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How to cook dried beans faster
Learn how soaking dried beans in baking soda or salt can shorten cooking time, and when bicarbonate-rich mineral water may help.
In shortHow to cook dried beans faster is a question familiar to anyone whose beans refuse to soften even after a long soak.
Beans need to be soaked before cooking, and what you soak them in matters. According to scientific experiments, soaking in a baking soda solution cuts cooking time the most, though salt also helps. Mineral water contains smaller amounts of these substances, so its effect may be weaker.
Soaking in a baking soda solution
Soak dried beans before cooking, preferably overnight. Add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to the soaking water, about 10 g per liter of water, or approximately 2 teaspoons. Adding 10 g of salt per liter has a similar but weaker effect. Drain and rinse the beans before cooking.
What about mineral water?
Mineral water helps only if it contains high levels of bicarbonates and sodium; check the label for its mineral content. Even these mineral waters contain lower levels than the solution used in the experiments, so they may be less effective than baking soda.
Source: Didinger et al., The effects of elevation and soaking conditions on dry bean cooking time, Legume Science, 2023.
This article was translated from the Slovak original: Ako rýchlejšie uvariť suchú fazuľu – sóda a minerálka
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