Salt, Acid And The Timing Arguments That Divide Kitchens

Two additions decide whether your beans hold their shape or dissolve.

Ask three cooks when to salt beans and you will get four answers. What is actually going on is simpler than the folklore. Salt in the cooking water seasons the pulse all the way through, which is the only way to get beans that taste good rather than beans sitting in tasty liquid. It also firms the skins somewhat, so salted beans tend to hold their shape better and burst less. If you want a bean that stays whole in a salad, salt the water. If you want a pot that collapses into something soft and spoonable, go lighter early and season at the end.

Acid is less negotiable. Anything sharp added to the pot while the pulses are still hardening will slow them down, sometimes dramatically. Tomatoes, vinegar, citrus and sour fruit all do this. The rule that follows is straightforward: get the pulses tender first, then add the acidic ingredients and let everything simmer together to marry. Cooks who add tomato at the beginning and then blame the beans have simply put the steps in the wrong order. Once tender, pulses take acid happily and it is one of the best things you can do for them.

Everything else about the pot is about gentleness. A hard rolling boil knocks pulses against each other and against the sides, and skins come off. A low simmer where the surface barely trembles keeps them intact. Keep them covered by liquid the whole way, topping up with hot water rather than cold so you do not shock them. And taste several, not one, because pulses cook unevenly and the one you happened to fish out is not a fair representative of the pot.