notbob > wrote:

>On 2010-05-29, john hamilton > wrote:

>> what would be a minimum time to soak them today, to be able to cook them
>> this evening? Thanks for advice

>Soaking dried beans is a waste of time. It's totally unnecessary and
>physically changes the relative texture between the bean skin and the
>inner pulp. Unless you actually like a soft pulp in a tough skin,
>just boil the damn things and be done with it.

Not my experience. For beans to cook to tenderness without too
many of them falling apart, they must usually be pre-soaked.
This effect is most marked (in my experience) with garbanzos,
which are a perfect texture if soaked overnight, then boiled
about 18 minutes at sea level. If you want completely intact,
but tender, garbanzos, say for use in a salad.

But there are many things that affect bean cooking, including
obviously elevation and pH of the water, as well as whether
and when they are salted, that I'm sure people have different
experiences with pre-soaking.

Stevw