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How To Cook Dried Beans

A cover-all recipe for how to cook dried beans.
Author Dea Zoffmann

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250 ml) dry beans, pre-soaked. See text above or note below.
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 yellow onion. Peeled but left whole
  • 10 whole cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt, optional

Instructions

  • Drain the pre-soaked beans and cover them with cold water by at least 3 inches / 8 cm.
  • Stick the whole cloves into the peeled onion and add that to the pot together with the bay leaves. Do not add the salt yet as this will toughen the skin of the beans and also risk making them too salty. They soak up a lot of water as they cook.
  • Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer, partially covered, until the beans are tender, 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the type and the age of the beans. Skim off any foam that rises to the top during the cooking process. This foaming only happens in the beginning of the process and not necessarily with all types of beans. Chickpeas seem to be the most foaming ones.
    * If during the cooking process the water level gets so low that the beans are no longer covered by water, simply add more boiling water. Adding cold water will prolong the cooking process. *
  • If adding salt, add it about 45 minutes to an hour into the cooking process (unless you are making the quick-cooking black-eyed peas, in which case you can add salt sooner). See text above for approximate cooking times of various types of beans.
  • When the beans are done, drain them and remove the onion and bay leaves. Your beans are now ready to add to a recipe calling for already cooked beans.

Notes

Dried beans need to soak in plenty of water for at least 8 hours before cooking. However, there is a quick-soaking method you can use in a pinch. It goes like this:
 
Put rinsed and sorted beans in a pot and cover with cold water by at least 8 cm / 3 inches. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and leave the beans in the hot liquid, covered, for 1 hour. The beans are now ready to be cooked according to your chosen recipe.