Dried Bean Soak

[mike in brooklyn]

On a recent episode of Americas Test Kitchen they made
white bean soup - they soaked the beans overnight in
heavilly salted water claiming the soak would prevent the
'skin' from falling off during cooking.
They rinsed the beans well before cooking in unsated water.

Has anyone ever heard of this method ?

(they compared it to brining meat)

 

[Andy M.]

Soaking overnight is common. Most dry beans packages suggest it. Using salt is reasonable to add flavor to the beans. I can't say if it's effective in keeping the skins from falling off.

 

[Scotch]

I almost always soak overnight, even when the recipe suggests a "quick soak" (beans brought to boil for a few minutes, then allowed to sit for an hour or two before rinsing and using).

 

[mike in brooklyn]

The reason I thought this unusual is I was taught
that salting beans during cooking would toughen them.

I also go with overnight soaking vs the quick method.
I also add powdered garlic to the soaking water.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Me too! I soak dry beans overnight...I've never done the soak with salt, but don't see where it would hurt anything..... As for keeping the skin from falling off during cooking...If the end result was to be soup (pureed?) I don't see what difference it would make if they fell off or not..... Wonder if the salt would toughen the skin???

 

[jennyema]

The reason I thought this unusual is I was taught
that salting beans during cooking would toughen them.

I also go with overnight soaking vs the quick method.
I also add powdered garlic to the soaking water.

Salting during cooking doesn't toughen them. That theory has been disproven by food scientists. If you don't use salt the beans will be bland and you can't improve their flavor after they're cooked.

Not sure about soaking in salted water.

 

[Andy M.]

The reason I thought this unusual is I was taught that salting beans during cooking would toughen them...

Not true. Salting during the soak is just a good was to add flavor.

Acidic ingredients, on the other hand, DO toughen the beans. They should be added in a later stage of the cooking process.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I nearly always soak my beans overnight, but NEVER with salt. It has nothing to do with the skin, but can toughen the beans themselves in a way that no amount of cooking will amend. I'm surprised that no one's heard/mentioned not salting beans until they're well into cooking. It's not a "new-fangled" thing.

 

[Scotch]

I nearly always soak my beans overnight, but NEVER with salt. It has nothing to do with the skin, but can toughen the beans themselves in a way that no amount of cooking will amend. I'm surprised that no one's heard/mentioned not salting beans until they're well into cooking. It's not a "new-fangled" thing.

That's the way I do it, too. I was taught to do it that way, but I can't say for sure that salt makes beans tough.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I should have added to my previous post that one time, many years ago, I did soak some dried Great Northern beans in salted water overnight. I cooked those suckers for HOURS, & they were still inedible. And no, they weren't "old", etc., etc. Never soaked in salt water again; never had a problem. No longer willing to experiment with it; not worth it.

 

[pugger]

I always soak overnight - 24 hours or so for red beans.

Last time, I used the test kitchen/cooks mag method. Have to check my cooks mag when I get home, but I thought it was to soften the beans - which I guess would facilitate skin removal. I liked them better than any I made before. Wife thought they tasted funny at first, but upon the all-important leftovers she thought they were fine.

 

[bethzaring]

On a recent episode of Americas Test Kitchen they made
white bean soup - they soaked the beans overnight in
heavilly salted water claiming the soak would prevent the
'skin' from falling off during cooking.
They rinsed the beans well before cooking in unsated water.

Has anyone ever heard of this method ?

(they compared it to brining meat)

no have never heard of this method.

I try to use the overnight soaking method, I soak the beans with a bay leaf.

I rely on my bean bible "The Michigan Bean Cookbook" published by the Michigan Bean Commission, for my bean info. They do state that acid will make beans firm when cooking. They make no mention of salt doing that. They recommend to simmer beans gently, to prevent the skins from bursting.

