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Thread: Old Beans

  1. #1
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    Aug 2009
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    Default Old Beans

    A friend moved and gave me several buckets of old beans (black, pinto, navy). She indicated they were from 1993 and that they had been in an outdoor unheated/uncooled shed for part of that time. I don't believe they are viable for human use any longer, although they are clean and appear ok.
    Wondering about uses for old beans. Should I just compost them? Try to plant them? Find a way to feed them to the chickens? Any ideas?
    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Cool

    Looking forward to the replies to your question. I guess I could have asked it myself - beans no quite that old . . . but some are "old".
    "The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." Eden Phillpotts

  3. #3
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    Nov 2007
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    Default

    First, try them!! Soak a batch for 24 hours, then try cooking them. They may take another 24 hours to soften, but if you have large pots and can do 10# at a time, to make soup or canned beans in sauce, that's not as expensive for fuel as it sounds...

    Or you can try pressure cooking them after the 24 hour soak. DO NOT add anything while soaking or cooking them- no salt, no tomato products, nothing with acid.. all of those cause problems with the beans softening.

    I've used 15 year old beans and while they took overnight cooking to soften completely, they were fine.

    IF NOT... and it's likely they are too old, especially if they also got hot in that 'unheated shed', then you can think about other uses. Grinding them into "bean flour" to use in soups, stews, etc is probably the best. Although that's a lot of bean flour!!

    I think you'd have to grind them for them to be useful for chicken feed, too...

    I have some 11 year old beans in my root cellar which are on my list of stuff to do this summer- cook them into a couple different soups and homemade "pork n beans" (I make a vegetarian version with some spicy barbecue sauce and mesquite smoke seasoning because I have a vegetarian DIL, and she has trouble finding canned beans which don't have pork in them). I'll can up a few cases for "ready to eat" meals, and will solve the problem of "aging" beans at the same time.

    Summerthyme

  4. #4
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    Default

    Thanks Summerthyme. Wanna post some of your bean recipes and how you can them? Thanks.

  5. #5
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    May 2009
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    Default Home Canned Baked Beans

    I agree with Summer, try them first just to be sure. I would hate to throw food away that could be used ...

    This is a favorite, I tweaked this recipe several times before I found just the right balance of molasses and honey.

    This recipe is for 1lb beans which makes about 3 pints.

    Wash and drain beans, I prefer navy (white) beans. Mix together 1/4c molasses, 1/4 c honey, 1 tbs vinegar, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp dry mustard and heat to boiling. Meanwhile chop the onion.

    Fill pint jars with about 1/2c beans, 1/4 c molasses mixture, handful of chopped onion, and fill to 1/2" space with hot water.

    Seal jars according to proper canning procedures. The longer the beans sit on the shelf, the better they taste.

    Process at 11 lbs for 65 minutes - pints
    for qts process 11lbs for 75 min
    Last edited by A Simple Pine Box; 05-13-2011 at 05:11 PM.

  6. #6
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    Aug 2009
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    Default

    Simple Pine Box, do you think I would need to presoak or cook these old beans before using your recipe?

  7. #7
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    Iowa
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    The oldest known beans to be ate were about a thousand years old, so give it a whirl!

    Pressure cooking after soaking for 24 hours will soften up the stubbornest of beans! 15 minutes is about all it takes.

    K-
    • “I am not afraid, because I was born to do this."

      Joan of Arc
    Mark 8:38 - Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

  8. #8
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    PW- you haven't ever cooked really old beans, have you? Or beans which were stored some place hot?

    Believe me, there ARE beans which won't cook to softness no matter how long you cook them, even in a pressure cooker... even if left in a lot longer than 15 minutes.

    Summerthyme

  9. #9
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    Texas
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    Default

    I can vouch for the fact that OLD beans, not stored well, will NEVER E V E R soften. Last week I found some dried pintos in a box packed up 2 years ago when tree hit house. The were vacumed sealed and labeled 1999. I took about half the packet (about 1#), soaked them over night, rinsed and several of the skins came off. Put them on to boil, then simmer for 4 hours first...then gave them another hour, and then another hour...ended up simmering 8 hours total. They were still crunchy and not edible. Tried the immersion blender to maybe make bean cakes...nope, they were still crunchy (tho smaller crunches..) :(

  10. #10
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    May 2009
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    Default

    I would still give it a whirl too .. try the method(s) suggested. At this point you have nothing to lose except your time.

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