I could never figure out how to cook dry beans until I tried the crockpot. Now I just do 1 cup beans, 4 cups water, 1 bay leaf in crockpot on high for 4 hours. Couldn't be easier!

Thanks for all the repsonses. I do not own a pressure cooker, so I just ended up leaving them boiling for a few hours. They worked out just fine for my dish. I will check out the links and start experimenting with them, now that I actually have had a degree of success!

Of the two softening methods, I prefer soaking overnight. It seems that it reduces the chance of their splitting open. Here's some helpful inlo.
http://missvickie.com/howto/beans/howtosoak.html

That is how we make beans in Brazil (if you are interested): You can soak them in cold water overnight to soften them and cook them faster in the next day. You can also skip this process - it is not a deal breaker.

If you have a pressure cooker, you cover the beans with water plus 2 cups and cook for about 40 min. under pressure (start timing after the pot goes under pressure). If you don't have a pressure cooker, just put on a pot and let it boil/simmer "forever" - about 3 hours.

When it is cooked, in another pan you put some olive oil and onions, when the onions are slightly cooked you add garlic. After you put in in half of the beans you cooked. Add salt and some of the liquid you cooked the beans in. Then you mix all together and taste the salt to see if it good enough.


2 - you can also blend (children specially love it).

3 - you can also mash it before seasoning it (I think it is what you guys call refried beans).

4 - you can cook the beans with thick slices of sausages, chunks of beef (pot roast kind of beef), thick pieces of bacon, etc. If you put in a big variety of meat, you can end up making feijoada. Usually people there only put a few chunks of beef and/or slices of sausage. If it gets too "fatty", put in a peeled orange or potato because they suck the oil (you discard them later).

GL>

Anonymous wrote:These methods are to soften them to get them ready for cooking, not to actually cook them.
You will need to go on and boil them for a while after either of these methods, depending on how old the beans are.

Exactly. I rarely leave beans to soak overnight; almost always use the boil/sit method. Then I simmer for a few hours with whatever spices.

You shouldn't add salt or vinegar until the beans are done cooking. Something about adding those stops them from cooking all the way.

Check out tips on the Rancho Gordo heirloom bean website. They have several different methods, including a crockpot method, all of which have worked for me.

These methods are to soften them to get them ready for cooking, not to actually cook them.
You will need to go on and boil them for a while after either of these methods, depending on how old the beans are.

Does boiling the dry beans for 2 minutes and leave standing for an hour really work? Every time I try it, the beans are so far from being done, it is ridiculous. What am I doing wrong? It is a bag of Goya Black Beans. I have also tried the overnight method and same thing happens. What am I missing? Thanks!