Rancho Gordo Beans and Bean Club

[SheilaAnn]

Bean Club Members! Did y’all get the announcement for the Rancho Gordo Encuentro in October yet?

[SheilaAnn]

I heard that bean club members were getting access a pre-sale heads up.

[klflowers]

Just got the email. First choice on tickets; general public tomorrow

[Alan Brice]

Yes just got my notice. Tx 4 the heads up, SA.
Already committed to Lafayette. Starts 23rd ends 27th. Have fun.

[fzxdoc]

Yup, sure did, SheilaAnn . Yet another event I'll attend vicariously.

Kathryn

[SheilaAnn]

OMG! The orders are flooding in!

I’ll share the event as its own thread.

[CRO]

Stocked up on Rancho Gordo for Fall Chili season.

[Alan Brice]

Love it! How do you like GMS?

[CRO]

GMS was my 1st Rancho Gordo experience. Since then my pantry is full of various beans. I recently got some of their Cranberry Beans for Pasta e Fagioli.

[fzxdoc]

Here's a really nice article about Steve Sando and how he started his Rancho Gordo bean enterprise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/other/he-s-the-bean-king-of-america-and-business-has-never-been-healthier/ar-AA1TVmpx

After reading it, I had to go and throw some beans in my Instant Pot. I like the way Sando eats makes a pot of beans on Sunday and eats them all week in various dishes. I particularly like the bean dip he makes at the end of the week with whatever beans are left over. I think I'll pass on doing bean broth shots, though.

Kathryn

[yakima]

Nice article, WSJ and MSN, highlighted in current RG newsletter. 30,000 bean club members, 29,000 on the waitlist. Amazing.

[yakima]

K beat me by 5 minutes. Am slowly catching up.

[SheilaAnn]

And I’ve said it before….. he is one of the most humble, gentle person I have ever met. And he’s funny as heck, too 💗

[yakima]

1st quarter 2026 bean club shipment arrived today. Christmas in February! Beans, peas, rice, lentils.

[Alan Brice]

Sorry SA. I did not know that was a thing.
I was getting too many bags of rice when all I wanted was beans,
I have various black beans and Christmas Limas coming out the Wazoo.

[Dan Deter]

Alan Brice that's why I had to stop as well. I just couldn't keep up, even though the beans are sooo good!

[58limited]

My order, last time I checked, is in Fort Hancock, Texas. Never heard of the place. Population 1,052. Seems like a weird place to do a tracking update but it is 55 miles east of El Paso on I-10 so maybe the post office has a distribution center there.

[fzxdoc]

Now that we have a winter place and a rest-of-the-year home, I've got beans in both kitchens. I've been a RG Bean Club member for years now.

Switched to Bean Club Lite a few years back. The only downside is that the deliveries are 2nd and 4th quarters, and the 4th quarter, being around the holidays, always has Christmas limas and red popcorn, so at most I only get 4 new-to-me bean varieties with that shipment, maybe. I've got popcorn coming out of my ears.

That said, I wear my Leguminati t-shirt and ball cap proudly. Just for clarification, that's not me in the shirt :



Kathryn

[Alan Brice]

yer brutha??

[58limited]

Thanks for the clarification. I was about to ask you for recommendations for buying beard wax.

[yakima]

Think of the logistics. 30,000 bean club members per recent news reports. The latest delivery contained 7 one pound bags, That is 210,000 pounds. Only 35,000 bushels, assuming 60 lbs/bu at 13% moisture (soybeans), but spread across many varieties. Per their website, they catalog 41 beans and 10 grains.

And there are nonclub sales. Probably a sigificant amount.

So, somewhere, there are 51 separate fairly small bins, with associated augers/chutes/conveyor belts. A truck comes in from a contracted grower, goes across a commercial scale. Unloads clean beans via belt into an overhead bin or elevator leg. Back across the scale. Or maybe product comes in big totes. Customs issues for product grown in Mexico and trucked to Napa. Packaging, labeling, mailing facilities.
It would be fun for someone to do a behind the scenes report/article.

