While I often write about freeze-drying, our humble dehydrator still comes out often. I much prefer to dehydrate certain items than freeze-dry them. Canned beans are one of those. It doesn’t take a long time to dry them, and once dried, they last a very long time. I often only need a small amount for a recipe and I can dry those small amounts without feeling I am wasting energy in my freeze-dryer (and to run a load, I must have all 5 trays full).
One drawback, I suppose, is they can split and puff up, but that just makes them creamier when rehydrated. So yes, they might look more perfect freeze-dried, but it works fine. And the cost of dehydrating is far lower. A basic Nesco Snackmaster dehydrator runs around $62.00 on Amazon. Depending on the size, a freeze-dryer starts at $2,000 to nearly $4,000. The entrance fee is far lower for dehydrating.
Yes, one can buy cooked and dehydrated beans. For example, you can purchase Great Northern beans on Amazon from Harmony House Foods (an excellent company) for $28, shipped. It is about 7 cans worth of beans.
(And they sell many varieties of beans ready for trail use – Click here to visit Harmony House Foods, Inc., such as their Bean & Legume Sampler)
How To Dehydrate Beans:
I dehydrated two bean types. Each tray on the dehydrator held one can of rinsed and drained beans.
As you can see, canned beans are generally already split by the canning process, so it isn’t unusual for them to swell up once dried.
Great Northern Beans:
15-ounce cans, Kroger/Fred Meyer’s brand Simple Truth Organic. It contained 1½ cups of beans once drained.
Cannellini Beans:
15.5-ounce cans, Safeway Select brand. It contained 1¼ cups of beans once drained.
The price average was $1 a can, as I waited for sales.
Each tray was marked, and I moved the bottom tray to the top every hour for a fully even drying experience. I ran them at about 135°, which is the go-to setting for most items you dehydrate.
Time:
I dried them from 9 am to 4 pm, so a 7-hour cycle.
Great Northern:
Each can is about 1¼ cups dried.
Weight per can: 2.6 ounces.
Cannellini Beans:
Each can is about 1 cup dried.
Weight per can: 2.05 ounces.
~Sarah