Originally Posted by olyve
Oh I've tried a slow cooker a couple of times. I haven't quite figured that out yet because I don't know if you should soak them first if you're going to be cooking them all day while you're gone. Sometimes they fall apart too.
Have any of you done that?
If you're using a pressure cooker you don't have to soak them, but I would and I do. I'd guess that you'd have to soak them for a slow cooker. However, for a quick soak for a pressure cooker(Kuhn Rikon's recipe guide):
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For each cup of sorted,rinsed beans, place 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt into the pressure cooker. Add the beans and bring to boil. Lock the lid in place and bring pressure to the second red ring over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain pressure at the second red ring and cook 2 minutes. Release pressure with the cold-water method and remove the lid. Drain beans and cook as directed in the recipe
The above is for a Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, so you'd adapt it to your own brand. As I said, I soak the beans overnight. You don't have to soak lentils and split peas.

Pressure cooking saves a lot of time- 1/2-1/3 conventional cooking methods. After soaking the beans overnight or else for at least 8 hours, I rinse the beans, cover with water (3 cups for each cup of dried beans that have been soaked), and don't fill the pan more than 1/2, including liquid. You can add vegetable oil to the liquid to prevent foaming. Shake the pressure cooker slightly before removing the lid.