In general, the perfect ratio of water for cooking black beans in the Instant Pot is 2.5 cups of water per 1 cup of dry beans. If the beans are soaked, you can get away with only 2 cups of water per 1 cup of soaked beans. I've also tested these ratios: • 1 pound black beans + 3 cups water: This ratio left me with inconsistent results. The beans on the bottom were cooked, but the beans on the top were still hard because they weren’t fully covered in water as the beans expanded with cooking. • 1 pound black beans + 4 cups water: Better, than the 3 cups, but still had a few beans on the very top that were a little too crunchy for my liking. I prefer consistently tender beans all around. • 1 pound black beans + 5 cups water: Perfect! All of the beans turn out consistently tender with this amount of water. Yes, you will have some extra liquid in the pot when the beans are done cooking, but I’ll show you how to handle that, without draining off the flavor, below. You can also cook only 1 cup of dry black beans in your Instant Pot if you want to. The cooking time will stay the same, no matter how many dry beans you use.