Once you become familiar with a few simple cooking tips, you’ll find it’s easy! Everything you need to know about bean cooking basics is laid out in our cooking guide. Have an additional cooking question? Email us at hello@primarybeans.com.

As beans sit, they lose moisture and flavor, so old beans will take longer to cook and won’t taste as flavorful. They may even stay tough no matter how long they cook!

Your old beans may be a lost cause, but here’s one way you can course correct: soaking the beans in salted water (aka a brine). The sodium ions help water penetrate the tough skins. To try, soak beans in a solution of 1 tbsp coarse salt per quart of water for 6-8 hours. The beans will look very wrinkly at first– this is normal. Before using, drain and rinse the beans. Decrease the amount of salt you use to cook by about one-third.

The Primary Beans Way #2: The endless debate that we’re here to put an end to. Some bean cooks swear by pre-soaking– but through various tests we’ve found that it’s often an unnecessary step that makes bean cooking less accessible without any extra reward. Plus, thin-skinned varieties like Negro beans can actually taste waterlogged when soaked. We’ve heard from lots of cooks throughout Latin America and they all say skip the pre-soak. We trust them :)

Electric pressure cookers (e.g., the Instant Pot) may have been one of the best things to happen to dried beans. They bring the cooking time down by about one-third compared to the stovetop. Plus, the sauté mode is particularly handy– you can finish your beans with a simmer to thicken the broth. 

Soaking water contains valuable nutrients, flavor, and color so we wouldn't. However, if you're soaking beans to reduce gassy side effects, you'll want to discard the water since the oligosaccharides leach into it while the beans soak (see "Does soaking reduce the amount of gas-producing compounds in beans?"). Just know there’s a trade-off.  

Acidic ingredients like vinegar, lemon juice, wine, and tomatoes can toughen beans and make for long cooking times. The acid binds to the beans' outer coat and makes it more impervious to water. The more acidic the ingredient, the more of an effect it will have (tomatoes are less acidic, so you may not run into any trouble). As a general rule, add these ingredients once your beans are fully tender.

1-2 tbsp per lb of beans. Incorporating a healthy dose of fat early will create the depth of flavor you are looking for. 

Bacon, pancetta, and other fatty meats contain flavorful fat that is just begging to be paired with beans. We like to keep slices/pieces whole, and use the same pot we'll eventually cook the beans in. To render, lay the meat in an even layer and cook over very low heat for 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally. A low and slow render will give you lots of fat to work with and lean, crispy pieces of meat. Set the meat aside for serving, or chop it up and add it to the pot for cooking.

There’s no hard rule. Go with your gut and what you have on hand! 

For 1 lb of beans figure:

• 1-3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 2-3 fresh herb sprigs
• ½ to 1 fresh or dried chile
• ½-1 carrot, cut into a few pieces
• ½ celery stalk
• ½-1 onion or shallot, peeled and halved lengthwise (the root end holds everything together)
• Pinch of spices or dried herbs

Conventional wisdom dictating that salt draws moisture from and hardens beans is simply not true. If you don’t salt early you risk ending up with salty broth and under-seasoned beans. Adding salt at the beginning of cooking allows the salt to pass through the beans' skins and bring out their flavor. The Primary Beans Way #3!

If your beans are a little undercooked, don't fret. There are many factors that influence cooking times like bean size, bean age, elevation, water hardness, and other ingredients added. Here’s how to troubleshoot:

• If beans are slightly firm in the center, but mostly tender: Simmer on low until completely cooked through, usually 10-15 minutes. Watch the liquid levels to make sure beans are submerged.

• If beans have significant hard spots and are partially tender: Bring your device back to high pressure and cook for another 5 minutes. Then, manually release the pressure (aka rapid release).

This button defaults to a high pressure for 30 minutes. Feel free to use it if your target cooking time is 30 minutes. Otherwise, adjust the time manually.

Pressure cookers have two methods for releasing their pressure: natural and rapid. Natural release means that the device releases its pressure naturally over time. Food continues to cook during this process, which is well suited for beans. Rapid release is when you manually open the pressure valve and quickly release the pressure. This method is good when you're pressed for time, or when you don't want the contents to cook any longer.  

One of our favorite ways to flavor beans, a bouquet garni is nothing more than a cute little bundle of herbs tied up with kitchen string, used to infuse stocks, sauces, and of course, beans. The standard bundle consists of parsley, thyme, and bay leaf, but lots of variations exist– including the addition of rosemary, chervil, tarragon, or fennel fronds. Quantity wise, try 3 sprigs or so of each herb, and 1-2 bay leaves.

