How to Soak Grains, Beans and Nuts

Soaking nuts, grains and beans helps with digestion.

Rain helps nuts, beans and grains germinate to produce a plant. Germination also helps remove nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances. Soaking raw nuts, beans and grains emulates this process and, for beans and grains, helps shorten cooking time. Consuming unsoaked nuts, beans and grains will make the digestive system work overtime, which can lead to health problems, including irritable bowel syndrome. Nuts and beans need to be rinsed before soaking; this isn't always necessary for the grains unless you harvest them yourself.

Things You'll Need

• Colander
• Water
• Salt
• Cooking pots
• Oven
• Sheet pan

Instructions

Beans

1. Place dried beans in a colander. Pick out any beans that are discolored or shriveled to the point where they no longer look like beans. Pick out the rocks and pebbles. Rinse the beans under cold water. Swirl the beans around with your hand to ensure all the beans are rinsed.

2. Place the beans in a pot. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the beans. Cover the pot. Leave the pot in the refrigerator or on the counter. Soak the beans for six to eight hours. It is best to do this overnight so the beans are ready to cook in the morning. The beans are properly soaked when they double in size and are easily pierced with a fork.

3. Place a colander over an empty pot in the sink. Drain the soaked beans into the colander. Keep the soaking water to cook the beans in, which will maintain nutrients released during soaking. Remove the colander from over the pot, and rinse the beans with cold water.

4. Put the beans into a pot. Fill the pot with the soaking water. Add water so there is at least twice as much water as there are beans. Place the pot on the stove, and boil the beans for 10 minutes.

5. Reduce the stove top heat to low heat, and let the beans simmer for one hour. Cover the pot. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt for every 1 cup of beans after the one hour of cooking time. Skim the brown foam off the top of the water. Continue cooking the beans until they are tender, stirring them in 15-minute intervals. Add more water if necessary. Small beans require less cooking time; larger beans, such as chick peas, require more. Drain the beans when finished cooking. Rinsing the cooking water off the beans is preferential.

Nuts

1. Rinse the raw nuts in a colander, similar to the process for rinsing the beans. All nuts feature an enzyme inhibitor, which prevents the nut from sprouting into a tree or plant unless it is placed into the ground. Soaking the nut destroys this inhibitor to make for easier digestion.

2. Put the rinsed nuts into a pot and cover with cold water --- salt is optional. Use 1 tsp. of salt for every 1 cup of nuts. Soak the nuts in the refrigerator for eight to 10 hours.

3. Rinse the nuts in the colander. Swish the nuts around with your hand to make sure they are rinsed thoroughly. Drain the nuts until all the water is removed.

4. Spread the nuts on a sheet pan. Sprinkle the nuts with salt or other seasoning. Place the nuts in an oven preheated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave the nuts in the oven for 24 hours or until they are hard and crunchy. A dehydrator also can be used to dry the nuts.

Grains

1. Place the grains in a bowl with an equal amount of warm water. The water should be around 113 to 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Soaking the grains before consumption will break down the grain's phytic acid, which can block absorption of essential nutrients, such as iron and zinc, in the digestive tract --- nuts and beans also contain phytic acid. Cover the bowl with a dishcloth. Place the bowl in a warm spot.

2. Soak the grains from two to 12 hours. It is best to soak the grains overnight so they are ready to cook for breakfast in the morning.

3. Drain the soaking water from the grains. Cook the grains in cold water brought to a boil on a stove; the general formula is 4 parts water to 1 part grains. Add salt to the water, if desired -- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. per 1 cup of grains. When the grains come to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer until all the water is absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat sooner if you like your grains mushy; leave on the heat longer if you like them firm.

References

• Rebuild from Depression; Soaking Grains; Amanda Rose, Ph.D
• Raw Food Living: Soaking Nuts
• Food Matters; The Benefits of Soaking Nuts and Seeds; Delicia Beaty and Sharon Foutch
• The Veggie Table; Cooking Beans and Legumes; Laura K. Lawless
• Bon Appetite: How to Soak and Cook Dried Beans

Resources

• Sprout People: Sprouting Jars