Old beans

Older beans can take longer to cook so soaking overnight is a good
idea. You can start cooking around midday and see how it's going to go
regarding cooking time. Then you can always stop cooking them and
restart later on. I did just that today with a batch of 3 to 4 year old
borlotti beans.
D.M.

Jo Anne Slaven said:

I have an assortment of beans that are getting a little long in the
tooth. A lot of them have been kept in decorative jars on a shelf in
my kitchen for, oh, 5 years.

Are they still OK to eat? If I soak them and boil them and they aren't
like little bullets, should they be edible?

If you soak them and boil them and they get tender they will be edible,
in the sense that they have not been sitting there developing pathogens
for 5 years.

That's the wrong question, of course. You should be asking what weird
forces are influencing your body to crave these beans after five years.
It can't be that you just want a good bowl of beans. If that were the
case you'd throw away that five year old [censored] and go spend $1.19 for
some beans that might be better. -aem

Jo Anne Slaven said:

I have an assortment of beans that are getting a little long in the
tooth. A lot of them have been kept in decorative jars on a shelf in
my kitchen for, oh, 5 years.

Are they still OK to eat? If I soak them and boil them and they aren't
like little bullets, should they be edible?

Thanks so much,

Jo Anne

Dried beans (and any dried legumes... lentils, peas, whatever) are meant to
last. Not a problem. After all, we don't know how old those dried bags of
beans we buy at the store are, do we?

Jill

In article <[email hidden]>,

Jo Anne Slaven said:

I have an assortment of beans that are getting a little long in the
tooth. A lot of them have been kept in decorative jars on a shelf in
my kitchen for, oh, 5 years.

Are they still OK to eat? If I soak them and boil them and they aren't
like little bullets, should they be edible?

Thanks so much,

Jo Anne

As long as they have no weevils, they will be fine.
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

aem said:

Jo Anne Slaven said:

I have an assortment of beans that are getting a little long in the
tooth. A lot of them have been kept in decorative jars on a shelf in
my kitchen for, oh, 5 years.

Are they still OK to eat? If I soak them and boil them and they aren't
like little bullets, should they be edible?

If you soak them and boil them and they get tender they will be edible,
in the sense that they have not been sitting there developing pathogens
for 5 years.

That's the wrong question, of course. You should be asking what weird
forces are influencing your body to crave these beans after five years.
It can't be that you just want a good bowl of beans. If that were the
case you'd throw away that five year old [censored] and go spend $1.19 for
some beans that might be better.

*Might* be better...?!?!? Sounds like betting on a horse race to me.
I've never seen dried beans marked with a sell-by/use-by date... how do
you know the new purchase hasn't been sitting around for ten years, or
longer.

Dried beans are held in humidor type warehouses at an optimal 6%
moisture content. So long as that moisture content does not rise above
15% beans will be just as viable whether after one year or one thousand
years. Age of dried beans has very little to do with how they cook,
mostly has to do with water hardness and altitude. At home dried beans
should be stored in an air tight container, to control rapid
fluctuation of humidity and to control pest infiltration.

The various dried bean boards recommend the quick hot soak method for
all bean dried bean cookery.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

So long as that moisture content does not rise above
15% beans will be just as viable whether after one year or one thousand
years. Age of dried beans has very little to do with how they cook,
mostly has to do with water hardness and altitude. At home dried beans
should be stored in an air tight container, to control rapid
fluctuation of humidity and to control pest infiltration.

The various dried bean boards recommend the quick hot soak method for
all bean dried bean cookery.

Thank you everyone.

This was an impulse thing. I'm cooking a ham for dinner today, with
scalloped potatoes, carrots, and cole slaw. This meal requires a side
of baked beans.

I soaked them overnight, then brought them to a boil this morning.
I'll let them simmer for about 1/2 hour, then [censored] them up with all of
the other baked beans ingredients and put them in the oven.

Worse case scenario is that I'll be out a couple dollars worth of
ketchup and brown sugar, and I'll have to throw them out.

Jo Anne