If you've avoided cooking beans at home because you've heard that they are troublesome, finicky, or complicated, it's time to leave that behind. Cooking beans is no more bother than filling a pot of water and letting it simmer happily on the back burner all afternoon. In fact, that's basically all it is. Ignore the naysayers; it's time to cook some tasty, creamy, totally tender beans at home.
The biggest thing to realize about beans is that they take time. Once they're on the stove and simmering, it can take anywhere from an hour to three hours (and occasionally longer) for them to become tender. There's no predicting it. The age of your beans, variety, and size can all affect the cooking time.
Don't try to rush things by increasing the temperature under the pot; that just roughs up the outside of the beans and makes mushy before cooked through. Likewise, don't think that you've done something wrong if your beans are still crunchy after a few hours of cooking. I've found that some beans can go from crunchy to creamy in the space of fifteen minutes, right when I thought all was lost. If you're ever in doubt, just keep simmering. (FYI, garbanzo beans are particularly notorious for taking forever to become tender.)
The solution? Be patient. Make sure you're cooking beans on an afternoon when you'll be at home anyway and can be relaxing on the couch while your beans putter away. One pound of dried beans makes about five cups of cooked beans, which is plenty for quick soups, burritos, salads, and other quick meals all week long. They also freeze beautifully, ensuring delicious beans whenever you need them.
Soak the Beans: I am a firm believer in soaking the beans if you have the time. It does help trim down the cooking time a bit, but even more importantly, pre-soaking helps the beans cook more evenly and become completely tender all the way through.
Keep the Beans at a Simmer: Bring the beans to a boil at the very beginning of cooking to bring everything up to temperature, but then you want to keep the beans at a very gentle simmer for the rest of cooking. You should barely see movement in the water. Along with pre-soaking, simmering the beans gently helps them cook evenly until tender, retain their shape without going smooshy, and keep their skins intact.
Add Salt When Beans Are Just Barely Tender: Adding the salt at the beginning of cooking can sometimes prevent the starches in the beans from breaking down, so they'll be a little over-firm even after long cooking. The best time to add the salt is when the beans are almost finished cooking. When they are tender enough to eat but still too firm to really be enjoyable (aka, al dente), add the salt.
How to Cook Beans on the Stove
Makes about 5 cups cooked beansWhat You Need
Ingredients
1 pound dried beans, any kind
Water
2-3 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
Aromatics (optional): bay leaf, 1-2 whole garlic cloves, 1/2 onion, chopped carrots
Equipment
Medium mixing bowl
4-quart or larger Dutch oven, or another heavy cooking pot with lid
Stirring spoon
Instructions
1. Soak the beans overnight. The night before you plan to cook (10-14 hours), soak the beans to reduce cooking time and help them cook more evenly. Empty the dry beans in a bowl. Pick through the beans and discard any shriveled or unappealing beans. Cover the beans with a few inches of water and leave them on the counter.
2. Drain the soaked beans. The next day, the beans will have absorbed much of the water and nearly doubled in size. Drain the beans from their soaking water and rinse them gently under water.
3. Transfer beans to a cooking pot. Transfer the beans to a Dutch oven or other heavy cooking pot. Add the aromatics, if using.
4. Bring the beans to a boil. Cover the beans with an inch of water. Bring them to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Reduce to a simmer and cook. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and bring the beans to a very gentle simmer. You should barely see the water moving. Leave the lid off for firm beans meant for cold salads and pasta dishes. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar for creamier beans for soups, casseroles, and burritos. (Learn More: Leaving the Lid On Vs. Off When Cooking Beans)
6. Cook the beans. Cook the beans for one hour, and then begin checking for doneness. Depending on their age, size, and variety, beans can take anywhere from an hour to three hours to cook through. Be patient. Keep the beans a gentle simmer and taste frequently as they start to become tender. Add more water as needed to keep the beans submerged, and stir occasionally.
7. Add the salt when beans are just barely tender. When beans are tender but still too firm to enjoy eating, add the salt. Adding the salt too early can keep the beans from becoming tender. Continue simmering until the beans are as tender and creamy as you like them. Add more salt to taste.
