The need to soak beans overnight often precludes the enjoyment of a great recipe -- in today's busy world, how many of us remember to prep a meal a day in advance? Fortunately, there's actually no need to soak beans overnight before cooking them, and by using a quick-soak method, you will both enhance flavor and save time!
The most common method of quick-soaking beans is done right on the stovetop; simply put the beans in a pot with plenty of water (about three times the volume of the beans) and bring to a boil. After boiling for two minutes, remove pot from heat, cover it and let it stand for one hour. Drain and rinse, and your beans are recipe-ready.
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If you want to prepare beans while you are at work, put them in a slow cooker and add enough water to cover the beans by two inches. Set on low for six to eight hours -- cooking time will vary by bean and by slow cooker.
Using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot makes the process super fast -- simply bring beans and water (four times the volume of the beans) to a boil, then seal the lid and cook under high pressure for two minutes. After cooking, release pressure slowly then drain and rinse the beans.
To cook beans to their ready-to-eat state, try the oven method: bring beans to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven, then bake in the same covered pot for 75 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius). They will emerge tender and tasty.
How does quick preparation affect the beans' flavor? Russ Parsons, a Los Angeles Times food editor known as the California Cook, put this question to the test. He created recipes with beans that were soaked overnight, beans prepared with the quick-soak method, and beans cooked via the oven method. Parsons concluded that, particularly with the oven-cooked beans, "textures and flavors ... were much improved."
It is often claimed that soaking or boiling the beans leeches out or breaks down the complex sugars that humans have trouble digesting, thereby making the beans less likely to cause flatulence. While it is true that the complex sugars -- called alpha-galactosides -- are the problem, studies have shown that reducing the sugars by as much as 90 percent has no effect on flatulence production.
Other rumored methods of reducing flatulence have also been disproved by science. "People use bicarbonate of soda, ginger, sulfur, castor oil," said Louis B. Rockland of Food Tech Research in Placentia, Calif., and long-time bean researcher. "But there's no evidence that any of them -- including soaking -- work effectively [to reduce flatulence]."
Research has concluded that the amount of flatulence produced by beans depends on a variety of factors, including the consumers' tolerance for alpha-galactosides (which increases with regular bean consumption) and tolerance for fiber.
The next time you have a craving for nutritious and delicious beans, go ahead and make them! If you own a slow cooker, pressure cooker or even a large pot, you do not have to plan your meal day in advance -- just cook and enjoy!
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