Senate Bean Soup - (aka Ham and Bean Soup) Great on a rainy, gray day!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ย. 2023
- Senate Bean Soup (aka Ham & Bean Soup)
1 pound dried navy beans, “looked” and soaked
1 pound smoked ham hock
8 cups water (or chicken or vegetable broth)
2 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic (or 1 teaspoon minced)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
The night before you’re going to make your soup, look your beans for any bad beans, pebbles, twigs, etc. Rinse the beans well. Place them in a large bowl and fill with clean water. Let the beans sit out on your counter overnight.
The next day, drain the beans then place your ham hock, drained beans, 8 cups of liquid, and bay leaves in a large kettle over medium heat. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat to low and allowed to simmer covered for one and a half hours. Stir occasionally.
While the beans are simmering, chop your onion, carrots, and celery into pieces about the same size as the beans. Melt the butter in a skillet or saucepan and sauté the vegetables about 15 minutes.
After the beans have simmered for one and a half hours, remove the ham hock to allow it to slightly cool. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the soup pot. Remove any skin, bones, and fat from the ham hock, chop the meat, and add to the soup. Simmer about 45 minutes more.
Taste for seasonings. Add salt 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it’s to your liking. Add pepper.
Hello Tom and Melissa. My father just passed away a month ago. My husband and I moved in with my Mother to share expenses. She introduced me to your channel. Love watching your videos!! Mom and I made the senate soup recipe today and of course we had fried taters and cornbread. Absolutely delicious. Thank you and God Bless.
I usually clean pinto beans while still dry and stoe in a glass jar. When it's time to cook some I take out what I need and rinse about 3 times before cooking.
So sorry for your loss.
@@lisasuewarren6204 thank you very much for taking the time to say that. God Bless 🙏🙏🙏
I’m so sorry for the loss of your Father. Sending lots of prayers for you and your family. 🙏🙏
So sorry for the loss of your father. It’s great that you are helping your mom out now. We really appreciate you both for watching our channel.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, we used to" Look the bean" before rinsing the beans. We would sit at the kitchen table and go through them and after we would rinse several times and then we would soak them overnight. Way easier when the beans are dry.
That’s how we did it dump them out on a table and just start making little piles of good beans and bad lol
I'm from the Dominican Republic and that's how we made them. Now we use a pressure cooker and we season them at the end.
Can you soften the beans in a pressure cooker, then summer them with the ham hock and other seasoning?
We do the same thing in the Dominican Republic. Now, we use pressure cookers, and we don't soak the beans like we used to.
We appreciate you watching. We’ve not pressure cooked them so I can’t advise you on that.
Well that actually explains a lot about the politicians in Washington! Gas Bags! 😂 Love all your cooking shows...Keep them coming.
😂😂😂😂😂
Thanks so much for watching. Your comments have entertained us!
I made this soup today and everyone LOVED it. One of my daddy's favorite soups was Navy Bean Soup, he was a career Navy veteran and I lost him almost 15 yrs. ago. Making this soup brought back memories of daddy.
We love to hear about food connecting us to good memories. It’s so nice to have you watching our channel.
Oh, yum beans, cornbread, and a slice of sweet onion are my favorite food!! Thank you for the recipe. God bless you and your family 🧡
Yes and Amen 🙏🙌
It doesn't get much better than that! 👍
Yummy I made this soup your way it was amazing, I made it the way my mom use to make it, after looking over the beans I soaked rinsed them soaked them over night, the next day I never dumpthe water off the beans I used the same water poured in the pan with the ham but added a little more water cooked them for a few hrs. then made corn bread cause we put corn bread in our bowl with the soup & chopped an onion in it too. I never had it the way you made it till I saw this video & made it & wow it was yummy. God Bless & thank you. 😊 I learn new ways to cook meals from watching your video's.
I'm from Washington DC area, and have had that soup , in the cafeteria, visiting the Senate. I've made it many times. It works fine using canned navy beans, if you want it ready sooner. If you can find smoked ham shanks, they have way more ham than the ham hocks, especially if the Ham hocks are small), Ham hocks have a lot of skin) Just a suggestion. Also, I use a vegetable peeler and remove the strings off the celery before I chop it.
