How Long to Cook Black Beans from Dry (Unsoaked, Sofrito) in the slow cooker
Specification: 1 lb dry black beans rinsed and picked over (do NOT pre-soak), 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock, a sofrito of 1 diced onion + 1 diced green pepper + 4 garlic cloves sautéed in 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 bay leaves — no salt and no acid added until the last 30 minutes
3-Step Execution Protocol
Add black beans from dry (unsoaked, sofrito) (1 lb dry black beans rinsed and picked over (do NOT pre-soak), 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock, a sofrito of 1 diced onion + 1 diced green pepper + 4 garlic cloves sautéed in 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp cumin, 2 bay leaves — no salt and no acid added until the last 30 minutes) to the slow cooker. Set to LOW (8–9 hrs).
Cook for 8–9 hours on LOW. Keep lid on; do not stir unless specified.
A single bean pressed against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon smashes flat into a creamy purée with no chalky centre and no split skin flapping loose; the broth around the beans has thickened to a dark inky pot-liquor and coats a spoon; the pot smells earthy-smoky rather than raw-legume grassy. Rest for 15 minutes before serving.
USA Dry Bean Council "Slow Cooker Cooking Dry Beans" (unsoaked black beans: LOW 7–9 hrs to fully tender); USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning legume prep reference (soaking is not required for pressure-cooked or long-simmered beans if the cook is long enough); USDA FoodData Central notes on pectin firming under low pH and high sodium; Crock-Pot 6-Qt recipe archive "Slow-Cooker Black Beans" (LOW 8–9 hrs from dry). No probe target — doneness is a smash-against-the-pot test standard for legumes across the dataset, so internalTempTargetF is intentionally omitted per HR-2.