Why Some Pulses Never Soften No Matter What You Do

If they are still stony after an age in the pot, the problem started before your kitchen.

Every cook has had the experience: a pot of beans that simmers and simmers and stays obstinately hard, while the recipe insists they should be creamy by now. Adding time does not help. Adding heat does not help. What has usually happened is that the pulses are old. Dried pulses look immortal and are not. As they age they lose the ability to take up water properly, and past a certain point no amount of cooking will bring them back. There is nothing wrong with them, they simply will not do what you want, and the pot is not the place to discover it.

Buy from somewhere with turnover, and look at the pulses themselves. Fresher dried beans and lentils have a certain matte gloss and an even colour. Very old ones look dusty, faded and cracked around the edges, and rattle in the bag with a hard, dry sound. Store what you buy somewhere cool, dark and airtight, and use it rather than admiring it. A jar of beautiful heirloom beans kept on display for a year is a decoration, not an ingredient, and it will let you down at the worst moment.

Soaking helps, though not for the reason most people assume. It is not primarily about time saved: it is about even hydration, so the outside does not turn to mush waiting for a dry centre to catch up. Soak in plenty of water, because the pulses will take up more than seems possible, and change the water if it is a long soak. Small lentils and split pulses generally do not need it. Large, thick skinned beans almost always benefit. If in doubt, soak, because the cost of soaking unnecessarily is nothing.