aem wrote:

> the bean folks at the site Sheldon posted disagree. They say
> salting can make the skins impermeable, which retards the tenderizing
> process. Perhaps if you salt them you have to cook them longer than if
> you don't. Myself, I nearly always put a smoked ham hock in my pinto
> beans, which is pretty salty already so I only add additional salt to
> taste at the end. Sometimes they're ready in 90 minutes, sometimes in
> 150.

Bean skins are ALREADY impermeable. The way liquid gets into the bean is
through the tiny dot where it used to connect to the plant. (In case you
care, that dot is called the cilium.) Dissolved salt can pass through that
dot just as easily as unsalted water.

Cooks Illustrated debunked the myth of early salting spoiling the beans
quite some time ago: They TRIED early salting and found out that beans
tasted BETTER when salted early. In fact, they recommend soaking the beans
in a flavorful liquid prior to cooking.

I always cook the ham hock for a while, cool the broth, and soak the beans
in the broth overnight. Then I do the "real" bean cooking the next day. The
beans come out flavorful and not tough at all.

Sheldon doesn't know beans.

Bob