Lab Notes: Aquafaba Navy Bean Edition

    Hello, Wayne AKA the Mad Food Scientist here.
It’s been a bit since last I posted.
This is what I would call a building block post.
What I’m making is building blocks for other things.
In this case aquafaba and navy beans. Aquafaba is handy for replacing egg whites, vegan whipped cream, as a binder, and as a constituent part of vegan mayonnaise.
I found this recipe for making aquafaba at:
( LINK HERE: https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/homemade-aquafaba-vegan-egg-replacer/ )

ORIGINAL:
INGREDIENTS
2 cups of dry chickpeas
8 cups of water
METHOD
1.)  Soak dry chickpeas in plenty of water (chickpeas should be well covered) for about 8 hours. I tend to leave them to soak overnight.
2.)  Discard soaking water and rinse the chickpeas. Place them into a pot, which you have a lid for and cover with 8 cups of water. Do not add any salt or baking soda.
3.)  Cover the pot with a lid and bring to the boil. Be careful as chickpeas like to boil over if the heat is too high so keep an eye on them until they come to boil. Skim the foam that has come to the top and discard.
4.)  After the chickpeas come to boil, decrease the heat to low-medium and simmer the chickpeas (with a lid on) until tender. It takes about 60-75 minutes.
5.)  Once the chickpeas are ready, turn the heat off and leave the chickpeas to cool down in its cooking water (this infuses the cooking water with more protein, which gives aquafaba its miraculous properties of an egg white).
6.)  Remove chickpeas from the cooking water with a slotted spoon. Make sure the spoon is clean and has no grease residue on it as even trace amounts of grease inhibit aquafaba’s foaming properties – this is especially important if you intend to whip your aquafaba into a meringue.
7.)  Depending on the intended application of your aquafaba, you may want to reduce the liquid a little to make it more potent. I find that this is especially necessary for when you intend to use it as a binder, in vegan meatballs for example. Please remember also that the more reduced the liquid the more intense chickpea flavour will be so when you intend to use it for desserts, like meringues or chocolate mousse, you do not need to reduce as much or at all. To reduce aquafaba, return the remaining cooking water to the stove. Set the heat to low-medium and reduce aquafaba (without a lid) for about 30-45 minutes until some of the water evaporates and you are left with thick yellow liquid.
8.)  Let the reduced liquid come to room temperature and then transfer to a clean container and store in the fridge – once chilled aquafaba will turn gelatinous and resemble an egg white. If you are not in a rush to use your aquafaba, pop cooked chickpeas back into the container with aquafaba and store them together overnight – this will make aquafaba even more gelatinous. Store in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.

LAB NOTES: 13 May, 2023
I weighed out 454g of navy beans into a quart Mason jar. I chose to use Navy beans instead of Chickpeas because Navy beans are more affordable. 
Then I put in 1 tsp of baking powder. Next I filled the jar with water, lidded it, and shook it.
It is now in the refrigerator. I’ll drain, rinse, and cook the beans after eight hours.
I drained and rinsed the beans and put them in the pot with 2,000g of water.
Next, I brought the beans up to a boil, then dropped it down to a simmer.

LAB NOTES: 14 May, 2023
The beans weren’t done cooking until the wee hours of the morning.
As soon as the beans were done cooking. I turned off the heat, stirred it, and put the 
lid on, then went to bed.
This morning, when I checked there wasn’t any visible liquid.
So, I initiated straining the beans to recover the aquafaba.
Hopefully, it’ll be enough to make the vegan mayonnaise that I planned on making.
The beans themselves will make a fine vegan “tuna” salad for me to eat this week. 
I have to say that this is the best aquafaba that I’ve made with navy beans.
On a par with the aquafaba that I’ve made with chickpeas.
The yield was: 270g of thick creamy aquafaba.

CONCLUSIONS: 15 May, 2023
This is a building block type of recipe.
In this case, building blocks for at least two things.
I did make a very nice vegan mayonnaise with some of the aquafaba.
Then I turned around and used some of the vegan mayonnaise when I made vegan Tuna salad.
I love the control making my own mayonnaise, vegan or regular gives me.
Feel free to try this yourself.
If you read this and an idea has occurred to you to suggest. Please do use the contact and drop me a line.
I’m going to go against what your parents told you. 
DO play with your food!!