I'm making pinto beans but the beans are still hard after 3 hours. What did I do wrong?

Question

I separated them and put them in hot water, when the water boiled down I added more water making sure it was hot. I have never soaked my beans, and it's never been an issue before today. Please help I need them soft they been cooking for 3 hours already. Any advice to get them soft would help. Thank you.

Answer 1

If the beans were older (not so fresh) they may not break up as fine as fresher ones, no matter how long they are cooked. Also if you have added salt before the beans are soft, this toughens the skins and they don't soften as well. The other thing could be that there was not enough water at some stage and they baked hard instead of soaking in the water.
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You did not do anything wrong, it takes at least 6hours to cook pinto beans from bean to water. But as a helpful hint the night before, pour your beans in a big pot and soak them overnight. It helps decrease your cook time the next day. Goodluck Mystic

Answer 3

I always soak my beans over night then it still takes a good six hours of cooking before they are just right. All you can do is cook them longer.
You did not do anything wrong. I am sure you followed some bad directions from a cook book. I have seen some that say to do just what you did. So don't feel bad it happens to all of us.

Answer 4

Do they have a lid on them and at a rapid boil? That always works for us and the beans are done in 4-5 hours.

Answer 5

You must have purchased some very old beans. Sorry, I have always soaked my beans before cooking just to avoid this problem. There's no way of knowing how old the beans are.

Answer 6

I think you need to start soaking them at least overnight, perhaps even two days (like I do). Then cook them half way right after rinsing the second time, let them cool down and cook the rest of the way when it's time to eat. The "cool-down" after the first half-way will add another perhaps 20% of the percent cooked.

Answer 7

They need to sit in cold water i forgot how long i think two hours or so before you start the actual cooking in boiling water it opens them up

Answer 8

Are they covered with a lid? If so, they could be old. I've cooked alot of beans in my day and have never had that problem and I never soak mine either.

Answer 9

You can try to get them to a full boil then turn them down to a rolling boil for a couple hours. That might do the trick.

Answer 10

soak them in water overnite and then try pressure cooking them in a pressure pan or cooker, cooks in minutes!!!