Pressure Pintos

Soaked 0.5 lbs pintos overnight. Cut one half of a white onion into three wedges. Laid the wedges into a bit of hot oil at the bottom of the pressure cooker, just to brown on one side. Also added one dried chile. At the end, I threw in three bay leaves and four half-cloves of garlic. After a minute of heat on the garlic, I dropped the pintos and water in. A half pound of soaked pintos was a bit over 2 cups by volume. I included water at an approximate 2:1 ratio. This was less than the typical 3:1 ratio for pintos because of the pressure cooker technique.

Immediately after adding the pintos and water, I covered the cooker and locked the lid, turning heat up to high. Once the steam reached pressure, I cooked for 30 minutes - turning heat down to medium (which seems to be the minimum flame to maintain pressure). I released pressure using the valve and waited to open the lid.

Results were good flavor-wise, but not great on the whole. I added salt after cooking was complete - maybe a half teaspoon. The beans seemed a bit overcooked. I think they could have cooked for 2/3 or even half the time. Many were broken up and there was a lot of starch granules on everything. So, next time I'll cook for about 15 minutes at pressure.