Could use a little pinto bean help

These beans were inspired by my friend Tom, who is quite the hand at cooking both inside and outside.


3 cups washed Pinto beans
3 or 4 twice smoked ham hocks (or shanks) (or few strips bacon) (or 1/3 lb salt pork)
1 onion, chopped and sweated.
2 green onions with tops, chopped and sweated
2 split and seeded jalapenos (or serrano peppers), chopped
2 or 3 mild green chilis like Anaheim or Big Jim, roasted, skinned then chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, roasted and mashed into paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 T. dry mustard
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. chili powder “Top Hat” is my favorite
1 can extra Hot Rotel Tomatoes (optional)
1 or 2 t Summer Savory
1 t Epazote
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Sriracha “hot” chili sauce served at the table.

Cover beans with water and soak overnight. For this years crop, soak about 3 or 4 hours only.

Drain the water off of the beans, rinse them, put in large pot and cover with fresh water by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the ham hocks, onions, garlic, peppers, bay leaf, mustard, Summer Savory, epazote, black pepper and chili powder. The beans can cook on the stovetop or be moved to the cooker, with the lid on but ajar. Add more water anytime during the cook as needed. Lastly, add the Worcestershire and tomatoes and cook for about 30 minutes more. Remove the hocks and pick the meat off of the bone, return to beans. Salt to taste at the end to avoid making the skin on the beans tough.

To reduce heat, use regular canned tomatoes and/or omit the serranos.

For smoky beans, move the Dutch oven into your cooker and remove the cover for the final hour or two, keeping your eye on the liquid level, adding water as needed. (The twice smoked hocks will give the beans a small amount of smoke flavor without extra smoke from the cooker.)

Use fresh water and cover with about 1" in pot. Don't salt until cooked. When the beans are fully cooked, mash some to make the liquid the consistency you like. Enjoy.
Paperboy98

I've done a few different recipes. I really like Dr BBQs recipe and Vencil's Taylor Cafe recipe. I'm trying to get back to basic good flavor recipe for comps. Rules state nothing arger than a bean. But I'd like to turn in a cup with beans and gravy only.

Ditto on the mashing or blending be in the juice and adding back to the pot.

I like to throw a little tomato sauce in with them. Along with some ham onions. No real recipe just toss it all in.

Bean and pork all you need then cut up a onion and good corn bread now that eating

Here's a recipe I like from Jeff Wheeler aka Bigwheel.


Bigwheel's Beans

2 lbs washed pintos
1/3 lb salt pork..few strips bacon..or pork hock
1 onion
2 split japs or serrano peppers
3-4 garlic cloves
1 T. dry mustard
1 T. wooster sauce
3 T. chili powder
1 can extra Hot Rotel Tomatoes with Habs
salt and pepper to taste

Cover beans with 2" of water and soak 1 hr. Drain and refill to same level. Add the salt pork and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce heat and put on the lid. Simmer till nearly done but not quite then add the other stuff. Once you add the tomatoes they dont tender up any more. Add water anywhere along the way if they get too dry. Veggies can be chopped..purreed or floated. If you aint into heat too strong..use only half a can of the tomaters.

Them's some good lookin beans Thirdeye! Good luck on yours HarborMaster, I got a Dutch oven on right now full of em myself...

I got a silly question, how long do you guys soak beans for?

overnite is 8 hours for me,,, 12 for my wife,,

Well my mom and dad are from Tennessee and here is how we have always made our beans, even my folks down in TN.

We do not soak the beans at all, make sure there are no rocks (if you are buying from a store) rinse them, put in a pot and cover with about 2 inches of water and add a big ol scoop of lard (butter works too) bring to a boil. Reduce hit and simmer for about 3-4 hours, add some onions. If you have a ham bone or some ham chunks those are nice. Never had a problem with the beans not being soft. Then you have to have fried taters and homemade cornbread with it.
This is actually my Super Bowl menu!!

I used to soak the beans overnight and then change the water, but several years ago I got lazy and decided to just toss everything in the slow cooker and just go for it. As long as you rinse them off real good and get rid of the rocks they don't seem to be much different than the soaked variety, although they do seem to take a little longer to cook.

You all made me miss the beans Mom used to make. So I went to the store, bought a couple smoked ham hocks, and am soaking the beans as we speak.
This is gonna be good!

Cowgirl's smoked beans

Don't forget Cowgirl's smoked beans. Soak 'em. Drain in colander. Put colander into smoker. Smoke 'em. Then use as normal.

The entire thread is:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52949&highlight=beans

The details are:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=794449&postcount=15

I bought beans just for this and haven't had the time....

If you are planning on making them into refried, put a dab of Crisco lard into the pot. The wife does it and so has many other generations of Mexican women before her!

My Mom always taught us that you could tell when the beans were done when you take up a spoonful of beans out of the pot then blow on them. If the skin splits then they are done just right, if not then keep cooking. It's always worked out for me. Have any of you heard of this before?

Marsha said:

My Mom always taught us that you could tell when the beans were done when you take up a spoonful of beans out of the pot then blow on them. If the skin splits then they are done just right, if not then keep cooking. It's always worked out for me. Have any of you heard of this before?

Click to expand...

No, but I'll be checking it out in a couple of hours. Pintos are simmering away on the stove right now.