We include harvest information (e.g., Fall 2021) so you can keep track and keep those beans rotating! Beans are harvested once a year during different months depending on the growing region and that particular season’s climatic conditions. In traditional, commodity supply chains, beans from different sources are mixed together, packed, stored and shipped to brokers, wholesalers, and retailers. The origin is lost and so is the timing of harvest– beans on supermarket shelves can be years old :( We choose to do things differently!

Our farms and facilities do not grow, store, or process nuts, dairy, eggs, soy, or peanuts, so there is very little risk of cross-contamination. However, if you have a severe sensitivity, please use caution– none of our beans are certified by a third-party as being free from these allergens.

In the case of gluten, it is common for some beans to be rotated with crops like wheat, although these crops are not grown in the same field at once. Our facilities have strict cleaning and quality procedures designed to ensure that there is zero risk of cross contamination between products during filling or packaging processes.

We work with, and value, growers who have an organic farming mindset, and much of our supply is certified organic. If certification is important to you, we’ve indicated which beans are certified organic on our product pages and packaging, such as Chickpea, Bayo, and Flor de Junio.

Like most pantry items, beans are sensitive to temperature, oxygen and light. Always store your beans in an air-tight container at room temperature (50-70 degrees), and out of direct sunlight.

If properly stored, beans can last up to 2 years from harvest, without too much of a difference in cooking time or flavor. After 2 years, beans lose enough moisture to affect the way they cook– not as quickly or evenly. Plus, they can experience some flavor loss. After 2 years, beans are still perfectly safe to eat, just know that they may not provide the exact experience we intended. For more information on how to cook beans that are greater than 2 years old, see "What do I do if my beans are over 2 years old?"

Don’t get us wrong, we think pinto beans are delicious. But, as the most widely eaten bean in the US (by a huge margin), we’re here to focus on other lesser known, but equally fantastic beans. Try our Bayo or Flor de Junio.

The simple answer is yes, our bags are made with 100% recyclable materials. However, soft plastics (aka flexible packaging) are difficult for material recovery facilities to handle without the proper set up, so please check with your local department of public works or recycling program before adding them to your recycle bin.

As a side note, we’ve also looked into the very limited compostable options, but found that these materials require special processing as well, and the majority of composting facilities do not have the ability to accept them.

We pledge to continue to research this important issue. For now, we figured the best thing we could do is offer a sturdy, high-quality bag that you can reseal, reuse and (if possible) recycle. We also introduced a new, larger 2.5-lb bag option with our Fall 2021 crop.

The weedkiller glyphosate (aka Roundup) is not used for the production of any of our beans.

Visit your bean of choice's page on our site and choose the subscribe & save option. Select your number of bags and whether you want them delivered to your door every 1 month, 2 months, or 3 months. You will receive an email upon subscribing with a link to your customer portal, where you can modify, delay, or cancel your subscription at any time.

Head to the “Product details” section of your customer portal and click the link at the top right. From there, you can choose whether you’d like to add items on a recurring basis (10% discount would apply) or as one-time add-ons to your next delivery.

Gift away! Simply enter the recipient's information as the shipping address and you'll call the shots via the customer portal.  Looking for gift cards? We have Primary Beans digital gift cards too.

Of course! Feel free to enter a note in the area provided in your cart and it will be printed on the packing slip. We do not include price information on the packing slip. Looking for gift cards? We have Primary Beans digital gift cards too.

For orders within the continental US, we charge $8 flat rate shipping and for orders of $75+ shipping is free.

If, by chance, you received the incorrect product or a damaged product, email us at hello@primarybeans.com and we’ll gladly replace it. Otherwise, because our products are food items, we do not accept returns or exchanges.

We currently ship within the contiguous US. If you’re wondering about placing an order to other locations, including outside of the US, please email us at hello@primarybeans.com and we'll explore the options with you.

Orders are processed Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). Orders received by 12:00 pm CST typically ship the same busines day. Once we’ve shipped your beans, you’ll receive an email with tracking information. 

If you need to make any changes to your order please email us as soon as you can at hello@primarybeans.com, referencing your order confirmation number. We will do our best to make order changes while the order is still processing. Once it ships out, we can no longer adjust order items or re-route shipments.

Please double check your shipping address before placing your order. Once shipped, we are not responsible for lost packages due to an incorrect address entered. You can try contacting the carrier directly to intercept the package.

We’d be happy to help you plan a bulk bean order! Please email us at wholesale@primarybeans.com to elaborate on your bean needs and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

We’re sorry– mistakes do happen! Please email us at hello@primarybeans.com with your order number and a photo for reference (if relevant) and we will make it right.