 

[Scotch]

According to Cook's Illustrated,

"...soaking dried beans in mineral-rich, hard tap water
can toughen their skins. Some recipes recommend using distilled water to avoid this
issue, but we’ve discovered a simpler solution: adding salt to the tap water, which
prevents the magnesium and calcium in the water from binding to the cell walls, and it
will also displace some of the minerals that occur naturally in the skins. We found that
three tablespoons of salt per gallon of soaking water is enough to guarantee soft skins."
​

As for acidity, they say this:

"Finally, if you’ve cooked your beans for hours and found they failed to soften, chances
are they are either old and stale (and will never fully hydrate or soften), the water is too
hard, or there’s a acidic element present. Food scientists universally agree that high
acidity can interfere with the softening of the cellulose-based bean cells, causing them
to remain hard no matter how long they cook. Alkalinity, on the other hand, has the
opposite effect on legumes. Alkalines make the bean starches more soluble and thus
cause the beans to cook faster. (Older bean recipes often included a pinch of baking
soda for its alkalinity, but because baking soda has been shown to destroy valuable
nutrients, few contemporary recipes suggest this shortcut.)

But how much acid is too much acid? At what pH level is there a negative impact on the
beans? We cooked four batches of small white beans in water altered with vinegar to
reach pH levels of 3, 5, 7, and 9. We brought them to a boil, reduced the heat to a low
simmer, and tested the beans every 30 minutes for texture and doneness. The beans
cooked at a pH of 3 (the most acidic) remained crunchy and tough-skinned despite
being allowed to cook 30 minutes longer than the other three batches. The beans
cooked at pHs of 5, 7, and 9 showed few differences, although the 9 pH batch finished a
few minutes ahead of the 7 pH batch and about 20 minutes ahead of the 5 pH batch.
Acidity, then, must be relatively high to have any significant impact on beans. So in real
world terms, season with discretion and don’t add a whole bottle of vinegar or wine to
your beans until they are tender."
​

 

[Loprraine]

I try to saok my beans overnight, but sometimes forget, and then do the quick method.

[I've never done the soak with salt, but don't see where it would hurt anything..... /QUOTE]

I never add salt, because my Mother told me not to.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I've done the quick method too, but I still don't add any salt until I'm ready to actually "cook" the beans.

I made the mistake of adding salt once to the soaking water before I read not to do it, & no amount of cooking softened those beans sufficiently. I had to start over.

 

[mike in brooklyn]

I should have added to my previous post that one time, many years ago, I did soak some dried Great Northern beans in salted water overnight. I cooked those suckers for HOURS, & they were still inedible. And no, they weren't "old", etc., etc. Never soaked in salt water again; never had a problem. No longer willing to experiment with it; not worth it.

Thanks Breezy - you settled it for me - I have 1 lb Navy Beans
soaking as I write and I did not add salt to the soaking water.
Plan to make soup/stew using smoked Turkey wings to flavor
everything.

 

[ChefJune]

I nearly always soak my beans overnight, but NEVER with salt. It has nothing to do with the skin, but can toughen the beans themselves in a way that no amount of cooking will amend. I'm surprised that no one's heard/mentioned not salting beans until they're well into cooking. It's not a "new-fangled" thing.

I do it that way, too. Maybe salting the beans at the beginning doesn't toughen them, but in my experience, it does.

 

[luckytrim]

soaking beans serves multiple purposes...... softer beans don't require as long a soak as the harder beans, which need the overnight soak to rehydrate. Rehydrating makes for a shorter cooking time, and that means less nutrients are cooked away.... soaking can also minimize "gas', but not to the extent that most people believe....But if the cooking time or the nutritioun value isn'y a good enough reason, here's another - beans are dirty !Beans are threshed and sorted, but are not washed.. Soaking is the only way to loosen and rinse away the tiny specks of field dirt.

So; Soak-- discard water, rinse, into a clean pot, cover, and when water comes to the boil, salt if you want..........cooking time then depends on what type of bean.......
When I make my chili, or baked beans, I use three different beans.....I have to soak the black beans seperately, and for a few hours longer than the others.......

 

[Nils Hoyum]

That is an awesome tip for bean skin. Thanks!

 

[mike in brooklyn]

My Navy bean soup has just finished.
I didn't add any salt till the last 1/2 hour of cooking.
The soup cooked for 80 min and the beans were creamy and tender.
I also added 1/2 cup soy sauce during last 1/2 hour.