Storage of dry beans

Dry beans can be stored a long time (but not forever!) if you keep them in their sealed unopened plastic packages. When you buy loose beans, or break open a package, you need to transfer them to tightly covered glass or metal containers and store in a cool dry place-but not the refrigerator.

A good idea is to pack each variety in large airtight screw-top jars.
Don't be tempted to toss old and new purchases or different varieties together, as the length of soaking and cooking times can vary. Mark the date of purchase on the jar label, and use beans in rotation, moving the oldest ones to the front and cooking them first. Beans will keep their quality for six to twelve months if you store them this way, but the longer they are stored, the more they will pick up moisture or dryness from their surroundings. When beans absorb or lose moisture, the times for soaking and cooking will change; if exposed to high temperatures and humidity, beans can be difficult to cook.

What can you do when beans won't cook?

If your beans don't cook to the tender stage within the expected time, there could be several reasons:

1. Did you add salt, acidic ingredients or molasses too soon, instead of at the end of cooking time?

2. Do you have hard water? Water that contains a high proportion of calcium and magnesium can toughen bean skins before the starches are softened, and prolong cooking time in the same way as salt and acids. To avoid this problem, you can use purified bottled drinking water for the bean liquid. Although some cooks add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda to the soaking and cooking liquid to overcome hard-water problems, the soda can give a soapy taste to delicately flavored beans and change the texture.

3. Do you live at an altitude above 3,500 feet? Cooking takes longer than normal because water will boil at lower temperatures. To avoid this snag, you can simply plan ahead by allowing extra cooking time, or alternatively prepare them in a pressure cooker.

Cooking beans...

How you cook beans can depend on the type of bean you are using, the amount of time you have, or available cooking utensils. Dry beans can be cooked conventionally on the stove-top, in a crock-pot, a pressure cooker or zapped in the microwave.

… On the stove-top

For simple boiled beans as a hot vegetable or for casseroles: places the beans (soaked, rinsed and drained) in a large saucepan with fresh hot water to about one inch above the beans. For each pound of beans add a tablespoons of cooking oil to reduce foaming and boil-overs;

… In the microwave oven
You can use the microwave for soaking, cooking and thawing frozen beans, heating canned beans (after transferring them to microwaveable dishes), reheating or finishing prepared recipes.
Because all microwave ovens are not created equal, it's a good idea to check the manufacturer's directions developed for your microwave. Just as microwave ovens vary in size, shape and color, their cooking power or wattage varies from oven to oven, and wattage will affect the cooking times of beans. Microwave recipes are generally developed for 600 to 700 watt ovens. I f your oven is less than 600 watts, you'll need to compensate by adding extra time to each step of the cooking instructions.
Although the overnight soaking method is preferable, the microwave is handy for quick soaking: put one pound of washed beans in a 5-quart glass container with 8 cups of water. Cover with an all-glass lid or plastic wrap, then cook at full power for 8 to 10 minutes or until boiling. Let stand for 1 hour or longer, stirring occasionally, then drain.
To cook one pound of beans, add 6 to 8 cups of fresh hot water, cover and cook at full power for 15 minutes or until boiling; stir; reduce to medium power (50 percent) and cook another 15 to 20 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir once again then let stand 5 minutes to finish the cooking process.

The microwave reheats frozen beans beautifully because the risk of scorching or pansticking is minimized. Twelve ounces of mashed cooked beans will defrost on a medium-low setting in about 5 minutes. Stir halfway through, then let stand for 5 minutes. To revive flavor and consistency after thawing, you might like to add a little broth or extra seasoning.

To soak or not to soak

Many cooks say they've been cooking legumes for years without bothering about soaking, and the discussion continues as to whether legumes should be soaked and, if so, which way is right. It's true that split peas and lentils need only to be washed before they are cooked, but the recommendation here is that most of legumes want a water-soak after washing. Why ?, you ask. Because legumes must rehydrate before they can begin to cook.
A dried legume has a moisture content of only about 15 percent, and after fully cooking, about 60 percent, so it needs to absorb plenty of water. Legumes have skins that water can't easily penetrate, except at the hilum, where the legume was attached to the pod. When you rehydrate the interior of the legume under the skin, you reduce cooking time (thus saving energy expense), and the cooking will give each bean a uniform texture. Each one will hold its shape better and keep a smooth skin.
If your dried legumes come directly from the farm, soaking can be minimal, but long soaking is recommended particularly for old legumes and tough-skinned fava beans and for the denser varieties such as the kidneys, pinks pinquitos and small whites. Soaking may fade some bean colors and cause paler markings in speckled, motled or veined beans.
Another major advantage to soaking beans in that if you use the preferred overnight hot-soak plan described below, and pour off the soak water, you reduce the digestive problems that beans are noted for. While beans are soaking for four hours or more, much of the indigestible sugars which cause many people to have gas are dissolved and discarded when the soak water is thrown away. Some purists argue that discarding the soak water means losing valuable bean nutrients, but food researchers consider the amounts of lost nutrients insignificant. Beans still retain all the good protein, carbohydrate and fiber that are the main nutritional reasons why people eat beans. For most people, avoiding indigestion is more important than losing trace amounts of nutrients that can be obtained from other food.
Whichever plan you use, be sure to drain away the soak water and rinse the beans, in case the water has developed a sour flavor.
You can use a couple of soaking methods: the Over-night hot-soak plan or the Quick-soak plan:
Overnight hot-soak plan: Sort beans and wash in a colander. In a large pot (beans will expand to over twice their dry volume), add 10 cups of hot water for each one pound of dried beans, any variety. Cover and let stand overnight or about 8 hours, stirring, occasionally. (Soybeans need to be refrigerated while soaking, to avoid fermentation.) Discard and replace the soak water a few times, if you can, then finally rinse and drain the beans. This is an important step.
Quick-soak plan: Sort beans and wash in a colander. In a large pot add 10 cups of hot water for each one pound of dried beans. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover and let stand for at least one hour.- preferably four hours. The longer you can soak the beans, the greater amount of sugars will dissolve, making the beans more digestible. Discard the soak water, then rinse and drain the beans.