Great tips! Thanks so much for sharing them! We are so happy to read that you've actually had this in the cafeteria visiting the Senate Building. What a neat experience! We really appreciate that you are watching our channel.
@@comesitatmytable9044 this is one of my favorite TH-cam channels
I love shanks.
Your attention to detail is a major reason why your food looks so beautiful! Perfect presentation every time.
When I was a kid I remember coming home from school, getting off the school bus and being glad to walk into a house that smelled of bean soup. I knew I was in for a good dinner that night!
This is such a humble food. I hope they never remove it from the Senate menu. It can serve to remind Senators and visitors alike of their "down home roots!" Thank you so much.
We are so happy you’ve watched. We agree with you - this is a really nice meal.
@@comesitatmytable9044 Bless you! It really is!
My grandmother use to say she was going to pick thru the beans 🫘. She made the best senate soup.
It's really an old-fashioned recipe but we love it in its simplicity. Thanks so much for watching our channel. We hope you have a nice evening.
The onion, celery, and carrot mix is called a "mirepoix" by pros. The "holy trinity" is usually cajun and is bell pepper, celery and onion. Just some things I learned since I've been cooking!! I just love Senate Soup, with cornbread!
Was just going to mention this.
Was also going to mention that. Soup looks delicious!
Same.
Yes, I am born and raised in New Orleans and the bell pepper, celery, and onion are called the Holy Trinity.
Facts! Learned that watching Emeril!! BAM!!!!
I like how realistic you are about salt. If it needs salt, add it! I’m glad you showed us that.
Thank you for the nice comment.
McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida serves this soup for 18 cents a bowl along with your meal…Thank you and Melissa for having this page!! Blessings! ❤️
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing.
We’ve eaten at the McGuire’s in Destin. Same good deal there. Thats where we first discovered the soup. It’s so delicious.
When I was little, my job was to look the beans. Always good with corn bread and chopped onion!
We think so, too! Tasty combination!
When I was a kid I thought "look the beans" was a term my mom made up. As kids, our parents are our world so naturally we think they invented everything.
Thanks for another great recipe. I've gotta go make some bean soup.😊
I use my left over ham shank bone and dice or shred the left over ham. This is a delicious recipe that I would recommend to your viewers. It smells delicious and adds heat and moisture to a cold and dry house. I live on Lake Ontario where soup is so comforting. Keep your recipes coming! I again, made your chicken and dumplings, two nights ago for the second time. YUM!
We’re so happy to have you watching our channel. And we’re especially delighted you are enjoying the chicken and dumplings recipe.
Well, I’ve grown up having senate soup. First time in 1972. Wow I’m telling a little something about myself there. Long story short my mother was elected to be a mayor, one of the very first women as a mayor. So with a with a small group of mirrors, they gathered in Washington and got to do what kind of tours and speak before various councils, and got a lot of of them, grooming and things like that done by various politicians at the time, but being her son and I got to go with her for some of the tours, and one of the things we got to do is go sit in the dining room and have some of that soup and so we started making that at home. We have at least three times a year and we’ve had it every year and I can make it from scratch because I’ve made it so many times it’s fun to see that you’re out there making one of my families, favorite soups it’s a crowd pleaser it’s cheap and it’s just all-around good for you. Even eaten at the White House three times none of those dishes do we mix in our household on a regular basis!
What a nice story you’ve shared with us. Thank you. We do enjoy this soup!
Looks fantastic! You can peel your celery like a carrot and it will eliminate that celery string when you cut it up 😊
My mother’s family was from Washington State. We traced this soup through four generations of family cookbooks. It did not have carrots or celery, just the smoked ham and onions and navy or Great Northern beans. We used the Great Northern beans in our family.
My Grammie taught me to pick over the beans first and then rinse them well. Better Than Bullion makes a ham flavor. I've used a little of that if I use water for cooking this dish. This is definitely a winter soup for me. I'm a Yankee and it gets cold up here. LOL
We agree that we especially like it for cold weather! The bullion is a great tip, too! Thanks so much for watching our channel. We really appreciate it.
