🥣 Why Your Beans Are Still Hard

Here are the most likely reasons:

1. Slow cooker heat is too low

Beans need a strong simmer (near boiling) to soften properly.
Slow cookers on LOW often don’t get hot enough.

2. Salt or acidic ingredients added too early

If your stock or ham is salty, or if anything acidic is added early, it can slow down softening.

3. Old beans

If beans have been sitting for a long time (months/years), they can stay hard no matter how long you cook them.

🚨 Quick Fix (Do This Now)

👉 Take your beans and:

1. Transfer everything to a pot (or keep in slow cooker on HIGH)
2. Bring to a strong simmer or light boil
3. Cook for 60–90 minutes
4. Check tenderness every 20 minutes

💡 If they’re still hard after that → your beans may be old.

🥘 Perfect 16 Bean Soup (Step-by-Step)

Here’s the correct method so this never happens again:

🧄 Ingredients

• 1 lb 16-bean mix
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 2 carrots (sliced)
• 2 celery stalks
• 3–4 garlic cloves
• 6–8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 ham hock or diced ham (optional)
• 1 tsp salt (add later!)
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• 1 bay leaf

👨‍🍳 Step-by-Step Instructions