Processing to Improve Quality of Dehydrated Precooked Pinto Beans

The firmness of precooked and rehydrated beans after soaking in water at 30°C/2 hr and 82°C/1 hr was lower than that after soaking at 82°C/1 hr or 22°C/12 hr. The 22°C/12 hr soaking yielded the lowest butterflying (8.0%). Steam precooking at 100°C/1 hr produced less splitting, lighter color, and firmer texture than pressure precooking. High initial humidity dehydration reduced splitting. Beans after soaking at 30°C/2 hr and 82°C/1 hr, precooking at 100°C/1 hr, and dehydrating at 65°C/6 hr with initial 95% relative humidity were better regarding firmness, butterflying (11.6%), and moisture content (10.4%).