Unless you have a specific allergy to beans (usually to the proteins), common gas kinds of bean issues are actually from having too little fiber in your general diet and your guts going bonkers. I don't know if there's fiber in the bean water, but there could be. I don't know about the baking soda, but since it was an old time home remedy to tummy aches it could be true.

The best way to make the beans easier to cope with, unless it's the allergy, is to ease more whole grains, beans, legumes, etc., into your daily diet, as well as fleshy fruits and vegetables. This is also good for your arteries and heart, so win-win. :) If you have a sensitivity beyond that, or if you already have lots of fiber in your diet, I don't know what will help.

BTW, soaking beans is unnecessary unless they're extremely old and extremely dry. If they're supermarket fresh, rather than years old in a warm pantry, you can skip it. It is not true that soaking makes them less gassy.

Have you tried taking Beano before a meal with beans? My mother swears by it.

I've started using Rancho Gordo beans. I soak them for a few hours prior to cooking, but don't drain the soaking water. I use the bean liquid in my pasta e fagioli.

I think I do have a sensitivity to certain beans. I mentioned this problem to my internist some years ago. She said (this is a simplification on my part) that the proteins in some beans are more tightly folded than others. Soybeans are most famous for this. As you get older some people's digestions can lose the ability to “unfold” the proteins.

It’s been trial and error beyond the soybeans which others I can tolerate.

I used to use beano, and still do if I have a craving for an all-bean dish like baked beans. The last time I bought it though, the price had gone way up, to the point where I think twice about having beans, period, unless the ratio is low.

Sherry, since I forgot to pre-soak, I did bring the beans to a boil in a separate pot, then turned it off to let them soak. They’ve actually been in there for a few hours and are 75% cooked.

I’m not sure what you mean by “supermarket fresh” or fresh from the market. They are still dry. I don’t see how I could NOT soak them. We have all different kinds and turn them over pretty fast. My husband loves beans and will cook and eat just them for his lunch often. Of course, they don’t give HIM any trouble at all.

Soaking beans helps remove anti-nutrients. Can't hurt.

Linnea, you only have to soak for one hour, then discard the soaking water. Go ahead and discard any water left and add new and finish cooking. Supermarket fresh, means you just bought them at the market within a month or two. They haven't been in your pantry for a few years. Beans don't "go bad". but they will get harder and harder. It takes a long soak and a long cook for very old beans.

You don't have to soak, it just means cooking will take longer ... unless you're using a pressure cooker.

I know that there is a whole new idea about not soaking, and if that works for you great. It does not work for us and we eat a lot of beans. I will stay with the tried and true. It doesn't hurt and it really helps us.

Thanks Sherry. I have NOT be discarding the soaking water, just adding more water to cook them. Then scooping the beans out with a slotted spoon to add them to the recipe, or draining in a colander.

Sounds like this is one place where I need to make a change!

I always forget to soak overnight, so do the boil for 2 minutes (I usually do heavy boil for 3) then let soak for at least an hour. Works great! Another 2-3 hours with whatever I'm adding in is good.

I have heard that the more you rinse them, the less gas you will have, so I'll rinse until the water runs clear. Then add stuff and finish cooking. NT

Linnea, I cook a lot of beans, especially black beans and pintos, and always have. Mom taught me to bring them to a boil for 5 minutes in lots of water, then let sit one hour. Drain, and cook as you wish. Generally, for me, that’s with fatback or a smoked hock. Sometimes straight into soup. I use a Cuisinart pressure cooker, and do it all in one pot — open, of course, for pre-boil. However, a few years ago I got severe gastritis from a hiatal hernia, and beans made the upward pressure and pain much worse. My brilliant Indian gastroenterologist told me to put in about 2 teaspoons baking soda during the pre-boil. For all beans and lentils, he said. Wow, what a difference. I could eat beans again! My husband loved it — no more pressure in either direction. ;-) Just stand by for the boil, because the bubbling is fierce as that “gas” ? leaves the beans, and sometimes you have to skim the foam off or cut the heat back quickly.

apparently presoaking removes a complex carbohydrate in the skin of beans which actually does cause digestive problems in some people as for just cooking the beans, presoaking does reduce cooking time it's just not necessary to presoak unless you or a family member are affected by the digestive difficulties

i either presoak or bring them to a boil and let them sit (after adding a bit of baking soda) and i rinse them in both cases, i just like the idea of cooking them in "clean" water, weird yes.....

Linnea, it sounds like you have the answers you wanted. I'm answering the questions you asked up topic, but not trying to argue. By "supermarket fresh" I meant not just now dried in the field, necessarily, but as fresh as they generally are when you buy a small bag (i.e,. under four pounds) at the store. They're still pretty moist, even though dried to the point of being hard. They can get much harder yet. In order to cook tender, you only need to cook them. You don't need to presoak. If they've been sitting around for years, soaking can revive them, but doesn't always. In places like Mexico, where beans are a staple of the daily diet, they don't soak the beans.

