cooking beans

I'm new at cooking dried beans - I've used the canned versions for years in my chili, but have never cooked dried beans until yesterday. I bought a package of dried red kidney beans and was very excited about trying them out. I was going to buy beans in large 25lbs bags and pack them in mylar...

Can someone tell me how to cook dry beans? Do I soak them for 12 hrs in cold water first, change the water, then simmer them? Simmer for how long? Do I bring to a boil first before simmering? Last time I tried this they came out rather hard.