Pressure cooker and dried beans & legume question.

So much great information. I think a pitcher that softens water would be a great addition to my kitchen "toys"

It might be helpful to get a pitcher with built-in replaceable filter--that way you won't have to worry about recycling the plastic bottles. Or a faucet filter would be of help as well. The basic ones only neutralize chlorine but there are some that come with filters which also soften the water.

Thanks for the feed back folks! I've really missed having a good pot of bean and such.
I will try bottled water.

thirteenj is right. Most bottled drinking water is city water from wherever it was bottled that has been filtered one way or another. I would reiterate, though, not to use "distilled" water. Some people say distilled water gives the beans an "off" flavor.
On the other hand, some people have hadluck adding baking soda to the water, between 1 teaspoon and 1 Tablespoon for the whole pot, depending on the hardness of the water. I've never tried that trick, though.

When you say bottled filtered water do you mean that it is void of minerals in general?

Cooking beans in very hard water is nigh on to impossible. With just slightly hard water, a pressure cooker may help, but it will still take a long time. My suggestion is to use bottled filtered water, but *not* distilled water. With filtered watrer she will be able to use your recipe and end up with the same great beans you make!