Quick-Soak Beans, Easy Time-Saving Method, Dried Beans Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you quick soak and cook dry beans? ›

Quick Soak: This is the fastest method. In a large pot, add 6 cups of water for each pound (2 cups) of dry beans. Heat to boiling; boil for 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak for at least 1 hour.

Bring cold water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over high heat. Add beans and salt, and return to a simmer; cover. Bake beans in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 hour and 10 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to ensure beans are still covered with water. If necessary, add just enough water to cover.

To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.

But, then I learned something astonishing: You can actually skip soaking beans over night, and actually you should. Not only does it shorten the amount of time until you have ready-to-eat beans, it also produces a more flavorful end result.

Bottom Line. If beans make you uncomfortably gassy, sprinkle a little baking soda into their soaking water. It will reduce the volume of gas produced by the legumes, plus, they will cook quicker. If you're even shorter on time, you may want to try some of our favorite recipes to make with a can of black beans.

Cover with 3 cups of water per 1 cup of beans. Use 10 cups for a 1 pound bag. Do either a short soak or a long soak. Short Soak – Bring beans to a boil, boil for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat, and let stand covered for 1-4 hours.

Soaking thoroughly cleans accumulated buildup on the surface of the bean, such as dirt, pesticide residue or contamination from rodents and insects. Soaking also allows beans to cool evenly. Like grains, soak at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Fun Fact: Discarding the soaking water and rinsing beans can help make cooked beans more digestible. Some people choose to save the soaking liquid because some nutrients are leeched from the beans into the liquid during soaking. We prefer to drain our soaking liquid but you can decide what works best for you.

Further, beans also contain a compound called saponins, which also create foam when they get agitated in water. (Saponins occur in many plants, some of which are actually used to make soap!)

If this happens, it could be that you have hard water. Those who have hard water or water with high mineral content may find that their beans never get soft. If mineral deposits are sitting on top of your beans, they will still come out tough.

Are beans left out overnight safe to eat? ›

After cooking a pot of beans, you'll have about two hours' time of them sitting out before you have to worry about bacteria – that's the safe time outlined by the USDA in their “Danger Zone” range. Once the food temp drops, they may become too unhealthy to eat.

When the beans reach the large intestine, good bacteria break them down to digest them further. This leads to the production of gas. Soaking can help remove some of the oligosaccharides and make it easier for your body to break down the beans, making it less likely for you to have gas after eating them.

Like grains, soak at room temperature for 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. One bag of dried beans is equivalent to 4 cans of beans. It is much cheaper to buy dried beans. If you do buy canned beans, make sure to drain and rinse them thoroughly.

Soaking overnight and then discarding the soaking water leaches out sugars in beans that are responsible for gas production. But if you don't have time for a traditional overnight soak, a quick soak is just as beneficial. Rinse the beans and then place them in a pot with three cups of water for each cup of dried beans.