Myths About Dried Beans

There are three "facts" you'll often hear about cooking dried beans, such as kidney and great northern beans. It turns out they are all myths.

Must Dried Beans be Soaked?

You can soak beans of course, but the only advantage it provides is to shorten the cooking time. There's no reason not to start cooking dry beans directly as long as you have the time to simmer them long enough.

Soaking is useful if you want more predictable timing, gentler simmering, and more even interiors, especially with large or older beans that otherwise may stay tough or split. Some folks claim that unsoaked beans, given a longer, low simmer, can turn out just as tender, sometimes with better flavor retention, because fewer soluble compounds are leached into soak water. But no, you do not need to soak dried beans before cooking.

Can You Add Salt During Bean Cooking?

There is a myth that says early salting makes beans tough and lengthens cooking time, but controlled tests have shown that salting early actually helps beans soften and cook more evenly while minimizing bursting. Salt interacts with the skins and interior of the beans. The sodium ions help pectin dissolve and cell walls relax, so beans tend to become tender more readily rather than staying hard as the myth falsely claims. So cooking beans in salted water actually does the opposite of what the old myth claims. Some cooks add salt to the soaking water as well (if you are going to soak, that is) for additional penetration into the beans.

Are Acids Okay During Bean Cooking?

An acidic environment (low pH) during cooking, such as is caused by adding tomatoes, will in fact lengthen the bean cooking time significantly. If time is important to you, you might want to delay adding acid until near the end of cooking. On the other hand, adding acid can lengthen the bean cooking allowing other ingredients to finish cooking before the beans get mushy. Conversely, when dealing with very old or stubborn beans, avoiding acid and raising the pH with a pinch of baking soda is one way to speed softening and lessen toughness.