I just wanted to tell you that if you are in a hurry to cook dry beans, you can put them in a pot covered with water and bring them to a boil, take them off the burner and let them sit in the hot water for one hour and pour the water off and rinse the beans again and then they are ready to cook
Love this soup! Sometimes like making it with the bigger butterbeans too💫
Thanks so much for watching.
Wash and sort was how my grandmother referred to looking over the beans. Thank you for detailed instructions on bean sortin. Helps to know what your looking for.
We appreciate that you are watching. It’s great to have this soup on a rainy day like we’ve had today.
I had heard the story of Senate Beans. Glad to know the how. Our locals have made bean soup on laundry day (usually Mondays) since the pioneer days.
Great story! Thanks for watching.
I grew up with this soup! Never realized “others” knew of the recipe! Bon Appétit!
My family grew white beans for many years in Ontario Canada. So we certainly had beans a lot, I mean a lot. White beans have many recipes. My mom was a very good cook. So we enjoyed all her cooked bean meals.
I also use our left over Honey Baked Ham bone to make my split pea soup. Very flavorful!
That is definitely putting the leftover ham bone to good use! Thanks so much for watching our channel. Have a great night!
We decided that we’re going to do that, too. It won’t have the same smoked flavor, but it will still be good, I think.
I use the honey baked ham bone also it makes delicious ham and beans
The leftover ham bone actually makes it tastier than ham hocks, especially if you leave a generous portion of ham to be added in the soup. I simmer the ham bone a while before adding the beans because soaked navy or great northern beans cook quickly and you may not want them too soft.
Italians call it "soffritto".
Wow Tom, my grandmother used to make this soup, but she never told me the process, I'm 78 , now I know how to "LOOK" the beans, your so knowledgeable, thank you & God bless 🙏 you and Melissa
Thank you so much for the sweet comment. We are so happy to have you watching our channel and we wish you a very Happy New Year.
This soup looks amazing. Sure could use a bowl right now! It’s on the list…..👍👍
I have that same glass bowl. I use the same recipe for lentils or split peas, too. Sometimes I make a broth from the ham hock and onion, then make collards with it. Those are good looking ham hocks.😊
That looks really good. I never knew the history of that. Interesting. I would probably put both those ham hocks in mine because I like meat better than beans. And I don't refer to onions/carrots/celery as anything "holy" either for the exact same reason you shared. Thank you for sharing the recipe and the history of it😊
11/2/23 I wanted to let you know t made this last night. My husband and grandson loved it. Thank you for the background information. My husband said they all ate them in self defense 😁
I love the recipes that you have. I can’t eat cheese, which makes searching recipes on line so hard, as well a going to restaurants and scanning a hundred plus items to find the one thing I can eat.
So glad to finally have this Senate Soup review. Thank you!😊
I grew up eating this soup. My grandma and mom made it. I make it. My kids and grandkids make it. Never knew the history. Thanks for sharing!
I love the fact that you know the difference between celery stalk and celery ribs. I’ve noticed most people these days refer to both as a stalk. That was so confusing to me when I wanted to follow a recipe containing celery. I know the dictionary claims both can be called a stalk. Thank you so much
You are welcome. Most people do refer to both as a stalk these days and it is easy to just go with what you hear most of the time.
My grandmother called it "picking" the beans!
Hey Tom & Melissa! You just fixed one of my fav meals! Thanks for sharing! God bless! 💕🤗🙏🏻
Hello, oh how I love this soup. It's been a long time since I've made this myself. I sure do like how you put a history story to a receipt 😊 good video 😊
I love your channel and have made several of your recipes. All were excellent. I am from South Dakota and had the opportunity to eat in the senate dining room with our United States senators. I was seated next to one of the senators and was quite nervous but made it through the meal. The soup was delicious.
Just keep your eyes on your wallet and coin purse 👛 when you are near any politician !
My Grandpa use to make this soup at least once a month. He was a great cook.
Louisiana girl here - we use the Trinity (we don’t usually say holy trinity - just Trinity - and it’s never seen as sacrilegious in cooking-speak) is diced bell peppers, onions and celery. We use that in most our dishes.
What you made was a mirepoix which is diced onion, carrots, and celery.
Looked good. Thanks for the recipes.
Thanks for the information. We are so happy to have you watching our channel.
