cooking dried beans

I prefer using beans out of the bag to those out of the can.

They are really easy to use, you just need to be a little prepared.

Simply put them in a big bowl filled with water and let them soak overnight. The following day you just rinse them a couple times and use them as normal. Depending on what sort of bean you are cooking with they will take a little time to cook through. When using dried beans I generally make things that cook over many hours like a chilli con carne or something and you just add the pre soaked beans to the sauce for a couple hours.

Canned beans are good for other dishes where you won't cook them for long however if you want to use dried beans for a dish where you add them at the end then you just boil them off in some water until they are as soft as you like them before using them.

I prefer them to have a little bite, that for me is the real advantage of using dried beans as opposed to canned beans but if you like them a little squishy just cook them for longer.