Every week, with few exceptions, I cook a big pot of beans to add to dishes throughout the week – mostly in the form of homemade refried beans, but occasionally also baked beans or calico beans.
And less often than I’d like, homemade hummus, especially roasted garlic and red pepper hummus. Now that stuff is yummy!
The reason we eat so many beans? Well, they’re super cheap! And they’re also a great source of nutrition including protein, fiber, folic acid, iron, and many trace minerals.
But of course, there’s an ugly downside to beans. We all know it. And yeah, it’s the smelly, uncomfortable kind.
This is especially true of canned beans by the way. Yep, not only are they more expensive than dry beans, but they’re not cooked in such a way as to degas them.
But YES, you can degas them.
If you run a quick google search, you’ll come up with ten different methods for the absolute best way to degas beans.
I’ve tried them all, and frankly, not all of them have worked for us.
For a while, I actually thought degassing beans wan’t really possible, and quit eating them.
Then I found out that there’s an enzyme in beans that is only broken down by high heat – in other words, cooking them in the slow cooker was half my problem.
So knowing that, I decided to give them another go, and we FINALLY hit on a bean degassing method that actually works for us.
I’m not by any means saying it’s the only way to degas beans, I’m just saying it’s the one that it totally working for us!
And just as importantly as degassing, I’ve started cooking them in my Instant pot. I LOVE being able to put them in, set the timer, and walk away. This morning, I turned them on, and then walked out the door to go paint our new house while they cooked. The only problem with walking away is that in the Instant Pot, they cook SO fast – you really don’t need to walk away!
Freedom!
PrintHow To Cook (and de-gas) Beans In Your Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Cups dry beans
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 3-4 bay leaves
- Water
Instructions
- Cover beans with 6-8 cups of water and let soak 20-36 hours
- Drain beans and rinse under running water while rubbing (or kneading) vigorously with your hands. (This helps break down the gas-causing surface coating)
- Place beans in instant pot with bay leaves and salt
- Cover with water, about an inch deep on top of beans
- Place lid on pot, making sure the valve is closed
- Select the “bean/chili” setting
- Adjust the cook time to 30 minutes for firm beans, or 35 minutes for softer beans (which are perfect for mashing as in refried beans) (Note: As beans age in storage, they take longer to cook. Below, you’ll see that I’ve set the timer for 110 minutes, because, yes, that’s how long it takes for my 3+ year old beans to cook!)
- Let cook, and then slowly depressurize before opening pot.
- Use as desired.
- Enjoy!
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Made this twice so far. Thank you sooooo much! Before I would feel aweful when I ate beans so I was slowly stopping eating them. Now no issues. What a Godsend you are.
Yay! Oh my gosh, so glad it worked for you!
I’ve done beans twice in the instant pot (without soaking) and they made us so miserable that I threw them out. They were delicious, and it’s really convenient to be able to cook so fast, but I was wondering if they really needed the soak to de-gas. I’ll be giving this a try.
It definitely depends on who you ask, but in my experience, YES! Soaking, especially in a warm environment helps break down the enzyme inhibitors, and makes a huge difference in digestibility.
Soaking beans is the key to degassing them. I usually will set up my beans the night before about 7 or 8 in the evening. I bring the beans to a quick boil, and take off the heat, let cool about an hour then cover till i am ready to use them the next day. Rinse vigorously as Elise states then cook.
★★★★★
After you do this do you then carry on and make Baked Beans with them?
I soak my beans overnight, bring to a boil for 15 minutes the next day and then put them in the oven to make bake beans. Have never had a “gas” problem. Been making them that way for 30 years
LOVE this recipe. So simple. So life changing.
Can you share your method for both freezing and defrosting your beans? I need a quicker/better way to defrost them.
★★★★★
Hi Chrissy, I either defrost them in the microwave, or put them in a pot with a little water and steam them. Hope that helps!
My father-in-law was cook in the Navy. Had to degas them for the sailors on a boat.. He told me years ago to add something me baking soda to the water and bring the beans to a boil, remove from heat. Cover and let sit from at least an hour or overnight. They will be foamy. Rinse them to remove the baking soda then cook as usual. It works every time. My husband used to say I took the fun out of them
Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve made beans in the Instant Pot just once, and it was a failure! Gas galore!
I’ve always made them on the stove top soaking them for a full day and overnight. Mysecret ingredient has always been “epasote,” an herb used throughout Latin America to de-gas the beans and add a special flavor. It’s readily available in the Southwest and probably in international markets in large cities in the USA.
My failure in using the Instant Pot, I believe, was that I didn’t cook them long enough. I used the recommendation from the Instant Pot literature. Big mistake. I’m cooking them next time for 45 minutes!
Interesting! I’ll have to look for epasote!