3 ms·

Needing to soak the beans is an artifact of cooking on wood burning stoves. The water breaks down the beans before you cook, which is advantageous if your stove

by arohner 17y ago

Needing to soak the beans is an artifact of cooking on wood burning stoves. The water breaks down the beans before you cook, which is advantageous if your stove isn't that hot, or you're burning something expensive, like wood. If you have a gas stove or a decently powerful electric, you can just dump the dry beans in the pot and start boiling. Cover the pot and boil for about an hour, and then uncover the pot and continue boiling for about another hour to let thicken (YMMV).

cpach 17y ago
I think that a pressure cooker also might reduce the need for soaking.
jonknee 17y ago
Why would you need a "decently powerful electric"? It's not getting hotter than the boiling point no matter how many BTUs you throw at it. You're right that an increased cooking time is a bigger concern if you have to chop down the wood, but you should be able to do it just fine on anything that can bring a sufficient quantity of water to a boil.
- philwelch 17y ago
  True: you just have to put the beans in quickly enough before you get to a boil.
RobGR 17y ago
For any kind of regular sized bean, such as pinto or red kidney, you can't just dump them in and start boiling. A lot of people have told me that you can, but those people's beans have hard centers that don't digest well and give you a tummy ache. There are also people who claim it helps to dump them into boiling water, then turn the heat off, and they can then soak for much less; this also fails in my experiments. I believe that dry beans have to soak a long time cold because you want them to actually start to sprout. (I know from experimenting that dry beans are still alive and can be planted.) I think, like malt grain in beer making, they need to start to activate so they make the enzymes that are going to turn all the starch to sugar; then when you slow cook it, those enzymes work and break everything down a lot more. Also, I think if you cook on a wood stove you will find that too hot is more of a problem. Keeping an even simmering temperature requires constant attention.

by arohner 17y ago

cpach 17y ago

I think that a pressure cooker also might reduce the need for soaking.

jonknee 17y ago

Why would you need a "decently powerful electric"? It's not getting hotter than the boiling point no matter how many BTUs you throw at it. You're right that an increased cooking time is a bigger concern if you have to chop down the wood, but you should be able to do it just fine on anything that can bring a sufficient quantity of water to a boil.

philwelch 17y ago
True: you just have to put the beans in quickly enough before you get to a boil.

RobGR 17y ago

For any kind of regular sized bean, such as pinto or red kidney, you can't just dump them in and start boiling. A lot of people have told me that you can, but those people's beans have hard centers that don't digest well and give you a tummy ache. There are also people who claim it helps to dump them into boiling water, then turn the heat off, and they can then soak for much less; this also fails in my experiments. I believe that dry beans have to soak a long time cold because you want them to actually start to sprout. (I know from experimenting that dry beans are still alive and can be planted.) I think, like malt grain in beer making, they need to start to activate so they make the enzymes that are going to turn all the starch to sugar; then when you slow cook it, those enzymes work and break everything down a lot more. Also, I think if you cook on a wood stove you will find that too hot is more of a problem. Keeping an even simmering temperature requires constant attention.