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Rant: my uncle in Fresno swore dried beans were cheaper than canned, and he was dead wrong for my house
I did the math on his advice after he pushed it at Thanksgiving: 2 pounds of dried pinto beans at $2.49 plus hours on the stove got me about 12 cups cooked, while 4 cans of the same beans at $0.89 each gave me 14 cups in 10 minutes, so once I added in the gas and my time the 'cheap' version actually cost me more per meal.
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wells.brooke18d ago
Wait, 12 cups from 2 pounds? Mine never comes out that far, I swear a pound of dried beans gives me like 4 cups tops after they cook down. Either your pot is magic or I have been buying the wrong brand this whole time. And the Fresno AC point is so real, my sister lives out there and her electric bill in summer is nuts just from trying to keep the house livable.
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lewis.drew18d ago
The gas thing is what gets me every time. A burner on medium for two hours is not free, and in Fresno in July you're also paying to run the AC harder while that pot heats up your kitchen, so the real cost of those dried pintos is way higher than the sticker on the bag. Then there's the soak. Most people forget you either give up counter space overnight or you do the quick soak, which still means boiling first, so you're already at 20 minutes before the actual cooking even starts. And the 12 cups vs 14 cups matters too because canned beans are packed in liquid, so if you drain and rinse you lose some, but you also get consistent texture every single time instead of the batch that comes out mushy because you walked away for ten minutes. Your uncle's math only works if your time is worth zero and you already had the stove on for something else. Mine isn't, so I keep a case of cans in the pantry and sleep fine.
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