I pre-soak my beans not so much to remove the ’air’ out of them but more to slightly reduce my total cooking time. If you forget to pre-soak, you can place them in the pot with enough cold water to cover 2 inches from the surface of the beans. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover the pot and let sit for 1 hour. Drain the beans, discard the water and proceed with the recipe.