I do 6 cups of water or more to a pound of beans, and I make sure I don’t salt before cooking because I’ve read that can make things tough. But that’s it. I do not soak. Never had a problem.
Well, except that one time when I decided to try to see if I could cook some pinto beans that were at least 5 years old. Those didn’t get soft in 4 hours, so I don’t think soaking would have helped.
I know you said pintos, but just in case it is useful, I almost always do black beans and I do 1cup beans : 3cups liquid (often 2 water 1 broth), 30 min high pressure, natural release. No soak. They do turn out soupy (extra liquid, which is how I like em, but you could strain or even just take the lid off and let the liquid cook down a bit.
Yeah, I don’t soak. The whole reason I wanted an Instant Pot is to cook beans from dry without having to remember to soak or dirty yet another container to soak them in.
I usually do 8 cups of water, then drain and rinse when they’re done. That’s enough to fully cover any pound of beans. I have no experience with pinto beans specifically, though—I do black beans or chickpeas usually.
Y’all have inspired me to buy bags of beans to try in my IP.