What kind of dried beans do you buy?

[Sweetcakes]

I would like to try buying dried beans instead of the canned but was wondering which is the best ones to start with.

Which beans do you prefer taste and texture wise?

[imagine]

I like pinto beans. They also make great retried beans.

[Winkie]

What kind of beans do you usually eat? Do you have a specific recipe in mind? I would try to select the kind of dry beans that you usually purchase in a can.

[shoiji]

You might want to purchase black beans since you do not need to soak them before hand. As Winkie says it is better to purchase the type of beans you usually use.

[zakity]

I keep dried pintos on hand (bulk purchase). I also have on hand a small amount of white beans and some lentils. Pintos are the only beans that I can get my guys to eat regularly so that is what I do a bulk purchase on. They will eat white beans and ham once in a blue moon.

[Ramona]

We pretty much stick to lentils.

[Uniwolf]

as posted by others I would start with what you normally use in your everyday life. I grew up eating just about all of them and eat just about all still. So I have a wide variation, just varing(sp) quantities of them. Just remember to soak drain, rinse, cook (about 10 min) drain and then do your regular cooking. They will come out much better IMO. What ever way you decide to go, good luck, it will be cheaper for you.

[jas]

These are the kinds I keep on hand. White beans, pinto, black, garbonzo (chick peas), and lentils, also split green peas.

Like the others have posted start with what you alread know and like.

[Ssindi]

I buy any dry beans on sale except garbonzo.Not that fond of them so only buy for a specifc recipe. I usually have canned black beans and cannellini beans on hand for quick recipes. Love baby limas but they are hard to find and expensive.

[savvy_sniper]

Pinto beans, blackeyed peas, and lima beans are in my pantry. Those are the ones we like. Stock what you eat and eat what you stock.

[mommynurse]

My kids only like navy beans so that's what I buy.

[bobbiebushman]

We eat beans almost every day as my family doesn't buy meat. We keep several kinds of beans which we purchase from Unfi and before that, Azure Standard. We get our beans in 25 lb sacks. Pintos are great to start with. Black beans are cheapest (from Unfi) and lentils can be prepared most quickly.

I blogged about my family's start in buying bulk in my blog, Budgeting with the Bushmans, but since I'm so new I can't share the link with you . . yet.

[Sweetcakes]

We actually haven't been a bean family before. I had to go check the can (lol) to see what kind of bean it was and it says "white beans." I've been slowly incorporating beans in certain dishes and I don't think anyone has noticed yet. But I'd like to start using dry beans to do that instead. I'd like to be able to replace some meats with beans, eventually.

[pat in east texas]

I really like black beans. They have a good flavor, even though I don't add any salt to cook them. I just cook them as they are, then I can add anything I want.

[tervsforme]

I use all types of beans as well. I like the large lima beans in soup with ham. I made black beans for the first time a few weeks ago, they turned out great. I also like pink beans, or berlotti beans. Those keep their shape and texture, I loved those. I do buy navy beans and lentils as well.

They are fairly inexpensive, so just experiment! The white beans in the can are probably navy beans.