How To Properly Store Beans
Author: Susanne M.
I always keep a variety of dried beans and other legumes like lentils and split peas around. They are a great source of protein, and keep for quite some time if stored properly. They come in handy when I need a filling meal but don’t want to drive to the store.
Dried beans are also very economical. Since they contain plenty of protein, the are a good meat substitute. Since the price of meat (and almost everything else) has gone up quite a bit lately, I can keep our grocery budget under control by making more meals that use dried beans as a base.
I like to take the various beans and lentils I get at the store out of their original container. Next I take the time to go ahead and sort them. It doesn’t take long and saves me time when I am ready to cook the beans later.
The easiest way to sort beans is to spread them out on a table or large cookie sheet. This will allow you to quickly pick through them and take out any beans that don’t look right and of course any little rock that may have gotten in there. Not it’s time to find a permanent storage container for the beans. Glass jars or plastic containers with tight fitting lids are both good options as are plastic bags that will close. You main goal is to keep your beans as dry as possible. Once you’ve found an appropriate container, store them on a shelf in your pantry or a kitchen cabinet until you are ready to use them.
You don’t want to store dry beans in your refrigerator or freezer. Dry beans are to be stored at room temperature for best results.
Don’t forget to properly label your container after you add the beans to it. Many varieties of beans look pretty similar. I like to not the type of bean as well as the date when I bought them. This allows me to use the older ones first when I have more than one container of beans on the shelf.
I also like to copy down any cooking tips and recipes that came on the original packaging. I keep a little notebook that I just add to any time I come across something new on a bean bag.
Dry beans will keep up to 30 years stored in an airtight container on a dry, dark shelf. But to be honest, I have never had any sit around for more than a year.
You can make soup from canned or dry beans. Take a look at this congressional bean soup recipe and then compare it to this five can bean soup recipe.
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