How to soak beans before cooking and why is it needed?

100 years ago, housewives knew how to soak beans before cooking, and most importantly - why. Today, this practice is not so popular. As a result, legumes are fresh and harmful to health. The wrong cooking method can ruin any product. We offer you to learn how to properly soak the beans in order to squeeze its maximum benefit for the body.

Why soak beans before cooking?

Many housewives soak the beans so that it cooks faster. So, red must be cooked for at least 4 hours. And if you prepare in advance, time will be reduced by 3 times. But there are other reasons why it is useful to soak beans.

• Improving Taste

If the seeds are not pre-soaked beforehand, the shell will not completely break apart and will be slightly bitter. The density will be uneven: some grains will remain hard, while others will turn into mashed potatoes. But the soaked beans after cooking becomes soft, delicate and fragrant.

• Gas Prevention

Many in childhood did not like pea or bean soup because of a known side effect. The reason is that legumes contain oligosaccharides. The human body is not able to completely break down and assimilate them. As a result, undigested oligosaccharides enter the intestines, where they begin to ferment.

Legumes are soaked so that these substances break up. Then after eating the bean soup you will feel lightness, not rumbling in your stomach.

• Vitamin Preservation

Beans are rich in vitamins B1, B4, B5, B6, PP, folic acid. However, with prolonged heat treatment, beneficial substances decompose. Since soaked seeds are cooked for less than an hour, some of the vitamins can be saved.

• Neutralization of harmful substances

They are also called antinutrients. Beans contain phytic acid. This substance protects the beans from germination. But when phytic acid enters the body, it binds molecules of zinc, iron, copper, silicon and other trace elements. It turns out that when you use unprepared beans, minerals pass through the stomach and intestines. In fact, you eat an “empty” product.

Also in the beans there is a lectin, which damages the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and provokes inflammatory processes. The risk of colitis, Crohn’s disease, increased intestinal permeability syndrome and other digestive problems increases. Soaking partially deactivates lectin.

• Increase digestibility

Legume seeds contain digestive enzyme inhibitors. They prevent the body from properly digesting proteins, so the pancreas works with a double load. If you soak the beans before cooking, nothing will hinder the digestive enzymes, which means that the dish is better absorbed.

How to soak beans?

What water to soak the seeds in? Clean, boiled, filtered, room temperature.

There are two ways: cold and hot. The first allows you to save a maximum of vitamins in a dish, and the second saves time.

Cold way

To properly soak the beans, you must do the following steps:

1. Go through the seeds. Throw dry and wrinkled beans, because even after cooking they will be tasteless.
2. Rinse under running water.
3. Pour into a large pot. Please note that after soaking, legumes increase in volume by 1.5–2 times.
4. Pour the beans with cold or hot water (in the second case, the soaking time will be slightly reduced). 1 glass of seeds requires a minimum of 3 glasses of liquid.

The optimal soaking time is 8-10 hours. You can leave the beans for the night. If you soak them during the day, change the water every 3 hours.

If you put 1 teaspoon of soda in a pan, the soaking time will be reduced to 6-7 hours.

Before cooking, the liquid must be drained to get rid of harmful substances. Then rinse the seeds again under running water.

Do not leave the beans soaked for longer than 12 hours. Seeds may ferment and become unusable. If the apartment is hot, put the soaked beans in the refrigerator.

Hot way

This soaking improves the taste and allows you to cook beans quickly. The procedure is as follows:

1. Pour the seeds with hot water so that it completely covers them.
2. Put the container on fire, bring the liquid to a boil.
3. Boil for 2-3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.

Now the beans are prepared for cooking. However, antinutrients and digestive enzyme inhibitors remained in the seeds.

How long does it take to soak the beans for soup?

For the preparation of bean soup, a standard soaking time of 8-10 hours is enough. It is better to use the cold method. You can reduce the time to 6 hours, then the beans will be more dense after cooking.

First, the beans are cooked separately for 30-40 minutes. Then add to the soup and cook another 15-20 minutes.

Rules and optimal cooking time for soaked beans

How long does it take to cook soaked beans? It depends on the variety, seed size and the dish you want to cook.

If you are going to use medium-sized white beans as a side dish or add to a vegetable salad, cook it for 45-50 minutes. And the red one must be kept on the stove for 60–90 minutes. For cooking soup, time can be slightly reduced.

Follow these guidelines:

• Rinse the beans under running water 2 times immediately before cooking.
• The ratio of seeds to water is 1: 3 or 1: 4.
• After boiling, drain the liquid, fill in a new one and reduce the heat.
• Do not stir the beans during the cooking process and do not cover the pan with a lid.
• To reduce foaming, add 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil to the water.
• Make sure that water does not boil away. The liquid should always cover the seeds. Add hot boiled water as needed.
• Salt the dish, add lemon juice and spices only at the end of cooking. Otherwise, the beans will be tough.

How to check if you still need to boil the seeds? Remove 3 beans from the pan and try. If at least one of them is hard, wait another 5-7 minutes and check again.

Vegetable Bean Soup Recipe

One of the most wholesome bean dishes is bean soup. To prepare it, you will need these products:

• soaked beans - 500 grams;
• potatoes - 3 pieces;
• rice - 0.25 cups;
• carrot - 1 piece;
• flour - 1 tablespoon;
• vegetable oil - for frying;
• salt and spices;
• greenery.

Soak the rice for 3-4 hours, then rinse. Boil the prepared beans for 40 minutes. Cut the potatoes into cubes, and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Pour all the ingredients except carrots, one and a half liters of water and put on the stove. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat.

Sprinkle carrots with flour and lightly fry in vegetable oil. Add the roast, spices, salt to the soup. Make the fire small and wait another 10 minutes. Finely chop the greens, put in a pan and cook the soup for another 3 minutes.

Soaking beans is a simple procedure that will require a minimum of effort, but will make the dish as nutritious and easy to digest. Use the cold method whenever possible. Cook the beans, following the rules described in the article. Then the finished dish will delight you with its softness and rich taste.