My dried beans turned into a two day kitchen project

Tried to make a cheap pot of black beans from a bag I got for a dollar. Soaked them overnight like you're supposed to, but they were still hard as rocks after four hours of simmering. I spent the next day just trying to get them soft enough to eat, checking the pot every thirty minutes. Anyone know a trick to make old dried beans actually cook right?

3 comments

3 Comments

janac512mo ago

Old beans just don't soften right, no matter how long you cook them. That bag was probably sitting on a shelf for years. You need to start with fresher dried beans from a store with good turnover.

dakota_taylor392mo ago

Remember my friend tried to make chili with beans from the back of her pantry? Total brick situation, just like @janac51 said. She cooked them forever and they never got soft.

leep891mo ago

I had the same problem with a bag of pinto beans last year, and I finally tried a pressure cooker after three failed stovetop attempts. @dakota_taylor39, I think your friend might have had the same luck I did with those old pantry beans. What worked for me was adding a little baking soda to the soaking water, like a quarter teaspoon per cup of beans, and that seemed to help them soften up faster. The other thing I do now is check the sell-by date on the bag before I buy, because those dollar bin beans are usually the oldest ones in the store. Once you find a fresh bag, they cook up in about two hours flat, no problem at all.