Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Pintos

I have a recipe that I've made before and we like it, but have a couple questions.

Smoked ham hocks:
Is one enough? Is two too many?

It has been advised in bean threads to not add salt until cooking is complete. Should the hocks be added early or late?

Last time it took a long time for the beans to cook and soften. I had soaked the beans overnight, rinsed, added ingredients and brought to a boil, simmering about all day.
Other cooking method?

I put the pork right in after the beans come up to temperature. Pretty much stopped using store bought smoked ham hocks. Using mostly smoked shanks now. More meat on them, in my eperience.

On second thought. the hocks may be gone (from our pigs). It may be ham bones in the freezer.

In Texas we use Smoked Bacon 1/4 pound per pound of beans. Also add salt last 15 min before beans are done. Makes a difference. Good luck on beans

Salt them when done otherwise the salt will make them take longer to cook. Add the hocks when you start cooking them. I also like to peel an onion and throw it in as well. I either soak overnite or bring to a boil and then take off the heat and let soak an hour or two then rinse and cook. Sometimes they just seem to take longer to cook than other times, I've read that the older they are the longer they can take to cook. Now all you need is a big 'ol pan of cornbread.

I cook the beans separately in a pressure cooker.The age of the beans make a difference, but unsoaked fairly fresh beans takes me 11 minutes to cook and that is with running cold water over the pressure cooker when that 11 minutes is up. If not, and you let it cool slowly,the beans will keep on cooking and be mush.This is for 2 cups of beans.( you might have to experiment with the first batch to get the right time)

Then drain the beans in a collander. Don't use the water they were cooked in and you won't get much gas from them when eaten.

I quit using hocks etc. and use diced ham . Either from a ham we cooked or I buy a ham steak and dice it. I use about a pound of diced ham.That way,you get to eat everything you pay for and get the same flavor as smoked hocks. If you want more smoke flavor add liquid smoke.Don't add more salt.

Put all your ingredients in a big pot and use beef broth instead of water for any liquid you add.Simmer down to the consistency you like

Here's the recipe I've used:


1# (2 C) pintos
2-15 oz cans chicken broth
1 large onion, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped
1/2 C green salsa
1 t cumin
1/2 t black pepper.



They were fine without added salt. I was concerned with the salt in the ham hunk making the beans tough. Not a worry?

We ate at Mi Tierra in San Antonio over Christmas, my wife had to try and mimic their beans, this is pretty close-After making these a couple times, I prefer the bacon over ham, and I am a huge fan of ham

1 teaspoon lard or vegetable oil
4 slices Bacon
1/2 Onion; chopped
2 Jalapeno peppers; Fresh, stemmed and chaopped
2 cloves Garlic cloves; minced
6 cups Pinto beans; Beans and Bean Broth
1 tablespoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground cumin

Cooking the beans and broth:
Sort beans removing stones and dirt. Rinse.
Place in pot. Add 8 cups of water.
Bring to a boil. reduce heat, cook on low for 6 hours, or until tender.

**Crock pot version-2 hours on high, or 6 hours on low.

After beans are cooked:
heat oil and fry the bacon and onions together over high heat until the onion is golden.
Add Chiles and garlic. Cook one minute more.
Add salt and cumin.
Add cooked beans mixture. Simmer 10 minutes

Gas a problem after eating beans? Beano is your friend.

La Margarita in San Antonio is also good. Been there forever. That recipe looks like a Tex Mex recipe. Will try Thanks

I don't suffer from gas after eating beans.







I actually enjoy it. Those around me, not so much.

Cooked in my dads Mexican clay pot over mesquite coals. Add onion, garlic, 1/2 seranno pepper, cilantro, fresh cracked black pepper, cumin to taste, bacon and salt after cooking.



BP...

Man the clay pot just makes them look all that much better.

Need one of those.

LD's spot on with smoked shanks.....I use one med size shank...one sweet onion....and a quart of chic/veg stock.....throw it all in the pot.....bring it to a boil.....put the lid on (ajar)....and let it cook for 3-4 hrs......add water if needed...

Following SaddleSores's advice...I've added a can of diced tomato's and a large can of mild green chili's to the last two pots....best pinto's I've ever made......

Matter of fact...I'm eating left over Pinto's tonight....

PS....don't add ANY salt.....pepper...cumin....cilantro...are all fine if you like but no salt....

I agree. No salt til done. Better luck cooking beans separate up in higher elevation. Near sea level them beans cook a lot faster. Seems you can even add salt before they are done but I try not to.