I absolutely adore your channel ~ It truly warms my soul! ❤
My Mom used to put a few potatoes in her bean soup! Loved it!!❤
I'm so glad y'all did this, I've made it before. Anxious to see your take on it!!
I came across a recipe a few decades ago for senate bean soup that uses milk. It is my gold standard, and go to recipe. It’s not an overwhelming difference, but a subtle creaminess that I miss when I make it without. Anyway, beans are the ultimate health food, low carb or not, will never exclude from my diet.
I made this recipe today during a snow storm. So delicious!
You are both so adorable. Thank you for the recipe. Just what I needed on this cold and rainy day.
Thank you for the great instructional video for a recipe I love, but have never made. I am headed to Walmart right now to get the navy beans and smoked ham hocks.
Edit: Next day. Mine was bland too as i only used water and added more than a teaspoon of salt. Ham hock was not salty. Finished product was excellent.
My roommate in college was a great cook and she made this without the vegetables and with a pan of her very light and fluffy cornbread. Loved it so much! One trick I have learned over the years with beans. After washing them and going through them, put them in a pot of lightly boiling water for an hour and a half. Keep it boiling a slow boil during that hour and a half. Doing this is the same as soaking them overnight.
My roommate always put vinegar in her beans (don't remember how much). That vinegar taste along with the sweet cornbread was delicious!
I don’t put vinegar in the soup when it’s cooking but I like to add vinegar to my bowl.
I love this recipe. This soup is just the best ever, except for pinto beans & cornbread!! Seriously I am an old woman, very house bound & depend on a caregiver for my meals. When my daughter came to visit recently my first request was a big pot of Senate beans soup. A whole pound of navy beans makes a lot of soup. She put the remainder in various plastic containers & it was so delicious. I just passed this episode to a dear friend whose husband is recovering from chemo etc & she is tired cooking. Thank u ur Chanel has been so helpful.
I've made a version of this soup for many, many years, and it's outstanding! The only difference is I omit the bay leaves because we don't care for their "odd" taste. Most of the time we serve this soup with plain cornbread or jalapeno cornbread.
I have enjoyed watching you cook for couple weeks now I love the way you do it you’re very instructive you make things simple for even those who need a little bit more time to soak it up and your food is delicious. I wish you the best of luck in. See you soon.
Tom and Melissa are never patronizing or condescending either when they take a little extra time to explain things for beginner cooks. You can tell that they were excellent teachers during their pre-retirement years too.
My husband loves it when I make this soup. I add 2-4 tsps Better than Bouillon, one 8 oz tomato sauce, one 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes or mild Rotel that have been pureed in the blender first so my husband won’t see them, and a tsp of dried thyme leaves. I just love the taste of tomatoes added to it! This is the only time he will eat cornbread and he loves it!
Hello we grew up on beans every day, us kids job was to pick the beans, still love them 67 years later thanks for this recipe
You are welcome. We sure appreciate that you are watching.
Hi Tom & Melissa! I made your ham & bean recipe, Best I ever made❤️ Not a drop left! Thanks for all your recipes, I made brown sugar bacon at Thanksgiving, lol I over baked after turning over but my kids loved it anyway!
Will definitely have to dry this soup!! Tis the season for sure. Looks so very yummy...could almost smell the goodness. 🤭
Oh yum! A bowl of beans, with a side of hot chow chow, chopped onion and cornbread. It don't get much better. Thanks for the recipe.
This morning I made split pea soup, and the recipe is similar to this. The soup was very good1 But I must say your Senate Bean Soup looks as good, or even better. I will definitely make it very soon. Thanks for sharing!
This looks delish i cant wait to make it. Ill be soaking my beans tonight to make this tomorrow!
I've been watching your channel for almost a month now and I'm really enjoying it. Nice down-home cooking. I live in So.California but my mom was from Kentucky. She was certainly no cook but I got the cooking gene from my daddy. He's been gone nearly 35 years but I still miss him every day. I'm starting to feel as though you two are like "family," since I've never met my relatives from Kentucky. I'll be making this soup real soon since the weather is turning a bit cooler and rainy, & I have a ham bone in the freezer. 🍖🥣
One of the most economical meals ever! This must have been a godsend to mothers cooking for large families during lean times.
