How to Cook Beans Properly

Beans are an excellent and economical source of protein and other vitamins and minerals, but many don't like the results. The truth is that you don't get gas from beans. You get gas from improperly cooked beans. On this page, you'll learn how to cook beans properly.

First off, you should check the beans to make sure that there are no stones.  You should also rinse them thoroughly to make sure any sand, mill dust, or soil that might still be clinging to them is gone.

Beans must be soaked for at least 7 hours. Some prefer to soak them for up to 24 hours, depending on the type of beans.

This practice of soaking serves two purposes: it leaches out most of the plant toxins in beans that cause gas and gastric disturbances, and it ferments the beans slightly. Fermentation makes the starches/carbohydrates in beans more easily digestible, so that the protein in the beans is made more accessible.

Beans with tougher skins that are more like a membrane, and firmer interiors should be soaked for 12-24 hours. Examples of these would be chick peas or other legumes we're used to thinking of as nuts.

Peanuts lose most of their pungent toxins through roasting, but if you are going to boil them to cook them in a peanut sauce or stew, they should be soaked. After soaking chickpeas or peanuts or other tough skin beans, you should rub them between your hands to remove as much of the skin as possible. Usually they will float to the top of the water, and you can just pour them off.

Split peas, lentils, and other smaller beans only need the minimum soaking time.

After soaking beans, the water should be discarded and the beans should be rinsed. Do not cook the beans in the water they were soaking in.

Adding salt makes them tougher, and makes it more difficult for the gas causing toxins that are left after soaking, to evaporate. That foam that forms on the top of beans as they're boiling should be skimmed off.

You can add salt, spices, or other things after the beans are already cooked to the point of being almost soft.

An exception is made for slow cooked dishes such as cassoulet, chamin, or chulnt.  Since the beans will be cooking for more than 5 hours anyway, they'll get done enough.

Generally, beans should be at a consistent boiling temperature during the cooking process. To really get the gassy chemicals out of beans, they should stay just above boiling temperature, so low heat on your stove might not be enough. What you're going for is a slow rolling boil, not simmering.

An exception can be made for slow cooked beans.  Because of the long cooking time, a simmer is enough.

Our ancestors probably understood that beans required some balancing, through trial and error.  Normal traditional seasonings for beans are animal fats, cumin, onions, garlic, or leeks, coriander, and bay leaf.  For some reason, it's also common to see chiles or sweet peppers added to beans.

Traditional accompaniments to bean dishes are rice, barley, millet, quinoa, amaranth, and fermented dough flat breads.

It's debatable whether or not the grains are needed to make the proteins in beans "complete", but it certainly makes digestion easier, and that's a good enough reason.