Cooking Beans From Scratch

by Sarah Armstrong
(Bremerton, Wa, USA)

I keep trying to cook beans from scratch and just can't seem to have them turn out soft.

I put 2 cups of beans in 6 to 8 cups water and let them soak over night. I am working with small white beans i got from the food bank.

I drained them and put my sauce on them and put them in the oven. After an hour I took them out to check them and they were still hard and the sauce had not reduced. Put them on the stove and left them on med-high for another hour and almost burned them.

What am I doing wrong? I have been trying to cook beans from scratch now on and off for over a year and just can't seem to crack how to cook dried small white beans.

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Sassy Sez: Hi Sarah - Bravo to you for soaking your beans overnight, and then rinsing them. Some people don't grasp that concept, so you are ahead of the game.

It seems that perhaps you are trying to cook your beans in a sauce, but you will need to cook them in a pot of water before using them in any dish.

Click here to learn how to cook beans without a pressure cooker. Small white beans (pre-soaked) usually take 45-60 minutes when cooked in this manner.

Does this help? xo