Originally Posted by
sylviasmom
I have been eating beans all my life, cooking them for 60 years. Here is what/how I do it. I cook about 2lbs of pinto beans every two/three weeks. First the beans must be cleaned, making sure there are no clumps of dirt or little bitty rocks. Then I put them in a large pot, like a soup pot, pour water on them, just enough to cover the beans. With my hand, I slosh them around until the water is very dirty, dump the water out. I do this about three times. Again the fill the pot to just cover the beans, let it sit a minute, and rinse. Add lots of water and put on the stove, allow to come to a boil. Let boil until the water level drops, but not below the beans. And more water, about 4 cups above the beans and simmer for 4/5 hours. Always keeping the water level high. Halfway thru the cooking process, add salt, bacon, bacon fat or bacon grease. It is that slow cooking that releases the gas. When the beans are done, serve yourself a helping in a soup bowl with a pat of butter and a dash of pepper. Don't forget the cornbread.
The trick to getting the music out of the beans is - soak about 4 hours or overnight - drain and then cover with fresh cold water (about 2 inches above level of the beans - bring to boil and boil gently till beans are tender (you have to bite into one, the only way to see that the centre is tender) - drain and use in your recipe. BUT I love 'em with butter and salt and pepper!
All this is after washing them as sylvia'smom said. And keep them in your diet regularly... you will build up your own enzyme to digest them.
Also don't add anything to the beans until they are tender... nada... zilch...nothing... or they don't fully cook. It's the rawness that creates a lot of the gas.