I think I'm going to give it a shot.  I'd imagine people here cook them....I'm just curious what the process is and the end result.

http://www.ranchogordo.com/pages/cooking-basic-beans-in-the-rancho-gordo-manner

This will be what I do unless someone convinces me otherwise.

Pinto beans,
Sort to remove rocks
Soak 8+ hours
Put into large pot over medium heat for several hours till soft.
Add bacon, sausage, or saltpork pieces
Add pepper and a little chili powder to taste. (Or use Feista brand bean seasoning)
The longer you cook them the thicker the juice will become.
Serve hot with cornbread.

Sort to remove rocks ......someone's made plenty of beans in their life......

My grandmother was pretty serious about this step. I still fear the wooden spoon.

Lol. I've cooked a few over the forty years since I learned to cook on Nannies stove. Seen it done a lot more.

This is how I do red beans for red beans and rice.  It also works for navy beans, small white beans, black eyes, and I guess it would work for pintos too.  

1 lb red beans
1 lb smoked sausage or tasso, cut into small pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
salt, red pepper, black pepper, and garlic powder
water or vegetable stock

Sort the beans for rocks, dirt, etc.  Brown the sausage, then add the onion and bell pepper.  cook until onions are translucent.  Add your beans and seasonings.  Cover with water or stock and simmer until beans are done.  Server over rice.  

I haven't been soaking my beans lately.  You have to watch your water as you cook, adding some as needed.  If you do soak make sure do save the "bean stock" and add it to the pot.

ETA:  When the beans are almost done I'll smash 1/4 to 1/3 of them up to thicken the "gravy".

Dried beans, low and slow, that's the major thing to remember.

I'm partial to Casserole brand pinto beans.




Regardless, this is my basic technique for pintos, reds, etc...

-Sort beans (look for rocks you likely wont find, I also pitch any off looking beans). I don't bother soaking.

-Throw in a pot with some bacon, left over ham hock, salt pork, etc. and cover with 4-6 times as much water.

-Bring to a hard rolling boil over high heat for half an hour, stirring occasionally.

-Reduce heat to low. Cover and stir occasionally for the next 3-4 hours, adding hot water if neccessary. Add salt to taste when beans are soft.

Sorting the beans from the dirt and rocks is old school. I still do it, because I've always done it but recently I don't think I've found anything. I guess the optic sensors they use in the processing plants work better now than years ago. I have found bean moths though so looking through them is a good idea still.

Do not add salt to the cooking water. It makes the beans tough and you might was well try to cook gravel.

salt to taste AFTER they're done.

Alton Brown dispels this myth at about 15 minutes into this video.  The quality of the video is terrible, but there is a lot of good info here.  Its my favorite baked bean recipe.  

Buy a name brand, store brand have sucked the last few times I've tried them. Camilla is good for red beans and black beans.

Biggest problem with buying beans at the store is you have no idea how long they've been sitting on the shelf.

Unless your smart and buy bags with dates on them. My wife checks the date code before she buys. She also says beans get darker as they age so buy the lighter colored bags if possible. She's a pretty good cook so I ain't going to disagree with her. She also dug out a bag of HEB hill country fare beans and showed me the date on them.

Dried beans are hit-and-miss for me.  Wife is not a fan, so I seldom do dried beans, and I haven't figured out which brand, type, recipe, or combination of those things works best for me.  They're always good enough to eat, but sometimes they're great, and I just can't seem to make them great every time.

I will confess that I like canned beans just as much as dried ones.  Canned beans aren't completely cooked, they do need a bit of time to simmer, but not much.  With diced up Andouille sausage.  20 minutes to make, anytime I want it.

I turned the kids onto beans recently with Sausage Stew (a name I invented to get the kids to eat the beans).  A can of beans...a can of hominy...and a package of little smokies.  Brown the sausages a bit, dump the beans and corn in, and let it simmer a bit.  Not a bit of seasoning requires, beans and hominy both soak up sausage flavor.  Man, making myself hungry thinking about it.  I love simple stuff.

Soak over night, and I cook them in a crock pot. Pinto beans with ham and ham bone and onions in it, Red beans with andouille. I just make sure to cover the beans all the way in the crock pot, you can also use some chicken broth for more flavor.

Eschew them all.

Beans are for faggots.

 
Add baking soda if you want to soften the skins.

Pressure cooker will save a ton of time.  But I prefer to soak over night and then low and slow in a dutch oven.