Beans are one of the most economical foods around, they’re cheap to buy and keep almost indefinitely under the right (dry) conditions. I keep mine in the cupboard in old pasta sauce mason jars.
Beans triple in size during the soaking process so you should use three cups of water for each cup of beans.
Soaking beans is really one of the easiest things ever, and a great way to avoid the nasties (like Bisphenol A or BPA) that are found in canned foods. Soaking beans also helps reduce the musical fruit effect, because the soaking process helps remove some of the indigestible complex sugars present in beans that cause bean-related flatulence. The longer you soak, the less you toot!
Before you soak
Before soaking your beans, they should be rinsed and any weird or misshapen beans (the really wrinkly ones and any beans with holes in them, that sort of thing) or foreign material should be removed. I usually put the beans in a pot of water, then swirl it around to look for anything that needs to be removed. Usually all the husks and dust rise to the top so will be drained off. Typically I put them through a couple of rinses before soaking but do whatever works for you &emdash; some people don’t rinse them at all.
Overnight Soak
As the name suggests, this method involves taking the beans and soaking them in a pot of water overnight, or at least for 8 hours. Place the beans into the water, if you are soaking a cup of beans, make sure you use at least three cups of water but you can use more if you like.
This method works great for pinto beans, kidney beans and other large bean varieties and the eco-friendly way to get your beans ready.
Quick Soak
Oops! You forgot to soak your beans and didn’t remember until the next morning! Don’t despair, you can still make your bean meal for dinner by doing a quick soak. Bring a pot of water to the boil, put your beans in and boil them rapidly for 3 minutes. Remove them from the stove and let them sit in the hot water for at least 1–2 hours (you could soak them for up to 4 hours though).
Ultra Cheating Soak
If you were planning on eating beans and totally forgot to soak them the night before, despair not, you might be able to fake it with this quick-y cheating method which I have used for emergencies.
Grab your beans and put them in a pot with a lot of water, then bring the pot of water to the boil. Stir the beans so that they don’t stick to the pot and boil them for about a half hour. They should be softened enough to use in cooking after the rapid boil.
Do I need to soak my beans?
Some beans definitely need to be soaked, like kidney beans and chick peas / garbanzo beans, but some beans and legumes do not need pre-soaking, for example lentils.
Final thoughts
- Make sure you add enough water. The beans expand to twice their size during the soaking process so make sure they are well covered. You can always add water if you notice that they’re running low.
- Use room-temperature or cool-ish water, not too cold. Don’t use hot water because it will cause the beans to sour so is best avoided.
- Don’t cook your beans in the soak water. Well, there is a slightly contentious debate about whether cooking your beans in the soak water is better because it doesn’t lose the nutrients that were dissolved into the soak water but from what I’ve read the loss is minimal and not discarding the soak water before cooking means that the flatulence-causing chemical compounds will be retained.
- I’ve left my beans soaking for too long and lived to tell the tale, but after 12 hours they do tend to be somewhat over-soaked so the best tactic is to drain the water once they’re done soaking. The drained beans can be stored in the fridge for a day or two, but eventually they will start to sprout so don’t leave them too long.
Well I hope that helps, these techniques are what I use but if you have any tips to share I’d love to hear them. Happy beaning!
