Dealing with Old Beans

[Tinfoil Hattie]

Greetings!  I have been lurking about here for close to two years.  I thank you all for helping me to wake up and smell the doom.  I recently did an inventory of my food stash and find I've got about 40 pounds of dried beans that have 2009 expiration dates.  The oldest ones have a 1/09 date.  I was nervous about cooking beans this old, but I used the Cook's Illustrated soaking method with great success.

Cook's Illustrated Overnight Soak Method:

Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in a large bowl. Add beans and soak overnight at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.

I recently prepared a pound of black beans with a January 2009 expiration date with this method.  I had never used salt in soaking water before, but I think it really helped.  After soaking and draining, I brought the beans to a boil with new water, added a teaspoon of salt, and put them in a crock pot on low overnight.  They were perfectly done when I woke up the next morning.  My other old beans might not turn out this well, but at least there's hope.

I don't have the cash right now to invest in buckets and mylar bags.  I have about a dozen jars to store beans, but that's it.  I have a ton of lentil, black, pinto and northern beans that are "expired" or set to expire this year.  How long have you found beans to be usable after the expiration date?  How are you storing them?

[akaskip]

      http://grandpappy.info/hshelff.htm

  Maybe this will help.

[nicekitty]

We're talking dried beans?  They have an expiration date?

[madison]

Dried beans will store nearly forever.  If they are put away in sealable buckets or canning jars I wouldn't worry about it until 2020 or so.... and then I'd eat them.  Just soak them longer

[HungryRaven]

Dried beans are not going to go bad unless bugs get into them.  At most if really ancient they might be more stale but I doubt that.   How can something go stale that is still alive?  Try to plant a few you'll probably have bean plants coming up within a week or two.   I've had rice kept in an unsealed container for a decade and it tasted perfectly fine, not even stale.  Ground flour though can go stale so keep wheat kernals instead. 

[Koperen]

Soak beans overnight, absolutely, but don't put any salt in until the beans are totally cooked.  Salting beans before that tends to make them stay crunchy forever, no matter how long you try to cook them.  This is the voice of experience speaking here!

[spacecase0]

if they are old, I just soak them longer and cook them longer,
a pressure cooker really speeds things up as well

[Toucan]

Another use for old beans is to grind them up into flour.  The bean flour can replace a portion of regular flour in most recipes, adding nutrition and flavor to things like breads.  The bean flour can also be used to thicken soups, or used to make easy and quick refried beans.  Here is one link I found that illustrates some uses for bean flour.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/29/beans-the-magical-fruit/

Hope that helps with some ideas.

[BlueOwl]

Just remember, there is a difference between "Best used before" and "Turns into toxic poison by".

Most things (like canned goods, dried goods) don't rot or turn into poison, they just lose taste, texture, or nutritional qualities.  So yes, it is best to use them before such-and-such date if that date is provided, but it usually isn't actually harmful to use them after this date.

[nicekitty]

Just remember, there is a difference between "Best used before" and "Turns into toxic poison by".

lol, so true...

[Doomerologist]

I remember reading that it was a good idea to freeze the beans (and rice) for a couple of days before storing them, this way you kill any bugs hiding in them.

Any thoughts on this?

[urbanfarmer]

That's what I've read as well, but have not tried it. In the South we had so many weevils and other wee bugs that got into everything, but up here in the Northwest, I haven't found any bugs at all in 22 years.

[kopperhead]

That's what I've read as well, but have not tried it. In the South we had so many weevils and other wee bugs that got into everything, but up here in the Northwest, I haven't found any bugs at all in 22 years.

go on and rub it in why doncha??   

[Tinfoil Hattie]

Just remember, there is a difference between "Best used before" and "Turns into toxic poison by".

Most things (like canned goods, dried goods) don't rot or turn into poison, they just lose taste, texture, or nutritional qualities.  So yes, it is best to use them before such-and-such date if that date is provided, but it usually isn't actually harmful to use them after this date.

I know, I was just wondering how old they have to be to be too tough to soften even in the crock pot or pressure cooker.  I have tons of beans in my doomstash, and as I'm the only one here who really likes them, it may take me a while to go through them.

So far the beans I bought with a January 2009 expiration date soften up just fine.  On the other hand, I tried buying split peas from the bulk bin at Whole Foods twice, and both times the peas refused to soften completely, no matter how long I cooked them.  I figured there would be a quick turnover at Whole Foods.  Alas, that was apparently not the case.  So now I just buy the cheap grocery store bags, and haven't had any problems yet.

[jerrypenguin]

I have had no problems using properly stored dried beans.  Their shelf life seems almost indefinite.  We use food storage containers purchased from a restaurant supply company. 

One of my half dozen pressure cookers and/or canners is a very small pressure cooker purchased for five bucks from a resale shop.  The tiny pressure cooker takes around thirty minutes to convert dried beans into two or three cans of recipe ready beans.