soaking dried beans

[Guest guest]

How long do I soak dried beans so that they are ready to be used in a

recipe? I've been soaking some dried black beans in water for 2 days

now, and they're still not soft (still crunchy). I assumed that dried

beans were to be soaked until they were soft. Thanks.

[Guest guest]

Matt, you don't soak them until they're soft. Soaking is simply to partly

rehydrate the external coat. It's during cooking where they soften. In fact,

soaked too long, they tend to ferment. Overnight or during the day when

you're at work are good options, since about 8 hours will do it.

 

It takes anywhere from a half hour to three+ hours to cook the beans. Never

add uncooked beans to an acid-based cooking liquid or they'll be hard, or

take three times as long to cook. That means if you were making chili, you'd

cook the beans separately, then add them to the chili, due to the tomato

acid.

 

Of the dried legumes, lentils and split peas don't even require soaking, and

cook within 30-45 minutes. At the other extreme are garbanzo beans

(chickpeas, ceci beans), which require a full soaking and three or more

hours of cooking. Check a good, all-purpose cookbook to find out suggested

cooking time if it isn't on the package itself. Good luck! Hope

 

 

 

>How long do I soak dried beans so that they are ready to be used in a

>recipe? I've been soaking some dried black beans in water for 2 days

>now, and they're still not soft (still crunchy). I assumed that dried

>beans were to be soaked until they were soft. Thanks.

>

>

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