For How Long I Need to Soak these Pulses?

This has been the question all my life, every time that I needed to soak and cook pulses. And even more when you do not have a pressure cooker to make this a little bit faster. I still waiting for my pressure cooker, it did not come for my last Mother's Day and It did not come for the last Christmas and definitely I do not wanted for San Valentine's  Days... But I found a very useful chart in my last acquisition, a fantastic book that have a lot of cooking techniques, The Cook's Book Recipes and Step-by-Step Techniques from Top Chefs (http://www.dk.com/), I have been using some of my mother cooking advices for the preparation of the pulses but when I got this chart, there was not more guessing.

Being honest the soaking and cooking f the pulse is not a exact science because much depend on the age and origin of the crop. So the chart will give you an idea of the times needed but is not cast in stone, it is a best approximation. I hope this chart help you to reduce the wondering about how to cook pulses and make you move away from the beans in the can.

TYPE OF PULSES           SOAKING TIME        APROX.COOKING TIME                             BEST FOR                     
Black Beans (Mexican)        Overnight                        1 hour                                     Salad, soups, stews, refried beans

Black-eyed beans                 Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Casseroles, pates, salads, soups

Borlotti Beans                       Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Italian dishes, soups, stews

Broad beans (skinless)        Overnight                        1-1/2 hours                              Falafel, salad, soups, stews

Butter Beans                         Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Pate, salads, soup

Canellini Beans                     Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Italian dishes, soup, salads

Flageolet Beans                    Overnight                        1-1/2 hours                              Casseroles, soup, salads

Ful Medames                        Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Ful medames, bigilia

Haricot Beans                       Overnight                        1  to 1- 1/2 hours                   Boston Baked beans, casseroles, cassoulet

Lentils (split)                         Not required                       25 minutes                          casseroles, dals, pate, soup

Lentils (whole)                      Not required                       45 minutes                          casseroles, dals, pate, soup

Mung beans (whole)           Not required                      3/4 - 1 hour                          Salads, sprouting, stews

Peas (whole)                         Overnight                          1  to 1- 1/2 hours                 casseroles, mushy peas, purees

Peas (split)                            Not required                         45 minutes                         casseroles, dals, peas pudding

Pinto Beans                          Overnight                          1  to 1- 1/2 hours                 Mexican dishes, refried beans, tacos


Red Kidney Beans   and Soya Beans: boil hard for 10 minutes then soak for 4 hours and cook, he red kidney for 1 - 1 1/2 hours and the soya beans cooks for 2 to 4 hours.        

I hope this chart be very useful for you as it has been for me...