Crunchy beans

[akktri]

I'm sick of having soups with crunchy beans in them. The bean soups we have always seem to have hard crunchy beans, even when we let the stuff boil or sit in the crock pot for a few hours. What am I doing wrong? What is the recommended way to soften dried beans? Is it just a matter of cooking them longer, or is there something else I can do?

Comments

[a_boleyn]

Try pre-soaking the beans overnight, draining and then cooking in fresh water until tender.

Old beans take forever to get tender. You might want to buy your beans at a place with a good turnover of stock, just in case. And if it's a mixture of different beans, some may take longer to cook than others especially if they're from an older batch. Salting beans is supposedly not advised during cooking nor including tomatoes or other acidic ingredients. Add them after the beans are tender.

[full_metal_ox]

Seconding everything above; I'll note also that the Mexican herb epazote, included in the cooking water, is helpful in tenderizing beans.

[tater1112]

Pretty sure the salt thing is a myth. At any rate, I always salt my beans while they're cooking and they turn out fine. The salt flavor is more evenly distributed, too, I think.

[a_boleyn]

Could be ... I salt potatoes and pasta but I've never salted beans while cooking them.

[faerieflings]

Are you soaking the beans before cooking? Dry beans straight in the pot won't soften enough in just a few hours of cooking. Soak them overnight in the refrigerator, drain and rinse in the morning or right before cooking.

[squid_ink]

comment twins!

[squid_ink]

do you soak them overnight before putting them in the crock?

[akktri]

Very good question. The answer is never, and that's one reason why they're crunchy. Thanks.

[amerrydeath]

I also have had this problem--it has nothing to do with soaking or cooking times or age of the beans. My water was too hard--I think the trick is to use baking soda when cooking them, which I've used to great success (though I really only ever cook dried chickpeas, it's worked a charm with them). Cook's Illustrated has this to say on the subject

[andystarr]

I second this. We have hard water and our beans (especially black beans and chickpeas) never seemed to soften. Just use a pinch (though no more than a teaspoon) of baking soda, any more and you might get a bit too much of the bean foam that accumulates at the top which is not fun to clean up on the range.

[leatherfemme]

OK, this takes a lot of planning, but this is the best way I've found to avoid that problem.

Soak beans in lots of fresh water for 24 hours, preferably rinsing/draining once in the middle. I don't refrigerate, just keep them covered.

Place beans in a pot with lots of fresh water (nothing else) and boil until they're near-tender. Skim off any scum/foamy stuff.

If you're concerned about gas, drain again. If it's not so much of an issue, keep this water as it has good flavor in it.

Only after this is it OK to add flavorings/veggies/whathaveyou. I know some say you can add herbs and such to the first boiling but I don't. At the very least don't let salt or anything sodium related anywhere near the beans until they're soft.

[akktri]

Cool. That's helpful.