How to cook dried beans

Here's another money saving tip for you. Instead of buying canned beans from the grocery store, buy dried beans. Although it takes more effort and a little more planning, dried beans cost about 1/4 of what the canned variety do. I have not perfected my dried bean cooking, so if you have experience, please comment! This information came from Central Bean, Co. and the back of a dried bean bag I bought at Walmart.

How to Cook Dried Beans

Dried beans can be cooked in a saucepan or pot on top of the stove, in a pressure cooker, in your oven, or in your microwave.

The basic principles of cooking dried beans remain the same no matter which method you use. Dried beans require water or other liquid, oil or other fat and salt. Any acidic ingredients called for must be added at the specified time.

Water or other liquid is needed to soften the beans as they cook. There must be enough liquid to keep the beans covered so they will cook uniformly. Any beans not covered during cooking will dry out and be inedible.

Oil or other fat is used in the cooking of many foods to lessen the possibility of the cooking water boiling over. Vegetable oil, butter or margarine, lard or bacon is usually added to beans to help prevent boil-overs. The oil or fat used in the cooking also adds flavor to the beans.

Salt may be necessary to give beans flavor. There is some controversy as to when is the best time to add the salt to the beans. Some cooks add the salt only after the beans have been softened in cooking. Others prefer to add the salt to the cooking water with the beans. Our experience is that adding salt at the beginning of cooking results in more flavorful beans and does not significantly influence the cooking time or tenderness of the beans. For average taste, 1 teaspoon of salt in the cooking water for each cup of beans is about right. Note: You may want to hold off or cut down on the amount of salt used if salty meat is going to be added.

Approximate Bean Cooking Times

Beans (soaked)	Saucepan	Pressure Cooker*
Black beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 8 minutes
Garbanzo beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 7 minutes
Great Northern beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 7 minutes
Lima beans, large	45 to 60 minutes	Not recommended
Lima beans, baby	1 hour	Not recommended
Navy or small whites	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 8 minutes
Pink beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	6 to 8 minutes
Pinto beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 7 minutes
Red beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	6 to 8 minutes
Red Kidney beans	1 to 1 ½ hours	5 to 8 minutes
Soybeans	3 hours	12 to 15 minutes
Beans (not soaked)	Saucepan	Pressure Cooker*
Black-eyed peas	1 to ½ hours	Not recommended
Lentils	30 to 45 minutes	Not recommended
Split peas, green	30 to 45 minutes	Not recommended

*at 15 pounds pressure

Soaking beans:

First of all, keep in mind that 1 pound of dried beans makes 5-6 cups of cooked beans. If you cook up a whole pound of dried beans, you'll probably have lots of left over beans, which isn't necessarily bad if you use beans a lot in your cooking. It is ok to modify the recipe to make less beans, i.e. cut it in half to make about 3 cups.

Rinse 1 pound of beans (about 2 cups) and remove any foreign material. Place in a large pot and cover with 6-8 cups of cold water. Let the beans stand overnight, or for at least 6-8 hours. Drain soaking liquid and rinse beans again before cooking.

Or if you’re short on time, rinse and sort 1 pound of beans. Place in a large pot and cover with 6-8 cups of hot water. Bring to a rapid boil, and boil for 2 minutes. Remove the beans from the heat and let stand, covered, for 1 hour. Drain soaking liquid and rinse beans again before cooking.

Saucepan method:

Cooking beans on top of the stove is a slow process that allows the flavors of the beans and seasoning to intermingle, creating the hearty flavor you expect from bean dishes. The disadvantage of this method is that it requires you to be present, although not continuously involved, while the beans are cooking.

To cook beans on your stove-top, combine soaked or dried beans, water, oil or fat, and seasonings in a saucepan or pot of appropriate size. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce the heat, then cover and simmer until beans are tender. This takes 30 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the bean variety. Check the beans occasionally to see if they are covered with the cooking liquid. If there is so much liquid absorption and evaporation that the top of the beans becomes exposed, add very hot tap water to the pot to cover the beans.

When dried beans boil, a foam forms on the top of the cooking liquid. This foam is water-soluble protein released from the beans and it will be absorbed back into the bean cooking liquid. It is not necessary to remove the foam. (To keep the foam down when cooking beans, add 1 Tablespoon of butter, drippings (consider flavor), or vegetable salad oil, for each cup of beans.)

Pressure Cooker method:

If you have a pressure cooker, take advantage of it to prepare beans in a matter of minutes.

Pressure cookers are especially designed cookware of aluminum or stainless steel. All models have a lock-on lid and a vent over which a weight or pressure regulator, is placed. Most pressure cookers are designed to be used on top of your stove, but at least one model has its own electrical heat source.

Food is cooked by the high temperatures inside the cooker. This high temperature is made possible by raising the pressure to a point greater than atmospheric pressure. Fifteen pounds of pressure will raise the temperature in the cooker high enough to cook soaked beans in 3 to 8 minutes. Cooking times given above are based on 15 pounds of pressure. If your cooker uses only 10 pounds, double the cooking time. (Before cooking beans in your pressure cooker, read the manufacturer's instructions.)

***EDITED 5/2/09*** I think I've finally mastered cooking dried beans. Janet Huff from eatwheat.com came and did a food storage class for my ward at church, and she said to get beans to be soft when you cook them don't add anything except water and beans. So I tried it and... IT WORKS!!! You still need to soak your beans for 6-8 hours (or overnight), but then when you cook your beans, put them in a pot, cover them with lots of water (at least 2" over the top of your beans) bring them to a boil and let them simmer for as long as needed. I've noticed that the simmering part of cooking is where the beans actually "rehydrate" and cook, so DON'T leave the beans at a boil! Bring them to a boil and then simmer them (putting a lid during the simmer on your pot would also help if you have one). Then when the beans are done you can season them, which you'll want to with at least salt.