Cooking white (cannellini) beans: What went wrong? I cooked some white beans but they came out kind of crunchy and it seems like every bean had a shell that was loosely attached that made the texture unpleasant.

Here's what I did: Rinsed and drained the beans, then soaked over night for 9 hours. Rinsed and drained again. Filled a pot with water, added basil and onions and brought to a boil. Scooped away any foam and floating bits, such as loose shells. Simmered for 2 hours and stirred occasionally.

The end result was edible, but all the beans had shells that I had to spit out. It was like eating the shell of a shrimp, albeit not as tough.

What did I do wrong? How else am I supposed to cook white beans so that this doesn't happen?

Update: No salt was added at any point, only what was stated above. Also, I let it cool for about 20-30 minutes before I ate them.
I'm not sure if you did or not, but there's like an hour standing period with cannelinis afterward. That may have affected it if you ate them right away. You really should try doing your beans in a slow cooker as well. Try cooking normally, but then adding dry beans to slow cooked dishes is GREAT. Depending on the bean, and a nice sturdy bean like cannelini is great for that.

Enjoy!