re: Breaking Down My Red Beans and Rice

If you're talking about preferring a delicious mush over a watery soup, I'm pretty sure that you're talking about wanting Natchitoches style beans, not New Orleans style. You've mentioned nothing about adding a 5 oz bottle of Tabasco AND a 2 oz. bottle with some cumin. I'm pretty sure that's where you're going wrong.

Seriously, when you want good thick beans, think Beastie Boys. Slow and low, that is the tempo. Remember, red beans were the dish cooked on Monday when the women were spending all day doing laundry. They were busy and couldn't be fussing or tending to the food, so the beans were a way to cook slowly all day long on autopilot.

I do not soak my beans. I just cook them... and cook them... and cook them... I'll spend 3 or 4 hours easily just letting those bad boys simmer and occasionally stirring to make sure they don't stick and get a little mechanical action in to help the beans break. Salt will make them tougher, but there's not much you can really do if you use smoked salted meats. Just catch up on your TV from the week and let those beans percolate until the texture is what you want.

If it helps, I usually start with 11 cups of liquid for 1 pound of dry Camellia kidney beans. No, you may not use other beans. It's red beans and rice. Dry Camellia Kidney Beans.

seen a friend add some butter at the end and worked well...I always mash some of the beans as well