dry white beans: your comparisons and results??

Question

i'm doing various bean stews and cassoulets and i'm looking to decide on a favorite bean. my rancho gordo order should arrive soon, but it only has 3 varieties: cranberry, goat's eye and marcella. then there are french and italian- to be found and ordered. then cannelini and navy are in local grocery stores.

have you actually taste-tested these dry white beans? and what would you most-recommend for very CREAMY beans that hold together well in use?

LeBec F. · Answer

ooh, cooool tt, thx much! i'll get corona and check the b.a. recipe

Ttrockwood · Answer

The specific tarbis beans for cassoulet are $$$, in a dish like that a basic cannelini bean is fine.

I love the marcella beans from rancho gordo- actually any beans i have had from rancho gordo are worthy of being the focus of a meal. Those are fairly creamy.
The bon app brothy beans recipe is really simple but also great for those rancho gordo beans, makes for a great meal with some greens or salad on the side
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/brothy-beans?intcid=inline_amp&_gl=1*1q3978a*_ga*YW1wLUt2aW81aTdfQm9VQnNWRjJUa3JyanRCekZ0ZERPMS04MVo3anhUM0VqdENSZ2JFMlY1LTROZXN5clc1NlZZbUE.

The royal corona beans from rancho gordo are my most favorite, they’re like a big butter bean or Italian gigante beans- very creamy interior but also maybe too big for stew... i like to do an italian prep in a tomato based sauce or in a vinegrette style marinade

LeBec F. · Answer

mmmm, EXCellent help!

LeBec F. · Answer

i feel lucky to say it:"As usual, I love hearing your input".    i feel the same re:dried 'whitish!' cranberry, and cannelini beans, but didn't want to infect the question. [ FYI? btw, FRESH cranberry beans- WOW!!!]

dinner A. · Answer

I've cooked the eye of the goat beans from Rancho Gordo several times and they are incredibly tasty with an excellent texture (more dense than creamy I'd say) but brown; they wouldn't be my pick for cassoulet but would work in lots of stews. I've used then mostly in very simple preparations since they're already so flavorful.
Rancho Gordo sells the traditional variety of beans for cassoulet (Tarbais); I remember them being pretty good but milder in flavor than varieties I'd consider my favorites, but that's probably more suitable for cassoulet.

Smaug · Answer

I would agree, cranberry beans certainly do well in the creamy and tasty categories, but not white; it's actually kind of disappointing that they don't hold their color when cooked.  Of the more common types, I'd take cannellini over great northern or navy beans, but I've never gone into exotics, and the cannellini I occasionally get are from a premium supplier whereas the others are common supermarket brands, so that may have something to do with it.

gandalf · Answer

I have cooked with dry cranberry beans, but none of the others. I don't think of cranberry beans as a "white" bean; but I have used it to make beans and rice, and I found it to be fairly tasty and a good option for that dish.

Sorry that I can't help with the others.

LeBec F. · Answer

p.s. thx so much.

dry white beans: your comparisons and results??

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