My $7 slow cooker chili turned into a science experiment gone wrong

I tried to cut costs by using dried beans instead of canned in my slow cooker chili last Tuesday, but I forgot to soak them overnight first. Three hours in, I opened the lid to find rock-hard beans floating in watery tomato sauce with no flavor. Is there a way to salvage this mess or should I just order pizza and start fresh tomorrow?

2 comments

2 Comments

theaward1d ago

My buddy Dave did this exact thing last year. He threw in dry pinto beans with some cheap stew meat and a packet of chili seasoning, then let it cook all day while he was at work. Came home to what he called "bean gravel in tomato soup." He ended up dumping the whole thing into a big pot on the stove, added another can of crushed tomatoes and a ton of cumin, then let it simmer for like two more hours. The beans finally softened up but the texture was still kinda weird - chewy on the outside with hard little centers. He ate it anyway because he's stubborn.

wade_perez1d ago

Well @theaward, actually beans need acidic ingredients added later not early on, that's why they stayed hard.