I do the opposite - I use a base, viz. baking soda, although I generally add that during the cooking process to make them cook faster. This works particularly well with garbanzos, which will get tender in one hour to 1:20. I probably cook more garbanzos than any other type of bean, but red beans or pintos would probably be second. The baking soda does make them more digestible - at least for me. I also never add any salt until the beans are completely cooked.

What kind of beans are you cooking?

Lars

I was thinking for all types of beans. I have to do some research on it. It does make more sense to do something more alkaline - will look more up info. Thanks.

I read something somewhere about brining beans. I did it because I always had trouble with the skins coming off. Turned out I really liked the brined beans. The skins stayed on and they did seem to be quite digestible. So now if I'm going to soak beans I add salt. I often just cook them without soaking/brining but I like the end product when I do. I use about a half cup per gallon of water. I generally cook three or four pounds when I make beans/bean soup. So for that it's more water.

It is often suggested to add soda to the cooking water (not soaking water), especially if you have hard water. But it's really not a good thing because it destroys the B1 (thiamine). A better choice is to use bottled water for cooking your beans if you have hard water and notice they take a long time to cook thoroughly.

Digestibility -
Sprouting your beans develops enzymes to help digest beans more easily (the little sprout consumes much of the hard-to-digest sugars). After they are sprouted (2-3 days - or until you notice a tiny white shoot - 1/16th" - beginning to appear) they are ready to cook and will cook much quicker.

Adding seaweed (kombu) is also a good aid for better bean digestion. I've also read adding fennel seeds will work too.

Another suggestion is to start with small amounts of beans or bean flour several times weekly in soups, sauces, all baked goods, etc. to help you become more accustomed to them.

BEANO is an enzyme tablet to aid in digestion.

-Grainlady

I'm no help, I love beans and eat them often, but I never soak them and I never add anything other than seasonings.

Elery and I just had a mess of pinto beans Friday night, I dumped a pound of beans into the 6 quart Nesco, set it on "slow cook". Added a chopped onion, a couple chopped stalks of celery and a couple of chopped carrots, salt and pepper. Let them cook for 6 hours and they were perfect.

We had the leftovers Saturday night for tostadas and Elery used the last of them to make some nachos tonight.

I guess I eat them often enough that they don't cause digestive problems and I don't need anything like BEANO.

Annie

I wish there was a sure fire method for cooking beans so there were no "digestibility" problems. I used to eat them all the time. I grew up eating my dad's Greek soups -- lentil, great northern , and garbanzo (He made a different batch each week). I loved refried beans and baked beans too. Couldn't get enough of hummus either. Then about five years ago, when I hit my late 50s, my digestive system seemed to change. And it's gotten progressively worse.

At first it was just beans, but now I'm bothered when I eat cruciferous vegetables. I take plenty of Beano, but it doesn't help all that much. I love beans, and I love cabbage and its many cousins. This is one part of growing older that I really dislike.

Shambo, try the sprouting method that grainlady mentioned. I admit I haven't tried it myself, but I've read enough about it and no several people who use it. Much more digestible.

shambo-

If you haven't tried sprouting and then cooking beans, that might be just the ticket for you. As far as cabbage goes, fermentation is probably the answer since fermentation is a way to pre-digest foods. Just as culturing milk and making kefir or yogurt is a way to pre-digest the hard-to-digest milk sugar (lactose). Soaking grains and long fermentation of sourdough breads makes the grains easier to digest. Virtually all preindustrialized peoples soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and other mixed food dishes.

I soak nuts overnight in lightly salted water, which will begin the sprouting process, then dehydrate them until crispy dry. This makes them much easier to digest and increases the available nutrition. They also keep longer in storage using this process.

There are a number of digestive enzymes that can help you out, not just Beano. You may need a broad spectrum of them, and to consume them on a regular basis. We don't do ourselves any favors over the years by consuming all the cooked foods we do. All the enzymes are destroyed in these foods and we have to supply them ourselves from our own "bank" of enzymes. Once our enzyme levels are depleted, supplements are really a necessity.

-Grainlady

Sprouting should raise the sugar content. Beer making grains are soaked then let stand for a couple days. The trick is to catch them before they sprout. The little sprout is eating all those sugars the brewer wants to convert to alcohol. Grains store energy as starch which is converted to sugar during the germination process.

I soak my beans in plain cold water for about an hour. More to make certain I get any chemicals washed off then to defart them... which it does fairly well.

People I work with are amazed I can cook dry beans... like it is some sort of voodoo rocket science.

: )
lyra

I don't use acid, but I do soak in hot water (boil it and pour it over the beans, soak 12-72 hours, drain, rinse, cook in fresh water), and I believe it makes them more digestible. I have seen them sprout from doing this, but it took a few days.

Lyra, I'm not sure exactly which compounds are problematic, but it seems to be the presence of certain kinds of carbohydrate, not the overall carb/sugar content.

I can not tell you where I read or heard this but I follow it. Never add acid to beans until they are almost done. I think it had to do with the acid slowing the cooking process of the beans. I do add things like tomatoes or some lemon juice to soups the last 1/2 hr.

Finally did some research and found some info on what I was asking about. I don't think it's a common practice and was recommended to me. I will try both ways - with the acid and with the baking soda. The amount of information on food and how to prepare it, eat it, is almost overwhelming at times.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.wonderfulingredients.com/soaking-grains-and-beans

Lacey & Grainlady, thanks for the info about sprouting. I recall a couple of years ago, my daughter gave me some homemade sprouted lentils. I made a curry type stir fry with them and found them quite good. I need directions on sprouting other beans so I can experiment.

The only way I can comfortably eat beans now is if I cook them myself. Canned or restaurant beans are a real problem for me. I've learned to soak beans overnight, cook for 30-45 minutes in fresh water, drain, and then start again with more fresh water, cooking until tender. I know that I'm losing nutrients by all the draining, but it's the only way I can manage. I eat beans because I really like them not necessarily because I consider them a healthy food. So this method allows me to indulge every once in a while.

Cookie8, I read the information on the link you provided. I'm curious as to why 2 tbsp. of acid is required for black beans, lentils, & garbanzos but not for black eyed peas, pinto kidney, & navy beans.

Never add an acid ingredient until the beans are soft or they may never get soft. One of my favorite bean recipes have chopped tomatoes added at the end of cooking. I can never remember if it is called Cajun Lima Beans or Creole Lima Beans, but it is very good. I have to look at the recipe everytime to remember everything that it has in it.