Hello, friends and not-yet-friends! This tofu test has been a long time coming. Pinto beans, kidney beans, and great northern beans have all been highly requested for the Will It Tofu? series. In this post, I’m putting them to the test with a few experimental twists along the way.
Let’s dive into the beany madness.
VIDEO: WILL IT TOFU? Great Northerns! Pinto Beans & Kidney (featuring amylase) BY REQUEST
Did it turn out how you expected? What do you think happened? Leave your theories in the comments!
The Beans: Soaked and Ready
I started by soaking all three types of beans overnight—kidney, pinto, and great northern. Each was plump and ready the next day, but as usual, I could only test one at a time. First up: the kidney bean.
The Kidney Bean Redo
If you’ve been following the series, you may remember kidney beans were a past tofu fail. Instead of coagulating, the result was more like mashed potatoes—without the potato. This time, I tried something new: adding amylase to the cold kidney bean milk to help break down the starches before attempting coagulation.
Process:
- Heat held between 150–160°F for 10 minutes with amylase
- Brought to a boil for 10 minutes
- Dropped to 180°F, added coagulant (calcium sulfate mixed with water)
- Covered and waited 15 minutes
Unfortunately, despite the extra prep, it still didn’t work. The mixture never set properly. I tried to press it anyway, but the result was gloopy and unsatisfying. On to the next!
Pinto Beans: America’s Favorite
Next up: the humble pinto bean. After making milk from the soaked beans, I repeated the starch-busting amylase process with a little adjustment—this time, I added extra amylase partway through the process based on viewer suggestions.
Process:
- 10 minutes at 150–160°F with amylase
- Extra amylase added midway
- Boiled for 10 minutes to neutralize toxins
- Coagulant added at 180°F
- Covered and waited 15 minutes
The results? Not great. No clear curds formed, and it even burnt a bit at the bottom of the pot. I tried straining and pressing it anyway… but we just ended up with a thicker kind of bean soup. It looked better than the kidney bean attempt, but the taste was worse—burnt and bitter.
Great Northern Beans: Final Hope?
With two underwhelming results behind me, I moved on to the much-requested great northern beans. Same method, same hope for improvement.
The milk behaved similarly to the pinto batch: no visible curds, burnt base, and a texture that suggested pudding more than tofu. I tried straining and pressing again. The best I can say? It didn’t taste burnt like the others.
But after a night in the fridge, the so-called “tofu” turned out to be just liquid. Literally. The original, unaltered versions from past tests looked (and worked) better than these enzyme-assisted ones.
What Went Wrong?
Honestly, I have some theories—and I’d love to hear yours in the comments too. Here’s what I think:
- There’s so little protein in these beans, there’s just not enough to create curds
- In the past beanfu “failures”, the starch allowed the blocks to solidify even if they were mushy.
- Since the amylase broke down the starches, there wasn’t anything left to do that
The one upside? I’ve got loads of high-fiber bean pulp to turn into flour. So, not a total loss!
What’s Next?
This experiment was disappointing, but not the end. I’ve got black beans waiting in the wings. Should I try them? Or call it quits and move on?
Beans are affordable but so far, they’ve mostly been a disappointment. Perhaps it’s time to swing in the opposite direction? Look forward to a luxury tofu experiment!
