Hunza Organic Fava Beans (5 lbs)

These dried beans vary in size and color and take a lot of time to prepare, in that you have to remove their skins, but to cook them, I used the pressure-cooker function of my Instant Pot, and they took only about 10 minutes or so to get up to pressure, then around 13 minutes under pressure, and, say, 10 minutes more to let the pressure go down naturally. So, much faster than on a stovetop, and you don't have to worry about burning.This was my first time preparing dried fava beans, though I am very fond of the Japanese equivalent, slightly bigger beans known as "sora-mame," boiled fresh; I even like to eat their slightly tough skins when I cook them that way. Once the dried fava beans had been pressure-cooked, they were extremely simple and quick to mash just using a hand-held stick blender. But a word about removing the skins: I boiled the dried beans for 10 minutes, as as someone advised online, but I made the mistake of letting them sit in a drainer too long before trying to shell them. The skins stuck on some of the beans in places, and I suspect that if I had attacked the chore as soon as the beans would no longer burn my fingers, it would have gone much faster and more pleasantly. I'd probably watch TV while doing that job next time.I froze half of the cooked and mashed beans and the remainder tasted very good flavored with nutritional yeast, onion and garlic granules, smoked paprika and salt, and eaten at one meal with some sour cream on top, and at another meal with more liquid added so they became a soup. I haven't tried them in one of my cookbook recipes yet. There are dried fava beans for sale that have had their skins removed, but for this, my first time buying them, I chose ones with skins, thinking that you never know what means were used to get rid of the skins. I don't know about fava beans, but have recollections of reading that chemicals are sometimes used in large operations to remove the skins of certain foods and IF that is the case with fava bean skins, then I would stick to these, in spite of their being time-consuming to prepare.

I rated these only three not necessarily having anything to do with Hunza quality but rather due to the properties these dried Fava beans have. FIRST, these have a "skin" on each bean that has to be peeled off. I soaked them overnight then individually peeled off each seed coat which was very time consuming. Also, theoretically I will not end up with the equivalent of two pounds of beans because I had to throw some of the weight away with the seed coat. SECOND, these did not hold their shape when cooked, almost completely falling apart. Because of that I had to change the intended recipe where I needed intact beans to an Isreali soup recipe where the beans are puréed. The soup was great, but not worth the time needed to peel them--I would have preferred using red lentils! I have attached a photo of the leftover soup that is about the same consistency as pea soup.

Apparently I am a new to Fava beans, because I had no idea I needed to take the shells off. I lead a busy life, and trying to eat healthy and cook from scratch is time consuming enough without having to add to it. That being said, I like everything else about these beans. They are delicious, and organic (which for me is very important). They have the USDA seal on them, which is important because that means it has really been inspected and has been clearly registered as meeting the criteria. You aren't just taking the company's word for it.

Not as good as Bob's Red Mill Fava Beans, too many bad pieces.

I bought these thinking they were going to be the green tender kind similar to the pictures I saw from others. The beans I got are brown and very old looking, taste old and flavorless. I was hoping for the green kind. The worse part is that I can’t even return them. There goes the $30 I spent, to the garbage. Obviously there us No consistency on the product. I will never buy these again!Update: I contacted seller, they said they will refund my money.

Not at all as advertised. We expected slightly green colored Fava beans that were "tender and meaty" (as per advertised) but received brown, dried Fava beans that no amount of hydration could bring back to life. The ad said nothing about the need to "boil them for two to fifteen minutes) which did very little to make them pliable. Most of the beans could not be peeled. Very unhappy with the product.

Overall the Fava beans appeared to be in poor condition, not whole and most with split and cracked ends as if they were really old. I have cooked with Fava beans before and not the best quality I have used.

These are huge favas with very few broken beans. The color is mossy green, indicating the beans haven't been sitting around. The expiration date is two years out. I haven't tried them yet, but the quality of the bean is the best I have seen for many years. Beautiful and clean product, and organic. I will purchase from Hunza in a heartbeat!