How do I cook black beans?!?

Basic Black Beans

Ingredients

14 oz dried black beans

2 qt water

1/8 ts baking soda

1/2 ts ground oregano

2 ts ground cumin

1 ea green pepper, quartered

1/2 ea onion, finely chopped

3 tb minced garlic

1/4 c olive oil

3 tb cider vinegar

1/4 c sherry wine

1 salt, to taste

Instructions

Rinse beans and discard any stones. In a large pot, soak beans overnight in water with baking soda, oregano, cumin and green pepper.

The next day, add onion, garlic, olive oil, cider vinegar, sherry and salt to the water and cook on medium-low heat for about 3 hours or until the beans are very tender and liquid is reduced and somewhat thickened. Make sure liquid in pot does not entirely boil away. To prevent beans from burning, add more water when necessary.

I never do the overnight soak. I just dump them in either the crockpot or a pot on the oven with water (no salt) and boil the heck out them, then turn it down to a good simmer. In 3-4 hours you have perfect black beans.

Yes, I love black beans and have done this many times. :)

Raw beans take a couple hours to cook. I always boil mine for about 20 minutes to half an hour and then simmer for almost 2. If they still areant soft keep cooking.

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