We do a quick soak - put beans in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and turn off heat, let sit for one hour - and then rinse and cook till they're done. Supposedly the rinsing makes them less gassy? Also, if I have it, I'll add a piece of kombu (dried seaweed) to the soaking water, which apparently helps the beans to soften faster.

OP again, I just read kidney beans have some horrific protein that's very toxic. I soaked them, AND boiled them 10 minutes before putting them in a slow cooker. Undercooked kidney beans are bad. Undercooked in a slow cooker are apparently worse,

Some of the articles I read mentioned baking soda. That can reduce the lectin.

Um, yeah, I've always used canned beans, but wanted better flavor this time. Shouldn't be this old and still a cooking newbie.

PP, could you please spell out how to cook beans in a pressure cooker for a newbie? I haven't found good directions online and I have a pressure cooker that I want to use for dried beans. Thanks.

Pressure cook them. Can soak much less and stil cooked quick. Not sure about gas factor thought

Mark Bittman says you don't have to

Thanks! And sorry for the typos.

If you change the water multiple times, you'll reduce some of the compounds that produce gassiness. Not get rid of them, but reduce them somewhat.

You'll also pour off some of the water-soluble B vitamins, but who cares? They're full of those vitamins anyway. Don't be a vitamin purist; pour off some of the gas.

(Cooking beans with garlic and/or cilantro can also reduce gassiness, but not as much as changing the water.)

Baking soda, as PP suggested, is also a good idea.

Baking soda to soften them even more. Rinse before cooking (or rinse before eating) otherwise your stomach won't be happy

Nope, you are golden.

Can yo soak too long? I just put them in, for a crock pot recipe ill start prepping around 10am.