This pot is at least 50 yrs. old. and my dad said he got it out of Mexico. He always had it at deer camp.
He took a lot of military men hunting and he usually had a pot of beans cooking their first day there. Instead of a serrano pepper he would put in a few whole chili pequines. Him, my brother and I would always anticipate the reaction of the first recipient of one of those peppers.

When looking for one make damn sure the inside is glazed as the clay has lead in it. I hear ingesting to much lead turns you into a democrat.

BP...

I much prefer salt pork (fatback) over ham or ham hocks. miles

I'm about 20' ASL.

Used this on Sat. Soaked the beans in water overnight Fri by heating to 'pretty warm', covered and let sit until Sat about noon.

Added all the rest and a smoked ham bone (proximal end of the femur and the acetabulum). Is that a shank end?

Cooked at a high simmer until about 6 PM. Made cornbread and was very good. The ham was done locally and seemed to be a bit heavy on the smoke, but good.

Finished the leftovers for dinner last night and seemed mellower and mo betta.

Had Pintos, cornbread and honey for supper a few minutes ago.

I prefer neck bones. I brown the necks in a skillet and dump in the bean pot.

Ham bones are what we gots.

2 or 3 more in the freezer w/ a lighter smoke. Looking forward to them too.

I've started using smoked pork necks instead of hocks. Great flavor and there's a lot of meat on them. Don't see shanks that often, so I've never used them.

If I had nothing but pintos to eat, reckon I'd be awful damn hungry!

However, today I'm starting a batch of bean with bacon, the latter from a market that does great smoked meats. The beans will be canned great northern, so I can put in the salt whenever I want...

Great Northerns or Navies I can do.

Well, we also have pork&beans and a lot of tofu. <grin>

Sadly, my wife loves pintos but never fixes them. I tell her to make them-just don't expect me to eat more than a small bowl of them but she rarely ever does.

You're spoiled!

I throw a packet of Goya Jamon seasoning in mine.

I made a pile this weekend.

Two cans of Rotel, salt, Tony's, and a big slice of ham with bone.






Travis

It is getting to be 'pinto season'. Seems to me the crock pot was MADE for pintos. Soak the beans overnight. Drain and put in crockpot with choice of meat/bones, a couple bay leaves, diced onion, celery, and garlic, pinch of cumin (a can of Rotel can be good too). Cover with fresh water, set to low, and go to work/hunt/whatever. Come home, make cornbread and enjoy.

Yeaaaaahhhhh, NO!

Funny. I wasn't so keen on them when I was a kid and had them at least once a week. Now it is a comfort food.

Liver and onions - blah!!!! Never grew into that dish.

Same here, djb.



And same here, djb!

I use smoked turkey parts in collards and have stared doing the same for pintos. The end result is a much smokier stock. Also, I cook the stock for about an hour before adding the beans.

I don't add any of the other ingredients mentioned in the thread because I believe you're then making soup.

OT but as someone else said we had pintos and greens at least once a week growing up. Probably because they were cheap but we all liked them. Fast forward to a recent visit to Cracker Barrel where a small bowl of greens or pintos were almost 5 bucks. I can buy about 6 bags of pintos and make a couple hundred bowls of beans at that price.

Collards will grow in sand and are very hearty. I've had plants that kept producing for years.

I will add collards to my order at a good BBQ place, if I see them on the menu. Not much of a Cracker Barrel customer these days.

Nor am I but it makes my 80 year young folks happy so we go and do. :))

Nor I. Should be served next to a skull & crossed bones.

Dad liked it, and that was good enough. That's why I always went. Actually had me take him there 2 nights in a row once.

I soak pintos overnight and pour off the water and replace with fresh. Add cut up onion, a teaspoon or so of minced garlic, a bit of crushed red pepper flakes to taste, and the same with black pepper. Also add ham hocks or ham bone, depending on what I have got on hand. What really gives it a good flavor is to get some salted hog jowl and rinse it real good to get the salt off -important- and slice it up into about 1 inch cubes. Do not add any additional salt as there probably will be plenty from the salt jowl. Boil gently uncovered, adding water as needed until beans are soft. Taste the broth before beans are fully soft and add salt if needed. Probably not needed as even though the salt jowl was rinsed well, it will still leach out a bit of salt. My wife likes me to add a pound or so of seasoned and browned ground meat as well to it. Pretty darn good eat'n either way.

My wife on some occasions adds hunks of Kielbasi or other link sausage to the beans. Makes a good change of pace, but the standard is pinto beans, pan fried potatoes and cornbread. miles