Ohhh!! Where I grew up we don't "look" them, we "pickover" them. Also we pickover before we rinse, but I get why you do it that way!
My mom and grandma always told me (especially when I was learning how to cook dressing for the holiday dinners) that the ‘holy trinity’ was onion, bell pepper, and celery. Mirepoix is onion carrots and celery.
I was curious to know the why and wherefore of this phrase and I found this on Wikipedia.
“Variants use garlic, parsley, or shallots in addition to the three trinity ingredients.[1] The addition of garlic to the holy trinity is sometimes referred to as adding "the pope."
The holy trinity is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix; traditional mirepoix is two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery, whereas the holy trinity is typically one or two parts onions, one part green bell pepper, and one part celery.[2] It is also an evolution of the Spanish sofrito, which contains onion, garlic, bell peppers, and tomatoes.”
The soup looks delicious and thanks for sharing its history.
you are so right!
Thanks for sharing the research..
My dad loved ham and bean soup, but my parents made it without a recipe, which I need because I’m not good at winging it. This looks delicious and similar to theirs. I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for the video and recipe!
Thankyou. Now I know what to make with my navy beans.As usual, a delightful and informative video😁
My mother called this Navy Bean soup.❤
I’ve made this soup forever. Your recipe is almost as good as mine. Diced potatoes. I really like your channel.
I love watching you cook! Thank you for your videos.
My husband and me love beans and bean soup, we usually have Campbell bean with bacon soup but Thank You for this recipe I am going to make it for us ❤love you both and love getting to see Melissa sometimes, And I don’t like using Holy Trinity either, God Bless you both❤️🙏😋
Great recipe guys, I’m wondering if I can do this in a slow cooker, ya think?? 🤔 Thanks! 🙏
I live in Ontario, Canada and we have always used the mirepoix as a base for soups, stews and casseroles . It was just a term I used from an early age , and my Mom was a great cook who made sure we all used the right terms for cooking.
Who taught her cooking skills ?
@@karolynmcelwain7857-- She went to cooking school, way back in the mid to late 1940s! Of
That's an old downhome style Midwestern Bean Soup that's so easy, so good, and so inexpensive to prepare and kept many folks from going hungry. Thanks for the information of the Senate Bean Soup and how long it has run staying the same recipe.
By far you are the best cooking channel for me. Enjoying this step by step bean soup, who doesn’t like bean soup, said No one LOL 🧑🍳
Good show history and cooking
Looks great. I made it with other beans before, but the navy beans look delicious
Hi Tom and Melissa I absolutely just love your videos you do such a good job explaining all the recipes I’m trying to write them all down and make me a recipe book do you have a recipe book if you don’t you should make one god bless you both and thank you❤😊
A famous restaurant called McGuires in Pensacola sells this for 18 cents with an entree. I always make it with my hambone. It’s so good!!
I live in Michigan, never tried making ham and bean soup, just seemed to be too hard. Looks like an easy recipe to warm oneself up on a cold winter night.
I generally use a smoked ham steak, chopped up for my meat😊 I’ve done the same with the jumbo Lima beans.
Oh, good idea. We might add one to our honey baked ham bone.
My grandfather, who was born in 1900, made his bean soup with baby limas. He used smoked ham hocks too. He served it over a slice of bread with a generous grind of black pepper. He made his broth first with the ham hocks, and split carrots and quartered onions and stalks of celery. When those vegetables were soft, he would remove the veg. and add the beans. About halfway through the bean cooking time he would add the sliced veg to serve with the soup.
As newlyweds, my mother in law often served ham, she gave us leftovers. I always kept dried beans in my pantry.
Tom, you need to pull the strings off celery before you chop it. You do this anytime you have celery. Brenda Gantt can show you how to do this, lol…… love your soup! Looks delicious!
Mom and Dad used to make that dish regularly......from a taste of home recipe.....good eatin"!
You are so amazing to watch your video 🤩🥰❤️🤩🥰❤️🤩📸 you guys are so good to see more of your videos and family stories are absolutely perfect for us to watch
Love some cornbread with my beans. It's cold is suppose to start raining tomorrow. Awesome idea 💡 I'm going to soak my beans tonight 😂 for the yucky weather coming. So I'll be ready for everything except I'm going to do mine in the crock pot. Cornbread in the cast iron skillet tomorrow. Did not know the story about the beans. My mother n law was a teacher I'm surprised she didn't say anything to us.
