Hello E-gulleteers!! I have been lurking for quite a while and decided it was about time I joined in I have a somewhat irritating problem with pulses. I am completely unable to persuade kidney beans, butter beans, haricot beans etc etc to become tender all the way through - there always seems to be a chalky bit in the centre. I've tried soaking overnight, soaking for 24 hours, soaking with a bicarbonate of soda/flour mix in the water, the quick soak method and so on - I never salt the water either. I am now wondering if my tap water is to blame as I live in an area with very hard water. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? My next step was going to be trying to cook the pulses in some scottish mineral water, which seems a little desperate to me!! Cheers, Allana
