Overnight Soaking: For each pound of beans, dissolve 2 tsp. salt in 6 cups of water. Wash the beans, add them to the salted water, and soak them overnight. For old or hard beans, blanch beans in boiling water for 30 seconds before soaking.

Quick Soaking: For each pound of beans, bring 8 cups of water to boiling. Wash the beans, add them to the boiling water, and boil them for 1 minute. Remove the beans from the heat, cover them, and soak them for 1 hour.

Cooking Soaked Beans: For each pound of beans, dissolve 2 tsp. salt in 6 cups hot water; bring it to boiling. Add the soaked beans; boil gently, uncovered, adding boiling* water if needed to keep the beans covered with water. Cook until the beans are tender. You can expect 6–7 cups of cooked beans per pound of dry beans.

Cooking Old, Hard Beans: Wash and sort the beans to remove any discolored beans or foreign material. For each cup of dry beans, add 2 1/2 cups hot tap water and 2 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate); soak overnight. Drain and rinse two times, then add water to cover the beans. Cook until tender and soft (about 2 hours), adding more boiling* water as needed. Adding a tablespoon of oil will cut down on foam as the beans cook. Stored beans should be rotated regularly. They continue to lose moisture and will not reconstitute satisfactorily if kept too long.

Pressure cook old beans for 20 minutes to soften.

*Note: If you add non-boiling water to beans while they are cooking, the beans will be tough. This holds true for all dried beans.