"M Jones" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> Perhaps somebody here can help a bachelor. I have kidney beans and butter
> beans. It says on the pack I must soak the beans for a minimum of 8 hours
> preferably in the refrigerator. I have done this and the skins fell off
> the beans.
>
> Is soaking absolutely necessary for me to cook these types of pulses?
> What does soaking actually do? Can I get away without doing it?
>

You can definitely get away without soaking. All soaking does is shorten the
cooking time. Note, however, that briefly boiling the beans and letting them
soak in the hot water for an hour, then draining and cooking in new water,
can lessed the gas effect.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.