A question about bean burgers

I like to cook both falafel and bean burgers (mostly black bean). When I make falafel, I only soak the chickpeas, then blend in a food processor. All the recipes for black bean burgers that I have found, on the other hand, have you fully cook the beans and then turn them into patties with various mix-ins.

It seems, to me, that one could theoretically just soak the black beans and then turn into patties as one would do with the soaked garbanzo beans - it's all kind of the same concept, right? But I have never seen a recipe utilizing that method with black beans. Obviously the texture would change, but has anyone experimented with this?

kimmey
  • Posted by: kimmey
  • August 5, 2011
  • 6699 views
  • 6 Comments

6 Comments

justints
justints June 16, 2013
I have an answer for this now. The burgers were delicious, stuck together nicely on the grill, and had fabulous texture. We're both, now, regretting consuming undercooked beans (navy and black) as we have indigestion and other uncomfortable GI symptoms. I just looked this up a bit more and it would appear that beans contain a toxin, lectin, that cooks out in the normal cooking process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectin#Toxicity
 
justints
justints June 15, 2013
I know this is an old thread but I would be curious if anyone is making bean burgers with soaked beans rather than cooked or canned beans. We did falafels using soaked chick peas and LOVED them. The texture was so much better than canned or cooked.
 
Anitalectric
Anitalectric August 7, 2011
It sounds like you like to keep it simple. Mix-ins are usually for flavor, but you could blend half the beans and leave the others whole if you want to just use beans. That way, you get both the binder and the hearty burger texture.
 
susan G.
susan G. August 5, 2011
This falafel recipe has a conversation of soaked vs cooked:
http://www.food52.com/recipes/11921_worlds_easiest_falafel_and_tzatziki
Good insight about the black (or other) beans -- I'm going to try it!
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 August 5, 2011
I've used fresh black eyed peas for patties. However, with canned products you'll probably face an issue with them 'exploding' in the mix---adding more flour or a binder to prevent that falling apart.

Using dried beans...soaking and grinding would be way to go. Try it. Beans are cheap and you'll learn some techniques there.
 
lovesitc
lovesitc August 5, 2011
I haven't tried the no-cook method with black beans. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that you have had success doing that with garbanzos! I always opt for canned, but when I do use dried beans, I soak and cook them because I want to eliminate the digestive upset that comes with not cooking them. My two-cents for what its worth. Keep us posted because now I'm curious!
 
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