8. Cool and store the beans. Cool the beans in their cooking liquid and transfer to refrigerator containers, still with their cooking liquid. Beans will keep for one week refrigerated or can be frozen for up to three months.
Additional Notes:
• Dry vs. Canned Amounts: One pound of dry beans makes about five cups of cooked beans, equivalent to about 3 cans of canned beans.
• Cooking Beans for Soup: If you intend to use your beans in a soup, it's best to slightly undercook them here and then finish cooking them in the soup itself.
• The Cooking Liquid: Don't pour it down the drain! Unlike the slimy liquid from canned beans, this cooking liquid is full of flavor and good nutrients. Once you've scooped up all your beans, this liquid makes a great base for soups and quick sauces.
Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home?
See more How To posts
We're looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too!
Submit your own tutorials or ideas here!
(Images: Emma Christensen)
Soda Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Monterey Pitcher fr...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
I agree with these guidelines, but I think that aromatics are not optional Copious amounts of onion, garlic, bay leaves, cumin, onion in at the beginning.
I also add carrots. This is a winter staple in my house. I cook it with smoked ham hocks for the smoky flavor. And it's one of those meals that longer it cooks, better it is. I eat it with a hunk of crusty bread and sliced onion.
Yep- you need aromatics. Even one carrot and one rib of celery helps. And I soak my beans overnight and give them 10 minutes of active choo-choo-choo in my pressure cooker. Works like a charm- all the organization you need is remembering to put your beans in water before you go to bed.
I agree about the aromatics. Onion, carrots, celery, and chopped parsley are my staples. If I have some pancetta or smoked ham bits I add those first.
I also don't drain beans. There is rationale that when you drain them, you're getting rid of nutrients. If you're concerned about rocks or dirt, pick through the beans and rinse them gently before soaking them, but don't rinse them after soaking. I don't know that geteting rid of the water affects the effects of beans on the digestive system because I haven't had a problem.
great book to simple preparation of beans:
http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/good_taste/10971/A_new_visual_guidebook_explores_radical_beanmaking.htm
Are those Rancho Gordo Rio Zape beans in the pictures, by chance?
I was taught how to cook beans by Texans when I lived there. The beans are done when you spoon one out and the skin curls when you blow on it.
Two words: pressure cooker. But it takes a couple of tries to get it right. After soaking for an hour in hot water, pinto beans will only take 3 minutes to cook under pressure. Be gentle though. Blasting the heat will pop the beans, which is only acceptable if making refried beans. And don't forget the garlic and smoked ham hock!
One of my new year's resolutions was to stop buying canned beans and start freezing our own. I've bought lots of little pots and I'm buying and cooking a different bag of beans every week until we have a big stash. I keep forgetting aromatics. What else can you do to flavour them? I've heard of cooking them in beer.
What gorgeous beans. I appreciate this tutorial, though I have to say that I have cooked beans on the stovetop dozens of times and it never rivals the flavor or texture that I get in the oven (which I learned about from a different TK tutorial). So now I exclusively cook beans in the oven.
@Unegen - They're Rancho Gordo's Borlotti beans!
Second Anna K.: best, easiest beans in the oven. But good to know they can be done on the stove if the oven is occupied.
I always put salt in when I soak them. I trust J Kenji Lopez on this one.
I almost always cook mine in broth of some kind, not water. Usually it's vegetable broth, but occasionally chicken if I don't have vegetable. It really helps enhance the flavor from the beans, and if the end result is a little too loose (i,e. you used too much liquid), it at least won't taste like water.
If you freeze them, do you freeze them with the cooking liquid?
I grew up on rice and beans and find them VERY easy to cook.
Crock-pot is fantastic for beans. I don't even bother soaking them; just throw them in the crock pot with appropriate amount of water. I cook them Puerto Rican style which means that once they are softened they are simmered in spices and tomato sauce like a stew. In regards to garbanzo beans my experience has been that they cook faster than most beans. Look into Puerto Rican recipes--you will enjoy the results!
