the proper way to cook these things?

boil them with salt pork till soft. i've never done it any other way.

ditto. Place in pot, cover with water, soak overnight. Drain and rinse, place back in pot, add cured pork jowels or hocks and a couple onion wedges, cover all with water, heat 'em to a boil, reduce to simmer. After 30 minutes of simmer smash one against the inside of the pot with a spoon every 15 minutes until they're tender.

As they boil you'll lose water. Keep a pot of water simmering on the stove. If you need to add water use this, not tap water. Even hot tap water isn't hot enough to keep them from splitting.

same as above but add some seasoning such as garlic salt, or celery salt to taste.

1 lb dried navy beans (soaked in cold water overnight in the fridge and drained)
3 quarts cold water
3 medium potatoes (cooked and mashed)
6 celery ribs chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
2 medium onions chopped fine
1 large ham hock
salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer the beans by themselves in just water for one hour until they start being tender. Drain and return to the pot with the 3 quarts of water and everything else. Season to taste and simmer over low heat for two hours. Remove the ham hock and pick all the meat off the bones and return it to the pot. Enjoy.

i use tasso in mine instead of ham hocks or other meat. soak for awhile to reduce cooking time. put them in a pot, season to taste, cover with water by about an inch. simmer them until the liquid goes down and keep adding a little liquid until the beans are the consistency you want. i also cook in chicken stock sometimes instead of some of the water.

Made a half batch of this recipe a couple of days ago using canned navy beans. It was very good.

Creole White Bean Soup


Ingredients
• ½ cup minced onion
• ½ cup minced celery
• ¼ cup chopped bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1½ lb. ham, 1" cubes
• 1 lb. smoked sausage, ½" slices
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz.)
• 4 cans navy white beans w/bacon (16 oz.)*
• 4 cups water
• creole seasoning, if desired
• salt
• black pepper


Directions
1. In very large saucepan, cook onion, celery, and bell pepper in butter until soft. Add ham, smoked sausage, and tomato sauce; simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

2. In separate saucepan, bring 2 cans of the navy beans with bacon to boil. Puree beans and their liquid in a food processor or blender. Use the 4 cups of water to flush out the bean puree and put them in a large cooking pot. Add ham/sausage mixture.

3. Add the remaining two cans of beans to the pot. Season with creole seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste and simmer for 1 hour. Serve this Creole white bean soup piping hot, with cornbread if desired.

*Note: If you cannot find white beans with bacon you can fry a couple of sliced bacon (cut into pieces) in the pan before adding the beans.

Cook with ham, sausage or bacon, salt and pepper

What's the gas factor? I can eat pintos with no problem, but other dried legumes like black-eyed peas almost send me to the Dr In The Box for methane relief.

i don't know about you, but my "gas" don't stink!

All beans and peas are ultra high octane, at least thats what the wife sez.

Will have to try this!

The overnight and rinse soak helps a lot with the octane level.

I use my new to me pressure to make beans these days.

Rinse the beans several times until the rinse water stays clear. Put them in the PC and add big pinch of Kosher salt. Bring to boil and start timer. Ten minutes later turn off heat cover and sit aside for one hour. Dump contents in colander. Rinse once or twice. Rinse PC pot. Place beans in pot and fill pot 2/3 full of water. Turn on heat and season. A little chopped onion, salt, pepper, sugar. Bacon grease or a little chopped bacon ends and pieces or a chunk of ham. Don't over season as PC drives in flavor. When you have it right (a little sweet) lock down the PC lid heat on high and wait until it comes up to pressure (15 psi) and bring down heat a little but keep pressure max for 7 minutes. Turn off heat but leave covered for 30 minutes while it naturally cools. Release any pressure using pressure release open and enjoy. Cornbread cooks while beans cool.

Yes I know beans.