If you ever get to check out the Hispanic section of the supermarket, there's a ham base made by sazon goya. "Jamon" or there's also a picture of a ham... it's like ham bullion and it works very well, adding a nice, subtle umami flavor. P.s, Alooooha!!! Nice shirt!😉🤙🤙
I like cooking the vegetables with the beans at same time. I also put diced ham in the soup along with ham hock.
Making it today! Nice presentation.
Mirepoix...onions, celery, carrots...
French cooking...used in soups and stews
Thank you for the recipe. It looks wonderful! I should tell you that when you put onions, carrots, and celery together you are making a mirepoix, which is the basis of French cooking. When you are putting together onions, celery, and bell peppers you have a holy trinity which is the basis of Cajun cooking. They tend to be pretty religious down there so in Louisiana and everything down there seems to get a similarly religious name. I too think it's sacrilegious. However, I can't decide what they have called these vegetables for the last two hundred years. So, I've decided that I am going to keep my Christian nose out of their history/names for everything and just eat their amazing cooking. Now I'm hungry for a fried chicken poo' boy with some cajun aioli!
I can set my clock by your posts. I love it. I’m not a big soup eater but a few catch my attention and looks tasty. My late father taught me how to make a family baked beans with these beans so I know what you mean but we called it picking through the beans and he preferred to soak them overnight rather than boil them, with a little baking soda. 🇨🇦🇨🇦
Yall do such a great great job thank you and God bless!
We once took our kids to DC just to have Senate Bean Soup at the senate lunch room!
How come everything you cook looks so amazing, love your content ❤❤
Looks delicious!! Thanks!!
I always rinse my beans well and sort through them and I always fix 2 lbs. I just made 2 lbs of butter beans to share with my lawn guy. I have enough left for one more bowl. This coming weekend I’m making him black eyed peas with ham and smoked sausage. Of course cornbread, onions and fried potatoes are a must. Thank you and Melissa again… I love your recipes. 🙏🏻How’d you like the temperature this morning, 8 here in Nicholasville with the wind chill. 🥶
Lol I would so love to come and sit at your table 😀 it all sounds delicious 😋🤤
@@leynetthudson7518 I love to cook for people. I sent him home with a homemade rum cake, a bowl of homemade beer cheese, homemade peanut butter fudge and his butter beans. I have a business next to SaveALot so every Monday I take them baked goodies or like home fudge. I love to cook, bake and share.
@@ladysmith3578 you are such a blessing 🙏👍
@@leynetthudson7518 Thank you. I just love to share and food seems to bring people together.
I love watching your videos. Look the beans must be a southern term, although all my dads family was from Kentucky and they always said sort the beans. here in the north we say sort the beans, even the instruction on beans bought say sort the beans.
I remember my mom looking the beans on Friday night for beans on Saturday night.
My mom used to make this soup but she just called it navy bean soup. She also used ham cubed from a regular ham.
Looks great! Going to try this soup. Thank you. 😊
Looks delicious!!
I love beans and ham hocks or ham pieces with a skillet of cornbread and chopped fresh onion , best meal ti fill the tummy and comfort the soul ! I was taught by my momma ti always look the beans snd soak overnight and let cook all day the next day on simmer until supper time ! But when in a pinch you can look your beans and put in a large pot of water and bring to a boil and boil for 5-10 minutes cover turn off heat snd let sit for 1-2 hours put your meat in the pot and bring back to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes , turn down to simmer cover and let simmer for 2-3 hours stirring every 30minutes or so and checking water level to make sure your beans don’t run dry or stick to pot! Thanks Tom and Melissa for this delicious recipe ! God bless ❤️🙏🙋🏻🌈🌈
You are so welcome. We find this a really comforting meal on cold days like we're having lately! Thanks so much for watching our channel. Have a lovely night.
Good soup! Eaves cornith ms
Someone once told me to add a dash of baking soda at the end of the cooking process to release some of the gas from the beans. Caution: It will foam up a bit, so don't add too much or your pot may overflow.