Yum! Those Rancho Gordo's Borlotti beans looks so plump and tasty, I will look them up and buy some right now.
I just made a big pot of pinto beans last night.
digsapony - That's one of my resolutions too.
http://diningoutcookingin.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/i-3-frijoles/
Ham hocks...that's the secret to good beans...ham hocks, salt and time. Don't let the beans cook dry either. Keep adding water if you need it. My father made the best pinto beans in the world as I was growing up. I just recently started making them myself (why on Earth it took me this long to make them I will never know). I can't stop making beans now. If I have a free day on the weekend, that is what my beau and I will have for dinner with some corn bread and sauteed collard greens (with bacon and onion). Good stuff, but now I'm hungry.
Pinto beans are my fav. My gramma's recipe is my go-to. Pinto Beans, water, ham hock, oregano, chili flakes, garlic cloves. Cook all day or a few hours in the crock pot. Heaven in a bowl, and the left overs make great refried beans. If you are a vegan or vegetarian, leave out the ham hock and add some liquid smoke, and a touch of sesame oil just before serving. Equally fabulous!
@annietheanimal you can definitely freeze them in the liquid but it will be thicker once they are defrosted.
A short cut to soaking if you always forget like I do is to bring a pot of water to boil, dump in the rinsed and sorted beans, turn off the heat, and let sit for an hour or so. Drain the water, then cook as usual.
I never buy canned beans. I agree with your methods, except that I often don't bother to soak and then I use my crockpot. I keep cooked beans plain and then I freeze them with their bean cooking liquid. If I don't use the liquid in the recipe when I use the beans, I save it like a broth and use it somewhere else. It is usually nice and thick with good flavor.
I am soaking a pot of pinto beans tonight, and I will put them on in my crock pot tomorrow. I have cooked dried beans both ways, on the stove and in the crock pot. The secret to stove top cooking is a very low simmer. The article is correct. Don't salt the beans too soon or they will be tough. Cooking slowly keeps the beans together and keeps the color good.
I will season my beans with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, onion flavoring cubes, and garlic powder. Another good seasoning trick is the Goya ham seasoning. It comes in powdered form, in little packets. I am leaning toward vegan, however, so I won't use the ham tomorrow. I know my beans will be so good.
I do, Annie. I found that otherwise they dry out in the freezer. I freeze about 1.5 cups of cooked beans in a pint mason jar or a plastic deli type container and add enough cooking liquid and/or water to where they are covered but there is still some head space.
@ snowflake, I make mine Puerto style too. I follow the same directions and use diced calabaza and a small potato. I also add red wine, garlic and a lil cilantrito, and thinly sliced sweet roasted red peppers and Spanish style olives. In the end I add tomato sauce and olive oil. Also, & most importantly, about a tablespoon or two of homemade Sofrito for flavor. I serve it over white rice.
*Rican
@elris That sounds AMAZING! I dated a Puerto Rican man for about a year and although his family made awesome food, his mom was secretive about her cooking ways so I never got to learn. :(
I've had hit-or-miss luck with cooking beans on the stove. I have burned so many pots of beans that it's embarrassing. For the first hour or two, everything is good, and then I fall asleep or get distracted on the phone or something happens, and next thing you know... burned beans.
The best thing I ever thought to do was put my beans in heavy enameled cast iron Le Creuset pot with a lid (metal handles), cover generously with water, add in a few bay leaves and a small spoon of baking soda, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees. This takes slightly longer than stovetop, about three hours to get the beans tender, but is much more forgiving if you happen to get caught by the sleepy monster and let them go for four hours.
Yes to Shawni's tip... almost.... :) Put the rinsed and cleaned beans into COLD water (about twice the depth of the beans) and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat off an let stand for one hour. It's called the quick soak method and is on most packages. Tossing this soak water will get rid of most of the enzymes that cause malodorous digestive effects of beans that some people experience. Don't overlook the salt comment. I don't add it until the beans are fully cooked. As for additives, the sky's the limit from aromatics to bacon. Play. They're never bad... We have beans at least once a week and I never plan ahead well enough soak them over night.
