Soaking Dried Beans

US Dry Bean Council
Find the council's Bean Cuisine recipes here.
Pressure Cooker method: Laura Pazzaglia, Hip Pressure Cooking.com

Hot Soak

(reduces actual cooking time and consistently produces tender beans)

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

Traditional Soak

1. Rinse beans in colander and discard debris and damaged beans.
2. Pour cold water over the beans to cover.
3. Soak beans for 8 hours or overnight.
4. Drain beans, discard soak water and rinse with fresh, cool water.
   (Cold water starts the rehydration process slowly so beans will appear wrinkled after soaking.)

Quick Soak

1. Rinse beans in colander and discard debris and damaged beans.
2. Place beans in a large pot and add 10 cups of water for every 2 cups of beans.
3. Bring to boil and boil for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Drain beans, discard soak water and rinse with fresh, cool water.

Quick Soak with a Pressure Cooker

1. Give the beans a quick rinse in a colander, by swishing them around and running water through them — this is a great time to remove any broken beans or debris.
2. Put the beans in the pressure cooker. For each cup of rinsed beans, add four of water and 1 teaspoon of salt -this will help keep the skins intact.
3. Bring the contents to a boil without the pressure cooking lid.
4. Then, quickly close and lock the pressure cooker lid and pressure cook for 2 minutes at high pressure (for both stovetop and electric pressure cookers).
5. Open the pressure cooker using the Slow Normal release — open the valve very slowly or if it can only go full-blast in short spurts. I foam begins to exit the valve stop spurting and wait 30 seconds before you begin releasing pressure (this will give the foam time fall back down into the cooking liquid).
6. Drain and rinse the beans under cold running water, again.
7. Proceed with recipe that requires pre-soaked beans.

Preparing Black-Eyed Beans (Peas)

1. Rinse beans (peas) in colander and discard debris and damaged beans.
2. Cover the beans with water and boil for 2 to 3 minutes (no soaking).
3. Discard water, rinse beans and cook in fresh water, beef, chicken or vegetable broth until tender.
4. If recipes call for other ingredients, add them to the broth and beans mixture as if cooking with plain water. Approximate cooking time is 45 minutes.

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