Pinto Beans with Bacon Sous Vide Recipe

Set the SV1 to 190ºF/87ºC

 

Using the VacMaster bag filler combine the beans, bacon, oregano, onion, garlic, water and salt to taste in an appropriately sized VacMaster bag and using a VacMaster chamber machine vacuum seal.

 

Carefully place the bag in the water bath of the SV and cook for 6-8 hours or until the beans are tender to your liking.  if unsure you can carefully pinch the bag and see if the beans are tender.

 

Use the bean immediately or chill the bag thoroughly and refrigerate until needed. 

 

Notes: 

 

Pinto beans are said to hail from Peru and a bit later from latin America their beige-coloring with streaks of pinkish-brown make them look almost painted. This visual distinction is probably how the bean received its name as pinto translates to paint in Spanish.

 

Bean cooks I’m sure are a bit shocked to see that this recipe calls for dried beans with no presoaking. Keep and open mind this no-soak bean is not unique to the sous vide method as I’ve been making this type of bean conventionally for years in an old cast iron pot my go to bean dish.  Whether cozies up to a nice grilled steak, topped with some smoky barbecue or even a side dish to chili or eaten with just a warm hunk of cornbread these beans are delicious.

 

As mentioned elsewhere, adding vinegar or lemon juice to beans after they are cooked picks up their flavour. For pinto beans, try lime juice if you are aiming for a Mexican touch (and if you have lime juice on hand).

 

White or Red Kidney Beans

 

1/2 pound (225g) of dried beans = 1 cup dried beans = 3 cups of cooked beans = 500g / approx 1 pound of cooked beans