How short to soak beans?

What's the shortest time I can safely soak black eye peas and romano beans (soaked and cooked separately) before cooking? I'll be boiling them till mushy for fermenting a sweet (6 week) miso paste as per the recipe in The Art of Fermentation by Katz.

I put them to soak a couple of hours ago, but a friend just phoned telling me that a bunch of people are coming to spend the day at my house tomorrow and I need to have everything cleaned up. I don't really want to leave them soaking till the next day - mostly because I don't have enough bowls to do both soaking and hosting. I would like to get the beans at least cooked today, but I worry about not soaking them enough. Could you let me know what is the shortest soaking time for these beans?

Also, what is the horrible thing that happens if you don't soak the beans enough?

I really should get these people to give me more than a days notice before scheduling my life... ah well, something to work on after I get the house cleaned up.

trampledbygeese
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trampledbygeese
trampledbygeese October 2, 2013
Thanks for the help guys. Finished cooking the black eye 'peas' and now on to the romano beans. I soaked the romano longer because they seemed dryer/older than the 'peas'. Normally, I would just cook the larger beans, and add the smaller beans partway through.

Now, time to make some soy-free miso paste! Yummy!
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff October 2, 2013
I always soak beans myself, but I've wondered whether it's just because I'm a curmudgeon. There's no universal agreement on soaking, and Food52's addressed the issue! http://food52.com/blog/4634-how-to-cook-dried-beans
 
trampledbygeese
trampledbygeese October 2, 2013
Neat article. Interesting it says " another way to break down oligosaccharides is to add a strip of kombu to your beans as they cook. This dried sea vegetable contains the enzyme needed to properly digest oligosaccharides. It will also add vitamins, minerals, and a hint of umami to your pot of beans." I've read somewhere recently (book of miso?) that it's traditional to add kmobu to the soaking and cooking liquid for miso beans.
 
QueenSashy
QueenSashy October 2, 2013
here are some valid points on why soaking is a good thing to do... http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtosoak.html
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff October 2, 2013
Lots of people don't soak their beans at all. They'll just take longer to cook.
 
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