Cooking with Dry Beans

Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RD

Ms. Myrdal Miller is the Program Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, and is a member of the Bean Institute Editorial Board. She can be contacted at a_myrdal@culinary.edu

Cooking With Dry Beans

Beans are an incredibly versatile ingredient, but if you buy them dry, there are four steps you must take before you can enjoy their great flavor as well as their incredible nutrition and health benefits.

  1. Clean
  2. Rinse
  3. Soak
  4. Cook

Clean Your Beans

Clean your beans of any debris by placing them in a pie plate or bar pan. Discard any foreign objects like leaves, small stones or twigs as well as any broken beans.

Rinse Your Beans

After inspecting and cleaning your beans place them in a colander and rinse them under cold running water.

Soak Your Beans

It’s important to soak your beans before cooking them. Soaking has two major benefits: It reduces the cooking time and it breaks down the compounds in beans that cause flatulence. The longer beans soak, the more the gas-producing compounds break down. Beans will double or triple in size, depending on which soaking method you use, so it’s important to use a large enough pot when soaking beans.

There are three soaking methods you can use, the Hot Soak Method, the Traditional Soak Method, and the Quick Soak Method. The Hot Soak Method is the recommended method because it reduces cooking time and gas-producing compounds the most and it produces consistently tender beans.

The Hot Soak Method

1. Place beans in a large pot and add 10 cups of water for every 2 cups f beans.
2. Heat to boiling and boil for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Remove beans from heat, cover and let stand for 4 to 24 hours.
4. Drain beans and discard soak water.
5. Rinse beans with fresh, cool water.

The Traditional Soak Method

1. Pour cold water over beans to cover.
2. Soak beans for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Drain beans and discard soak water (NOTE: cold water starts but does not complete the rehydration process so the beans will appear wrinkled after soaking. They will fully rehydrate during cooking.)
4. Rinse beans with fresh, cool water.

The Quick Soak Method

1. Place beans in a large pot and add 6 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.
2. Bring to boil and boil for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Remove beans from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
4. Drain beans and discard soak water.
5. Rinse beans with fresh, cool water.

Cook Your Beans

Now that you’ve cleaned, rinsed, and soaked your beans, you can cook them, which is as easy as simmering beans in fresh water. You can prevent your beans from foaming and boiling over by adding a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the water. Beans generally take 30 minutes to 2 hours to cook, depending on the variety. Check the Bean Reference Chart for cooking times.

Here are some other helpful hints for cooking beans:

  • Keep cooking water at a gentle simmer to prevent split skins.
  • Since beans expand as they cook, add warm water periodically during the cooking process to keep the beans covered.
  • Stir beans occasionally throughout the cooking process to prevent sticking.
  • Bite “test beans” for tenderness. Beans should be tender, but not mushy. If beans are not tender after the specified cooking time, the reason could be altitude, hard water or the age of the beans. Keep cooking and bite test for tenderness.
  • Drain beans immediately after they reach the desired tenderness to halt the cooking process and prevent over-cooking.
  • Onions may be added at any time during the cooking process. For a stronger onion flavor, add them during the last half-hour of cooking.
  • Herbs and spices like oregano, parsley, thyme, and garlic may be added at any time during cooking.
  • Wait to add lemon juice, vinegar, tomatoes, chili sauce, catsup, molasses, or wine until after beans have been soaked and are fully cooked. Adding ingredients rich in calcium or acids too early in the cooking process can prevent the beans from becoming tender.