I learned that soaking and rinsing takes away the things that makes you gassy when eating beans or lentils. The longer you let them soak the faster they cook once you put them on the stove. Can really recommend boiling them with some garlic, carrots, a pinch of basic vegetable stock and lots of thyme.
Yep, agree with the process of cooking dried beans, though you can also par boil them too. In this case, just put them in the pot, cover with water and bring to a boil, shut heat off, put lid on and let it sit for an hour, drain, then go from there, or as the poster said, soak 'em overnight.
That's what I did this last time, I soaked them, though I did add half a diced onion along with the beans and 2 large ham hocks which I stuck in the pot in the beginning and they burbled on the back burner all day, literally until the meat fell off the bones, which I fished out neat the end and took out the skin, cut them into pieces and put those back in the pot, added any salt as needed (sometimes I don't need any if the ham hock has flavor).
Then I served them over stove cooked long grain white rice, ala Hoppin' John for New Years Day.
I have the rest in the freezer in containers for later when I want a dish of black eyed peas.
I think I added some garlic to the pot near the end, and added some salt when near done.
They were most tasty.
This is how I was taught by my late mother to do dried beans.
Yes, I usually make beans from scratch. BUT I realized a couple months ago, I wasn't making them as much as a vegetarian like me should, because of the time issue. Now I saute some garlic and an onion, throw in come canned tomatoes, add a bunch of cumin and other spices, toss in canned black beans, and I've got a chili in half an hour. Same recipe with garbanzo beans, with a squeezed lemon and some spinach at the end. If you haven't done the advance planning, you can still enjoy your beans.
1. I no longer drain the beans after soaking and the broth is much, much tastier. Why throw away flavor? Rinse them before cooking and don't drain.
2. I disagree on the copious aromatics. I want the beans to taste like beans. Yes, put in an onion, a couple garlic cloves, a dried chili pepper. But leave them whole or almost whole so they add flavor but don't dominate. You are making beans, not soup. You can add all that other stuff to a portion of the beans after they are cooked if you want to use some for soup.
3. Add a pinch of baking soda at the beginning. Virtually guarantees soft skin and creamy texture.
4. Add a good amount of salt, but near the end of cooking so you don't toughen the beans.
This is crazy. I never realized beans were mysterious. I'm from Mississippi and beans are a side with every meal. I didn't realize that other people didn't automatically know the secret to beans. Hmm.
I almost always cook beans in my crock pot. The best thing is, I can cook them out in the garage so they don't stink up the whole house.
I agree. I want beans to taste like beans. I only use olive oil, salt, onion and/or garlic, and red pepper flakes. Sometimes fresh culantro (aka recao; not to be confused with cilantro), if I'm making red kidney beans (porotos). I love the amazing smell of culantro permeating my whole apartment...
I've never had a problem with adding salt right at the beginning, as I first make a sofrito with the olive oil and the aromatics and then dump the overnight-soaked beans, bring to boil, then simmer for about two or three hours. In fact, I read somewhere that the whole adding-salt-prevents-beans-from-softening thing was a myth.
Red kidneys are very forgiving, they don't take long to soften with my method. Oh, and I always use the Camellia brand.
Pintos are no problem for me, they work every time. I soak them at night, get up a little early and bring them to a boil for 10 minutes, add a chopped onion and cumin and simmer as long as I can before leaving for work. When I get back from work I just heat them up again until they're done.
But black beans, despite soaking overnight and boiling for 10 minutes, then simmering for over an hour, never seem to cook all the way through and I get more crunchy black beans than I like.
Beans can have a variety of cooking methods. But I have found that the most important thing to remember is to make sure the source of your beans are fresh. Many home cooks have issues with beans because many supermarkets sell old beans. Old beans don't cook evenly and in worse case not at all! Fresh beans make for better beans. Be sure to buy from a place that has a high turnover on beans.