Techniquebeginnerdraft
Soaking pulses
Also searched as: soaking beans, soaking chickpeas, overnight soak
In short: Soak dried beans and chickpeas overnight in salted water: they cook faster, more evenly and burst less.
Picture it
Like raisins in rum: they plump up before the real work begins.
What happens
During soaking the dried seeds take up roughly their own weight in water. Salt in the water swaps out calcium in the skin, which softens it. Some of the hard-to-digest sugars pass into the water.
Why it matters
Unsoaked beans turn soft on the outside but stay hard inside, and the skins split.
How it’s done
Sequence · Step 1 of 4
Pick over the pulses and rinse them.
All steps as a list
- Pick over the pulses and rinse them.
- Soak in three times their volume of water with about 1 tsp salt per litre, for 8–12 hours (as a guide).
- Pour off the soaking water and cook until soft in fresh water.
- Lentils and split peas need no soaking.
Rules of thumb
- Hard water? Add a pinch of to the soaking water.
MYTH
“Salt makes beans tough.” Not true. Salt in the soaking water actually softens the skin. What keeps them hard is acid and calcium.
Beans and chickpeas won't softenSources · 2
- Harold McGee: On Food and Cooking (2004), Kapitel Hülsenfrüchte
- Serious Eats: The Food Lab, Beans