I had all but given up on cooking dried beans, having tried many methods found on bean packages, in cookbooks, and all over the internet.  After too many errors, I have finally had what I consider to be a true success.

Recently, I received the revised edition of Mark Bittman`s How to Cook Everything.  I had thought about buying How to Cook Vegetarian, but after spending some time with a library copy, decided that I would go with Everything.  It`s a very friendly book for those trying to reduce meat consumption but not necessarily eliminate it entirely.  He gives great, detailed information about cooking dried beans, and explains all of the myths and tips I`ve read in the past. 

I tried his preferred method, which is quite similar to the 2 hour quick soak described on many bean packages.   I used navy beans.  I put the beans in cold water (covered by an inch of water), brought them to a boil in an open pot, then turned of the heat and covered them for two hours.  After that, I cooked them in a slow cooker, covered by two inches of liquid (Bittman doesn`t use a slow cooker in his recipe).  I added chicken stock to bring the liquid level two inches over the top of the beans.

I ended up cooking them on the low setting for about five hours.  I added about a teaspoon of salt 1/2 hour before they were done.  They were creamy and delicious, without that bland, chalky taste that had disappointed me in the past.

My guess is that the small amount of chicken stock had enough fat and salt to help make the beans creamy and flavorful.  The other thing is too cook them very gently (so the skins don`t break down) and for a long, long time.