Why does nobody warn you that cooking dried beans wrong wastes a whole bag

Jamie Walker · 2026-09-11T05:50:06.757875+00:00

I picked up a 5 lb bag of pinto beans at the HEB on South Congress for like $6.49 thinking I was about to eat for a month on pennies. First pot I made came out crunchy in the middle and mushy on the outside and I could not figure out why. My neighbor Rosa tried them and just said, those taste like the ones my mom threw out, and then she asked if I had been adding salt at the start. Turns out adding salt too early keeps the skins tough so the water can't get inside, and I had been dumping a whole tablespoon in right when I started boiling. She told me to soak them overnight with a pinch of baking soda and only salt them at the end, and the next batch came out soft all the way through. Two weeks later I did 3 lbs in one go and froze half in Mason jars and it still worked fine. I feel dumb for wasting that first pound but I am glad I asked instead of just giving up on beans forever. Does anyone else salt at the beginning and still get soft beans, or is that just something that never works?

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Why does nobody warn you that cooking dried beans wrong wastes a whole bag | Budget Friendly Meals - Chatter Central