My buddy swore by soaking beans overnight and I thought he was nuts until I tried it

Dude told me at a BBQ last summer that you gotta soak dried beans for at least 8 hours before cooking. I always just boiled them straight from the bag and they came out crunchy or mushy. Finally tried his method with some black beans last week and they were perfect in 45 minutes flat. Anyone else have a cooking trick they ignored forever?

2 comments

2 Comments

hart.cora17d ago

My mom always said to salt pasta water until it tastes like the ocean. Used to think she was being dramatic until I tried it with way less salt once and the pasta was bland as hell. Now I dump a good handful in there every time. Works like a charm.

charlienelson17d ago

I read somewhere that the late Marcella Hazan, the Italian cookbook author, used to say you need a tablespoon of salt per pound of pasta... something like that. I tried measuring it once and my water was so salty I thought I ruined it, but the pasta came out perfect, perfectly seasoned all the way through. Your mom's ocean trick is basically the same idea, just more of a feel thing than exact numbers. I think people are way too scared of salt in their pasta water, that's where most of the flavor actually comes from.