One cup of dry beans will yield approximately 2 1/2 cups of cooked beans. You will want to rinse and pick through these beauties before cooking. Like most dry beans, they also need to soak before cooking. You can cover them with water and leave out overnight. Or, you can cover them with plenty of water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit 2-3 hours. Either way, the beans are now ready to be cooked. In Heather's chili recipe below, they are precooked for 30 minutes before going into the crockpot. Otherwise, you'll want to cover them with 2 inches of fresh water and simmer, testing for doneness after an hour. Many believe that draining and rinsing the beans after the soaking step reduces flatulence. Others believe that adding a bit of baking soda while they cook has the same effect.