I love cooking beans from scratch. YET getting them SOFT LIKE IN THE CANS...AAARRRGGGG!!!!!!!! HELP
13 Comments
janete V.April 10, 2019
I come from South America— we cook beans everyday for lunch and dinner...we used to soak it overnight but since I moved to the states and I don’t have the time to cook I bought a pressure cooker and I don’t need to soak beans anymore—- I use Goya beans .. wash it well, sort it out .. I fry an onion and garlic in the cooker till soft, then add beans and a bay leaf and water half way to cover beans — no salt yet ... when pressure cooker starts buzzing set cook time for 20min ... let steam out and open the pot carefully... if the water is mostly gone add more, at this point add salt and cook till your desired softness...
Pam S.April 8, 2019
My mother always told me to cook the beans in UNsalted water until they get soft (about 1 1/2-2 hours), then add the salt and/or salted meat like bacon or ham hocks. She said the salt would make the beans hard. I don't know if it's true, but that's the way I cook mine.
Susan I.April 8, 2019
I have been buying dried beans from Rancho Gordo, and they know beans! Their site lists lots of methods and recipes. So worth it as they are always fresh and have a great assortment of the heirloom varieties.
gandalfApril 1, 2019
I agree that soaking them overnight (or at least for 12 hours), and cooking them long enough in fresh water (not the water in which the beans soaked), should result in sufficiently soft beans.
Just yesterday I cooked a batch of red beans that I had soaked overnight: in fresh water covering the beans by about 2 inches, I brought them to a boil, then reduced to a simmer and cooked for 2 hours. All the beans were nice and soft.
Here is a link to the U.S. Dry Bean Council's webpage on cooking dry beans: https://www.usdrybeans.com/health-nutrition/cooking-with-beans/
Just yesterday I cooked a batch of red beans that I had soaked overnight: in fresh water covering the beans by about 2 inches, I brought them to a boil, then reduced to a simmer and cooked for 2 hours. All the beans were nice and soft.
Here is a link to the U.S. Dry Bean Council's webpage on cooking dry beans: https://www.usdrybeans.com/health-nutrition/cooking-with-beans/
SmaugApril 1, 2019
I have to wonder what sort of canned beans the OP was referring to-some brands are truly cooked to a pudding, and that may be the way he likes them; I usually get S&W, which are the best that Safeway has to offer as far as maintaining their integrity. I'm not a canner, but a bit of poking around indicates that high temperature pressure canners are considered de rigeur for canning dried beans, and I don't suppose that commercially canned beans are treated very gently.
creamteaApril 1, 2019
I rinse them, remove any split ones, then soak them in salted water overnight. I drain and cook in more salted water with a bay leaf and onion the next day. Also, I try to purchase good quality beans that are not too old.
TtrockwoodApril 1, 2019
+1 for baking soda, about 1tsp per cup of dry beans
Rinse the beans after cooking to avoid that flavor in the finished beans
Rinse the beans after cooking to avoid that flavor in the finished beans
vivianMarch 31, 2019
A pinch of baking soda helps with making chickpeas soft. I haven't tried it on other beans.
SmaugMarch 31, 2019
Hmm- I don't know, usually they get pretty soft if you cook them long enough, though some canned beans are overcooked into much. There is a widespread belief that salting them or cooking them with acid can make them come out tough, but I don't believe there's much real evidence of this. You might consider a pressure cooker.
TtrockwoodApril 1, 2019
America’s test kitchen recommends soaking beans in a brine to help with even cooking and flavor, haven’t tried it yet myself but they’re so intense about testing everything i trust it’s somehow helpful. Reposted here since ATK’s site is obnoxious
https://www.google.com...
https://www.google.com...
creamteaApril 1, 2019
I agree with this. They are very flavorful this way and also, they seem less prone to splitting.
Jeffrey B.April 7, 2019
I want to voice support for the overnight brine as recomended by America’s Test Kitchen. It is the only method I use for bean as it makes them flavorful with creamy soft interiors but the skins do not burst as will happen with baking soda (which I do not recommend). I have found that baking soda softens the skins to such a degree that they blow apart during cooking. However, I do use baking soda on chickpeas if turning dried chickpeas into hummus as it makes for a very creamy hummus and is the method recommended by Yotam Ottolenghi.
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