I’d rather serve them somewhat intact. I’d probably want to cook the minimum amount of time for them to be safe. Thoughts?

2. The Bean Cuisine contains dried navy, pinto and small red beans, but the cooking directions call for adding the mix to boiling water, returning to boil, then immediately removing from heat and letting cool. In other words, very little cooking time. The beans could be cut with a knife, but were still pretty hard, not mushy at all. I thought it was a little weird (and I’d usually cook a little longer so stuff got softer), but I didn’t know then about the whole toxin thing. Everything seems to be OK; Waldo ate it for months and never had a problem. Does anyone have any idea why the cooking time isn’t longer if the toxin issue presents a real problem?

I really appreciate whatever insight anyone might be able to offer -- I’m so confused! Thanks!

[huntress]

You and me both. I ve bought parrot mixes with dried beans in it.

[catschair]

I don't cook my beans that long, but I usually soak them overnight (just cuz Mom always soaked beans overnight..... and she probably did it because Grandma did) & we have never had any problems.

[DarwinTheSun]

I pressure cook mine for about 35 minutes (pressurized minutes) and do not soak. I think they have to either be soaked or pressure cooked. Either way, I think that cooking removes the toxin.

[birdsnreps]

we cook ours overnight in the crockpot, mix in rice and in the morning we have bird food nice and warm to serve. we just rinse it out before we feed it.

[Oscars Mom]

The mix must be precooked if it says their done that quickly.You could cook it alittle more if you want too but not too long.Its like minute rice

[Bela]

It took me a while playing with it, but I found if after the overnight presoak or the flash presoak, I can cook the beans for 90 minutes on a very low boil. It keeps the beans intact yet cooks them very well. Much like when you make a very clear chicken broth, you cook it on low boil where you barely see the surface of the water "glubbing". If it's a rolling boil, it will break the beans apart. I also add water as it cooks... fortunately, I only have to do this once a week now. I found the baby food plastic mini-tubs store 2 heaping tablespoons of the bean rice quinoa mash. It stores nicely in the freezer.

I have not tried in a slow cooker, although I've done corn that way and it worked well.

[sunbirdx]

What I do ( to play it safe) is soak for 24 hours before hand and then cook the beans for 1 and a half to 2 hours. I use 15 bean soup mix and I am paranoid, so I cook soak and cook for a long time.

I make a huge batch (2 months worth) and freeze it in ice-cube trays, then in air-tight containers.

[Ginich]

I use Organic Beans in BEANIE BIRDIEBREAD-I soak them overnight, bring them to a boil, then cook them on low for 3 hrs. I have never had a fid get indigestion or gas or sick from eating well cooked beans. It makes a great thick soup and the medium and larger beans stay intact.

[Maggie F.]

Soaking the beans 18-24 hours in warm water (about 140° -- changing water out a few times, or adding more warm water when it cools) significantly reduces the amount of phytic acid. The Phytic acid reduces the ability of the body soak up the vitamins and minerals in the beans. The body can react to the excess acid with indigestion. Different beans have different levels of phytic acid. Because of this, many people limit the beans they serve to their birds to lentils, mungs, adzukis and garbanzos. If the beans are soaked for 18-24 hours, then they don't need as long to cook.

Some mixes have pre-cooked dry beans in them, I believe the Bean Cuisine does.