Not all beans have antinutrients that can be soaked off. Some do, as Artemis said. In that case, the soaking water should be discarded. I don't know much about antinutrients in beans, other than they're apparently in the skin so soaking can help. In general, antinutrients do things like prevent the absorption of certain minerals, but again, I don't really know about beans in particular. Some people make a big deal about them, but if you have a good and varied diet, they're not something to get in a big twist over.

Another thing that can make beans more digestible is sprouting. You soak them for several days, changing the water every 8-12 hours until they pop a little tail (or even just a nubbin) as if you were going to plant them. If I remember right, this makes the proteins easier to digest, and easier to get the nutrients in general. I'm very bad at sprouting. It often doesn't work right for me--I couldn't say why...it's easy. If you're interested, you can look up the particulars online, or search Grainlady's old threads.

About the baking soda: when we lived in San Diego I couldn't get beans to soften no matter how long I cooked them. San Diego tap water is really hard and was thought to be the problem. Crunchy beans are not yummy. The solution was to cook them in bottled water. An alternative I heard about was to add some baking soda to the tap water to soften it, but how much was a mystery. I usually went with bottled water, which was the main reason I didn't drain it off after boiling and soaking.

This has all been very interesting! Thank you all so much. I know more than I did before. From now on, I'll use the baking soda. My southern friend was right.

In my local grocery - which is an ethnic grocery - they do sell fresh shelled beans in the produce department. Not that many kinds, but fresh black-eyed peas, limas, mung, and several kinds of indian and asian beans whose names I don't know. That's what I was thinking you might be meaning, plllog. I'm sorry if I gave offense. I very much appreciate your information. I have not bought them myself so have no experience with how those are cooked other than like any fresh vegetable. To use them I would have to plan in advance, LOL. The dried beans are just a pantry staple I reach for to supplement or stretch out something else. LIke the soup I was making yesterday.

I don't know about the rest, but the fresh (or frozen) black eyed peas and limas, I cook like green beans with a piece of bacon in water until done, usually about 30 minutes. I do not soak and drain before cooking.

ETA: Some use a small amount of ham.

No, no! No offense in the least! If I sounded testy it's just from being very tired. I didn't mean it! I said I was not trying to argue because sometimes I will argue a point of fact. In this case, the facts aren't clear cut, and there are many variables that influence what may be happening and how people experience it--I just wanted to answer your questions without being annoying! Not that I succeeded, but that's what I was trying for. :)

As to "supermarket fresh", I was referring to the pantry staple dried beans. They really do have a significant moisture content even though they are dry and hard. They get dryer and harder with time. There are, as you pointed out, fresh off the vine beans, undried, available in some markets, mostly small specialty markets, so "fresh" wasn't a good word choice on my part. My apologies for the confusion.

I'll address the 'fresh' in my hack way....the anatomy of a seed.

Seeds/beans have an embryo, endosperm, cotyledon, seed coat. The endosperm is the fuel/food'suitcase' surrounding the embryo. Viable seed, fresh seed/bean, once elder/older, can affect the endosperm that protects the embryo. Gardeners are familiar with old seed. Less viable and hard to germinate...proper storage increases the germination rate and viability.

The outer protective shell of any seed or bean is very different. Some thin shells will affect their germination. As you have noticed that some beans 'soften' and cook faster than others.

The endosperm, the nutrients surrounding the embryo, can dry out and Harden with age. Why some beans have a difficult time in the cook pot. And will not sprout and grow at all for the gardener. Fresh beans/seeds will have no trouble at all....for the gardener or the cooks pot.

A soaked seed helps soften the outer shell, and for a gardener as well...seeds sit dormant just waiting for the water needed to become a plant. The seed has all the nutrients it needs from the endosperm to germinate. Once it starts to grow and the first true leaves appear, the tap root is looking for nutrients from the soil having spent all its 'food' germinating.

An old dead seed/bean, often not noticeable, will be more difficult to soften the seed coat.

And more difficult to digest...goes strait to the bomb shelter lower intestine. Boom, gas. Depending on your diet, genes, we are all different in gut health. So other factors come into play.

Soaking and rinsing often, using fresh seed, you can wake up the embryo and have the beginnings of a plant. Barely detectable. But once the plant is forming in the seed coat you have a much easier digested bean. Sprouted grain bread for example....but soaking dead old seed will not help at all. Soaking old seed, for an extended time, will rot having no viable life.

Excellent explanation. And it may explain why I've more often grown mold than sprouted beans. :)

I presoak most beans and discard the soaking water and rinse the beans well before cooking them. My pressure cooker instruction say to soak the beans before cooking them in the PC. I do not presoak lentils. I do not soak split peas as long, and I do not drain split peas before cooking. When cooking garbanzos, I add about 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and this makes them get soft much faster. Even in the PC, they do not get soft unless I add baking soda. I also always drain garbanzos after cooking, but I keep the cooking water from pretty much all other beans.

I try to find fresh fava beans when cooking those, as they are easier to peel, but if I do not have them, I will presoak them and then peel them before cooking them.