Hacker News Reader

Isn’t one of the benefits of presoaking is that it releases certain gases that can wreck havoc on your gastrointestinal system? Does the same thing happen if you use a pressure cooker?

View on HN

If you're susceptible to that effect then presoaking will help, but susceptibility depends on your individual microbiome. Some vegans use the liquid that chickpeas were cooked in as an egg substitute ("aquafaba"). I personally drain the liquid off after cooking, and don't notice any problems.

one still throws away the soaking liquid when retrieving aquafaba, afaik. It's the cooking water that becomes aquafaba.

"cooking primarily as a means of getting nutrients rather than a hobby" is such a strange opposition to me.

Oligosaccharides rather than gases [1] - but your gut bacteria digest those to produce gases. Personally, i can eat unsoaked beans, but i think that varies from person to person.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12489819/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com