I’m “Almost” A Member of The Cult!

[Draznnl]

When choosing andouille sausage for your red beans and rice, would you pick one with a thin casing that has no snap and a mealy grind like a hot dog? Why not seek out a bean that has a discernible snap, a smooth interior, and a rich flavor?

[Panhead John]

Canned beans don’t even enter the equation for me, I’m trying to compare apples to apples. Sure, canned beans are way more convenient and I’ve used my share of those. Believe it or not, I use more dried beans than canned. I generally plan on making a pot and freezing the leftovers. For the red beans and rice, all the ingredients I used were very common in an authentic recipe, with the exception of the Tasso….I only added a little. If you have to leave out ingredients and let the beans shine for something like red beans and rice……forget it. That ain’t for me. As I mentioned, I tried several spoonfuls of the beans by themselves, no veggies or meat in em. I WANTED to get wowed by them, I was a little excited when I tasted the first spoonful….and then was left wondering what all the fuss was about. I could tell no difference from these and what I’d used all these years, texture wise, mouth feel and taste wise. They were good and I liked em but……

I agree about the big variety of beans RG offers, there’s way more than I could cook and eat in my lifetime. I’m going to try their pintos for my next cook. I don’t want to discourage anyone from trying them, we all have different likes of course and maybe I’m the outlier here, not sure. 🤷♂️

[LA Pork Butt]

Panhead John If you dion’t
like kidney beans what do you use to make red beans and rice with? Just about everyone I know in New Orleans swears by Camellia brand kidney beans. They are lighter in color than most other brands of kidney beans. I think that is why they cream up so well.

[Panhead John]

As the name implies….Red Beans…🤓 There are Red Beans and there are Red Kidney Beans, 2 different varieties. I know some people use kidney beans instead of actual Small Red Beans, but as I mentioned, not a fan of kidneys. I used to think everyone used actual red beans but found out later that’s not always the case.

[Carolyn]

Panhead John I order beans directly from Camellia online. Last time I ordered, I got a bag of the small Red Beans. I think I like them better than their Kidney beans.

[bbqLuv]

Got to love it. Coor's Light drinker full of beans. 😁

I look forward your bean cooks. Don't forget pictures.

[jayjordan]

Just ordered a few varieties from RG.
Scarlet Runner Bean
Pinto Bean
Santa Maria Pinquito Bean
Midnight Black Bean
Green Baby Lima Bean

[fzxdoc]

Let us know how you like them.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

I don't make red beans and rice with any bean except RG Domingo Rojo. They were one of the first RG varieties I tried, and my RB&R recipe was kicked up a notch by using them. They're my fave for that dish.

It's OK, you can play on our RG team anyway, Panhead John , even if you're not a RG bean convert. Your RB&R dish looks fantastic, BTW. Makes me hungry just looking at it.

For me, supermarket beans taste sort of "dusty" compared with the flavors of RG beans, sort of like your canned Coke vs. plastic bottle Coke taste test, PJ, only with beans. Plus as others have said, the texture of the beans is superior with RG, at least for me and the family.

I like a bean with only a little bit of resistance in the bite of the skin and with a creamy interior. That's why I record all my bean cooks, zeroing in on optimum cook times for each variety of RG bean.

The bean varieties usually end up end up lumped into set cooking times determined more by size than anything else, although the age of the bean and altitude play a role as well, I've found.
And yes, my fave bean cooker is my Instant Pot.

Kathryn

[Panhead John]

Thanks Kathryn. Hope the pintos convert me over 100%, right now I feel like a fraud. 😂

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Panhead John the Pintos were what got me... ate loads of scratch made with dried bean pinto dishes as a kid, RG beans were significantly better than any I had ate or made to that point. If those don't do it for ya, then RG just ain't never gonna be your jam and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Mosca]

Panhead John I get where you’re coming from. In the end, they’re just beans. They’re going to taste… like beans.

Like I said, since I’ve mostly bought the odd ones, I can’t really compare. But I like making similar comparisons to tomatoes. Supermarket tomatoes are mostly pretty bad, but sometimes “tomatoes on the vine” are pretty good; and heirloom tomatoes are usually pretty good, but sometimes they’re just tomatoes.

[Panhead John]

Yeah, I know what you mean Tom. I’m looking forward to trying the Mother Stallards, I’d never even heard of that type until seeing them here recently. At the least, buying the RG’s will expand my horizons. 😁

[Porkies]

I was going to try rg until I saw the prices. The only way beans could be worth that much (to my bank account) for that amount is MAYBE if they were actually Healthier (which maybe rg are organic/raised in clean soil?) for humans. I really don't eat enough beans to know, except for refried, and I am doubtful rg beans will make refried any better than the common shelf dried.

I've grown backyard beans/peas and they are good, but not worth the trouble/cost of growing them (except the organic-ness, etc...).

I do enjoy all of the rg stories though!

[Mosca]

Now I know what to get you if I draw your name in Secret Santa!