How To: Cook Dried Black Beans

Since we moved into our new house I've been trying to stay on a budget and save as much money as possible...let me rephrase that...I've been trying to save as much money on the essentials so that I can buy more non-essentials (like more white dishes for my collection). Charles seemed unimpressed when I explained this intuitive logic to him last night as I was cooking up an entire pound of dried black beans. Although the process is long (about 13 hours), the actual work involved is very minimal and most of that time is just spent waiting.

I researched how to cook dried beans and there are quite a few different ways to cook them, but I chose the method that I thought would be the easiest, even though it was the longest. This method is perfect as long as you don't need the beans until the next day. (If you need to cook them quickly everything I read said pressure cookers are the way to go as far as ease and taste.)

Step 1: Soak 1lb of dried black beans in 10 cups of water for 8 hours or overnight (I just soaked them in the crock pot so there would be less dishes to wash)

Step 2: Drain and Rinse beans, discarding any split open beans

Step 3: Cover beans with fresh, clean water in crock pot (so that the water covers the beans by about 2 inches)

Step 4: Bake on high 5 hours, then check to see if tender, if not, keep baking and check every hour until they are tender

Step 5: Drain, rinse and divide up beans into freezer-safe containers and freeze for later use. They can be


I estimate that by using dried beans instead of canned beans I saved about $10. Not too shabby! I bought the dried black beans in the bulk section at Whole Foods so that helped a little too with the price. Now I'm off to Home Goods to find something for $10 =)