The 'Bean Bursting' Myth That's Completely Holding Back Your Cooking

There are some myths in cooking that aren't just wrong, they are actually the total opposite of the truth. Despite being such a basic staple food, beans can be tough to get perfect with cooking times and temperatures, and the ingredients in your cooking liquid all hold the potential to trip you up. But while there are some mistakes you want to avoid with beans, plenty of the folk advice you may have picked up over the years is actually wrong. For example you may have been told to dump your soaking water and cook the soaked beans in fresh water, but that actually robs you of the flavor the soak leeched out of them. And of all the persistent bean myths, few are more damaging to your finished pot than the idea you shouldn't salt them to start.

It's one of those old pieces of kitchen knowledge that's impossible to trace to any one source, but many home cooks probably grew up hearing that salting the liquid you cook your beans in will stop them from getting tender. This is completely false. Not only that, but cooking beans with some salt actually helps make them more tender. This bean myth may have come about because some additions with salt can also contain acids will prevent your beans from softening, but no matter the origin you shouldn't worry about adding salt when cooking beans, you should embrace it.

How does salt help beans cook? Bean skins are made up of calcium and magnesium, which makes them hard. When cooked with salt, the sodium actually ends up pushing out some of those minerals. This makes them more permeable, which helps water reach the interior of your bean faster and more evenly. Interestingly, and to your beans' benefit, the more even cooking also means there is less pressure building up inside your beans, making them less likely to burst. So salt will deliver creamy, tender beans that are more likely to hold their shape, and which will be more easily seasoned. Win, win, win. If you've avoided salting beans as they cook in the past, you'll be shocked how much better they are with just this one change.

And finally, water being able to more evenly cook your beans also means they will cook faster. That's a big benefit for beans that can take hours of simmering to get tender normally. It makes soaking your beans less necessary, but its not totally useless. In fact you can add some salt to your soaking water to help brine you beans and tenderize them before you start cooking. Just make sure you hold back on adding extra salt when you start cooking if you choose to do that. So don't fear salt and beans, embrace it, and get ready to start making the best bean recipes of your life.