18/01/2025
Justin Potter the type of bean can matter because some take longer. But here is the basic idea using a 1.5 liter jar.
1. Add half a kilo of beans.
2. Cover with inches tap water.
3. Pour off the water to a sauce pan/pot
4. Add half a coffee spoon of baking soda (not powder. Sodium bicarbonate)
5. Add a coffee spoon of salt.
6. You can boil the water but going above about 120f is fine
7. Pour it back over the beans (another option is just boiling the whole thing, but just hit the boil and off the heat)
8. Cool to 105f
9. Add good bacteria (whey from draining active yogurt, home-fermented cabbage water, sourdough starter, beer sediment... any refined, active bacteria... hell, you could spit in it. At worst, mash up a few cabbage leaves and drop those in... bird p**p should be rinsed off...)
10. You really do not have to go this far (you could cook in 24 hours) but trust me. Cover the jar with plastic and a rubberband and let it stay there a few days. Lentils will take about 4 days... softer beans like pinto about the same . Garbanzos can be a little difficult. The stuff will get weird sulfury smells but that is you not farting. It should not smell like a train underpass where homeless people deficate, but it will likely not be your choice for perfume.
11. Pour off the water saving about a cup of the starter for next time (it will mature and get better).
12. Rinse the beans and cook.
What happened there is the bicarb helped soften the beans. The salt staved off bad bacteria. The soaking inself softwned the beans and began breaking down fetal phytol smellall and made more nutrients available.
You may naad to practice once or twice. Keep the contianers clean. Don't panic over fermentation which actually makes better gut bacteria. Learn to make yogurt and saurkraut, and get used to using your fridge less. They are over-rated.