SheilaAnn...

[yakima]

SheilaAnn, with your recent job change, your RG access may be more limited. As a side hustle, consider a freelance writing assignment. The unsaid quid pro quo could be club membership. Spend several days in Napa prior to a quarterly shipment, and also during receipt of product from growers.

As an aside, California water limitations may force growers to less water intensive crops, such as beans.

[ecowper]

I'm a non-club guy who orders plenty of their beans throughout the year. It's just that 1. I prefer certain beans and 2. I ended up with a billion odd things I didn't really want when I was in the club. And I'm sure there's a lot of others like me. Plus those 29K on the wait list are certainly buying beans while they wait. I bet that they have 100K direct to consumer customers between the club, the wait list, and they non-club folks like me.

[Mosca]

ecowper Same here. I’ll go months without thinking about beans, then I’ll make bean things a couple-three nights a week for a couple weeks, then I’ll forget about them, then I’ll be looking in the pantry and think, “I should make something with those beans….”

[MBMorgan]

Breaking News! As of yesterday, the Bean Club waiting list has dropped from 29,000 to 28,999. I’m in!

[yakima]

Just don't lord it over SheilaAnn, a desperate wannabe.

[Alan Brice]

Yer Welcome.

[klflowers]

I almost canceled a couple years ago, but fzxdoc told me about the lite club. Great alternative. Between giving some away and cooking a bunch I only have 2 shelves full in the pantry lol

[yakima]

But each shelf is 12 feet long?

[Alan Brice]

20

[CRO]

I'm new to Rancho Gordo beans. So I need advice.
How do you cook your beans?
Do you presoak?

I have cooked several batches. I have not done a presoak. My method is to put the beans in the pot (see attached) with raw aromatics and cook until tender. With Rancho Gordo and this pot, around 2 hours or so. I don't drain the bean broth (i think its what makes RG Beans great).
Thoughts everyone

[barelfly]

Stove top in the DO or the insta work great. I was always the stove top in the DO cook but my wife convinced me to try the IP one day and of course it was great and cooked in shorter time. Both ways work great, so have fun with those RG Beans!

[ecowper]

CRO here's how I cook Pinquitos. But the method works for just about any of their beans

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/recipes-technique-food-cooking/bean-recipes/1032888-recipe-pinquitos-may-be-best-beans-i’ve-cooked

[Mosca]

I do as Alan Brice does: 10-15 minute hard boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until done. You can soak them, though, they come out the same either way.

I’ve never used the pressure cooker for them, but I’m sure it works well.

[yakima]

I am kinda old school. Soak overnite. Drain, rinse; saute carrots, celery, onions in olive oil in Rancho Gordo's stovetop bean jug. Add beans, new water/stock, bring to a boil for a bit (5-10), simmer as low as possible till done to your preference.

I like the old school approach. Not a fan of Insta-Pot, but for no good reason.
I dispose of soak water, mostly due to concern re lectins per @Kathryn.
But I am not juggling work, kids, etc.
RG beans, for me, have been incredibly clean. Good to rinse, have never found any intruders.

[Mosca]

I’ve done both soaking and not soaking. They both work, the final result tastes pretty good to me either way. Now I just cook the beans without soaking. RG says to start by doing a hard boil for 10-15 minutes, then simmer; that recommendation is to neutralize any PHA, the natural toxin in some beans.

I don’t use a pressure cooker for beans. They’re fine, they just don’t fit my work flow. And I hate cleaning all those little pieces. It’s trading one set of work I like for another that I don’t.

[Pandaconda]

I've been waiting for like 15 months to get on the list

[Dan Deter]

I was on the list long enough before I got in that I forgot I was on the list LOL

[Alan Brice]

I think I was abt two years.

[klflowers]

My wait was 2 years; a friend of mine also had to wait 2 years.

[klflowers]

This is getting crazy. I just got an email inviting me to a Rancho Gordo beans club town hall zoom meeting. And I accepted. I have lost my bean loving mind

[ecowper]

I need a laughing response :-)

[SheilaAnn]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