Instant Pot Good Mother Stallard Beans. Dried heirloom beans, pressure cooked in about an hour…after an overnight (or quick) soak.
Commenter Razzy recommended Good Mother Stallard beans, so when they showed up in my Rancho Gordo bean box, I couldn’t wait to try them out. I had a few questions about the name, though…
What’s so Good about Good Mother Stallard?
Why “Good” Mother Stallard? Because she had the good beans. From my online research1, we have grown this type of bean in America since at least the 1930s. They disappeared from seed catalogs in the middle of the century, and were “lost” until 1981. That’s when heirloom bean collector John Withee got this variety from Carrie Belle Stallard of Virginia, donated the seeds to Seed Savers, and gave them their memorable name. Now it is a commonly available heirloom bean. (I’m pretty sure I picked them at my local CSA the maroon pole bean pods I see in pictures look awfully familiar.)
Pressure cook all the beans
Most recommendations for Good Mother Stallard beans say “Keep it simple”. They make a great pot of bean all on their own. I took that to heart, cooking them with an onion and some bay leaves. My only problem was my “I’m pressure cooking, I don’t need to soak these beans” technique didn’t work as well as it usually does. These thick beans need to soak to get tender in a reasonable amount of time – they remind me of the way kidney beans pressure cook. So, if you possibly can, do the overnight soak or quick soak to make sure all the beans are tender when they’re done cooking.
Recipe: Instant Pot Good Mother Stallard Bean
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Instant Pot Good Mother Stallard Beans
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 cups of beans 1x
Description
Instant Pot Good Mother Stallard Beans. Dried heirloom beans, pressure cooked in about an hour…after an overnight (or quick) soak.
Ingredients
Soaking the beans
- 1 pound dried Good Mother Stallard beans, sorted and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
- 8 cups water (for soaking)
Cooking the beans
- 1 medium onion, peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 cups water (for cooking)
Instructions
- Sort and rinse the beans: First sort the beans, discarding any stones, dirt, or broken beans. Rinse the beans, then do an overnight or a quick soak.
- Overnight soak: Cover the beans by an inch with water, and stir in the salt. Leave the beans to soak at least 8 hours, or overnight. Drain the beans, discarding the soaking liquid.
- OR: Pressure Quick Soak for 1 minute with a 30 minute rest: Put the beans and 8 cups of water in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, and stir in the salt. Pressure cook at high pressure for 1 minute (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot), then let the beans sit for 30 minutes. Drain the beans, discarding the soaking liquid. Wipe out the pressure cooker pot if you’re re-using it in the next step.
- Pressure Cook for 15 minutes with a Natural Release: Put the soaked beans in the pressure cooker, add 5 cups of water, sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt, then add the onion and bay leaves. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, or for 12 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. (Use “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 minutes. (If you’re in a hurry, you can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes of natural pressure release.)
- Serve: Discard the onion and bay leaf. Serve the beans with their broth, or drain the beans and add to other dishes.
Notes
Freezing beans: Beans freeze really well. I always make a big batch and freeze the leftovers, covered with the cooking broth, in 2-cup containers. That makes them the perfect size to replace 15- to 16-ounce cans of beans in recipes.
Can you skip the soak? Yes, if you pressure cook for 45 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release…and then check the beans. If they’re not cooked through, give them another 5 minutes under pressure to finish cooking.
Tools
6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Instant Pot Good Mother Stallard Beans, Pressure Cooker Good Mother Stallard Beans
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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