Ah, good info. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I was already through the soaking process before I read it. What I ended up trying was a 5 minute boil followed by an overnight soak, but I just let ‘em cool down by themselves and then only changed out the soak water once during the night, then again before beginning cooking them in earnest.
The beans then got cooked ~9 hours and are still(!) only somewhat softened. I’d say the consistency is not too far off that of pecan meat.
Maybe I could try the pressure cooker? Would the baking soda still help? (It seems unlikely, as the beans are mostly slightly splitting anyway, but still not soft. But, I might try it with a cup of them separately.)
If, next time, I try several soak water changes,
A) Should I not do the “quick boil” at the start?
B) Should I add baking soda at each change, to counteract the acidity of the water?
Note that the beans seem pretty consistent. Unlike this person’s experience, they are all a little “unpleasantly crunchy”.
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-dried-beans
Ok, another 6 hours of cooking, and the beans seem almost there. Time to add the ham bone and broth. :-)
The reason for draining is to remove the oliosaccarides IIRC as well as the Lectins.
I would use a pressure cooker to cook the beans. Per Miss Vickys Pressure Cooker book you should cook them with some fat and maybe a dried red pepper and a clove of garlic for flavor. Use about 2 inches of water to cover the beans and add some fat to prevent foaming. I usually add a dried hatch chili pepper and a clove of garlic when I cook. Again, no acid in the cooking water, it makes the beans tough. Time; She gives 18 minutes, but I usually do 20-22 and pull it off and use the Natural release method. (Let it sit off the flame until cool.)
Good luck! If that does not work I can't say what will!