Beans and ham are a perfect combination. My usual method of cooking them is to sort and degas the beans, then cook them on the stove top or in my slow cooker. Today, I decided to try something different.
I have been having a love affair with my electric pressure cooker, and I have been enjoying how much faster things cook using this method. I was busy doing other things, so I decided to use my pressure cooker to prepare the pinto beans and ham. First, I sorted through the beans then completed the procedure for degassing.
After this was completed, I placed the beans and a meaty ham bone into the pot of my electric pressure cooker. I added water, onion, and garlic, and sealed the lid in place. I set the timer for 20 minutes.
The good thing about electric pressure cookers is that when they are finished cooking, they switch to the keep warm mode. I was busy doing other things, and I “forgot” about my beans. The pressure had released automatically by the time I was ready to serve dinner and went to check on them. The beans were perfect. They were tender, but still intact. The broth was clear, and the meat was falling off of the ham bone, so it was very easy to remove, chop, and return to the pot of beans.
I actually cooked two pounds of pinto beans because we love them so much, and they are very versatile. I carefully ladled them into containers and put some into the fridge and some into the freezer. There was still quite a bit of the broth left in the pan, so I poured it into a quart sized container to use later to make some soup.
Here’s the printable recipe. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.
- 1 pound of pinto beans.
- 1 meaty ham bone
- ½ large onion or 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
- I clove garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- water to cover beans
- Sort through dried beans and remove any bad beans or other debris
- De-gas beans as follows: Place beans in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cover and let set for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, drain beans and proceed with your recipe.
- Place ham bone, beans, onion, and garlic into pot of electric pressure cooker.
- Add water to cover beans by about 2-3 inches.
- Add salt to water.
- Close lid on pressure cooker and seal pressure valve
- Set timer for 20 minutes
- Allow pressure cooker to sit for one hour after cooking.
- Release any remaining pressure and carefully remove the lid.
- Remove ham bone from pressure cooker and chop meat.
- Return chopped meat to beans and stir.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with corn bread and a salad for a complete meal.
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