How To Cook Dry Beans

Today we’re finishing up showing you more about pressure cookers. Jodi did a great job explaining the difference between pressure canners and cookers last week and so many of our readers on our Facebook Page have asked us what we use our cookers for and here’s just one example.

This post deserves a little bit of background information… These are actual quotes by me Julie that I said to Jodi, either on the phone or on msn – yes we’re old school and that’s how we chat when we work late at night.

“Jodi, there is no way I will ever use beans in my Food Storage, so I’ll just store a lot of Tuna for protein”

“Jodi, I decided I actually like black beans now, so I’ll just store a lot of cans of beans”

“Jodi, I was thinking MAYBE I should try to learn how to cook dry beans”

“Jodi, that was a DISASTER, I’m never trying to cook black beans again – they took forever and didn’t even turn out good”

“Jodi, pressure cooking those dry beans was way faster by they turned out WAY mushy”

“Jodi, I got the texture right… I finally got the texture right- but the beans are tasteless”

“Jodi – I GOT IT!”

So I’m proud to declare, I’ve switched over from team canned, to team dry, but I’m also very sympathetic to the team canners. I know that often times you may be in a hurry and just need to open a can of beans, or maybe you have had some bad luck with trying to cook dry beans, or maybe you just haven’t given it a chance yet. Dry beans have plenty of advantages that I’m sure most of you are aware of. They are cheaper, can be healthier, and you can store them longer. So – whether you’re ready or not, I’ll show you how to cook dry beans – and if you’re not ready – remember this post and come back to it one day.

Pressure Cooking Dry Beans

I’ll tell you EXACTLY how I do mine. I cook them in my electric pressure cooker, and LOVE how fast and easy it is. I usually make a seasoned black bean and use it in burritos with brown rice, throw them on salads, put them in any recipe calling for black beans. You can alter the seasonings or bean type. I found putting MORE spices than I thought it needed was when it actually started tasting good. I think I didn’t realize how many beans I was actually cooking, so I under-seasoned them for a long time. Do not add salt as that will slow the cooking process. Also- as a side note, often times I’ll cook chicken in my pressure cooker first, then use the leftover broth as the water for cooking the beans. This gives it a REALLY great flavor.

Cooking Beans Instructions

Add 5 cups of water in pressure cooker
Add spices ( 1 Tablespoon of cumin, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 Tablespoons of dehydrated onions, 2 Tablespoons of dry cilantro)
Add 2 cups of black beans

Cook on high pressure. Set pressure cooker for 30 minutes. After the pressure cooker beeps, do quick pressure release… and ENJOY how EASY THAT WAS! Depending on the age of your beans, you may need to increase this time. Older beans take longer to cook.

Did you all just gasp and say ARE YOU SERIOUS, NO PRE-SOAKING AND 30 MINUTES? Well you should have! It’s awesome. To learn more about pressure cookers – see Jodi’s post last week.

For more about Bean’s Do’s and Don’ts and links to cooking dry beans without a pressure cooker, visit our BabyStep 6: Legumes page.