Cooking with dried pulses beans etc

[bacon]

Ive started making stews with dried soup mix, beans, pulses etc as I see this as a good bulker and a good healthy option. Made a chicken and bean stew last night and was delicious.

My question is - If slow cooking which suits me best do I still have to boil for the first 10 mins or having it cooking for slow & long is equivelant.

You see if I set the cooker timer then I wont be able to boil first and the idea for me with these dishes I dont fry/mess about with the ingredients I just pop them into a pot and let all the juices flow!

PS I cooked the chicken on the bone with skin to obtain more flavours then stripped off bone before serving.

Dark coloured beans like Kidney beans or black beans need to be boiled rapidly to kill the toxin in them. Never eat kidney/black beans without soaking and boiling.

Things like peas, broth mix or lentils don't need the rapid boiling. Neither (I think) do chick peas, pinto beans, cannellini beans, haricot beans or other light coloured ones. They all cook more quickly/easily if they have been soaked overnight, though.

Arh, but both packets say boil rapidly (the mixed soup and beans). So best bet would be to boil the beans on the soaking liquid then pop into stew.

Thats exactly how I do it bacon. I've a bean and sausage stew thing going in the slow cooker at the moment. I boil the beans on the hob for 10 mins while I'm browning the sausages and onions, then drain the beans and add to the slowcooker with everything else and cook on low for the day.

I don't boil them in the soaking liquid, I rinse them and use fresh water, but I do always boil beans. I don't very often use a slow cooker, though, so I just boil them in the pan then turn down to a simmer. I only use broth mix in broth, though, because I HATE the peas you get in it, so it gets boiled anyway.