My $5 bag of dried beans just ruined my whole pot of chili

I soaked them overnight like always, but they stayed hard as rocks even after 3 hours of simmering. Had to throw the whole batch out, which felt like a huge waste of the ground beef and tomatoes. Does anyone know a foolproof way to cook dried beans so this never happens again?

4 comments

4 Comments

hannah_fisher582mo ago

My grandma in Tucson taught me to always add a pinch of baking soda to the soaking water. It softens the water and helps break down the bean skins. I've never had a pot of beans stay hard using that trick, even with older beans from the store. You might also check the expiration date on the bag, because really old beans just won't soften up no matter what you do.

young.michael2mo ago

Did you know hard water can actually stop beans from softening? I read an article that said the minerals in the water, like calcium, can make the bean skins tough. Hannah's grandma is right about the baking soda trick, because it balances that out. It's a good point about old beans too, they lose their ability to absorb water after a few years in the pantry. So it might not be the cook's fault at all, just the water or the beans themselves. That's why some people have luck with bottled water for soaking.

evan5437d ago

Yeah what @young.michael said about hard water is something I actually saw on a cooking show once. They tested tap water vs filtered water and the beans in hard water took like twice as long to get soft. I never thought about it until I moved to a new apartment with terrible hard water and suddenly my beans started acting up too. The baking soda trick from hannah_fisher58 really does work though, I've been doing that for years and it saves so much trouble. Also check if your beans are super old, I bought a bag once from the back of my pantry that was like 2 years past date and they never softened no matter what I did lol.

lee182mo ago

Honestly, is a pot of chili really that big of a deal? It's just beans and meat, not a lost family treasure. Stuff like this happens to everyone who cooks. Next time, just use canned beans if you're worried about it. They're foolproof and save you a whole day of soaking. Seems like a lot of stress over something you can fix for like two bucks.