Food Rehydrating 12 year old Red Beans???

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Just like the thread title suggests. Orion Commander made red beans and rice yesterday. Wednesday night he put the beans on to soak, covered with about three inches of water, brought to a boil, shut off the heat immediately and covered the pot. They were still somewhat hard yesterday afternoon. He followed the recipe he found online and added the seasonings, etc., and proceeded to bring to a boil and then simmer for something like 45 minutes. He added the andouille at that point, per the recipe, and cooked another 35 minutes. Still somewhat hard.

So cue in me, cause I'm starting to get hungry, and it ALL goes into the instant pot for 15 minutes on high pressure with a 13 minute natural pressure release. Not nearly as hard, edible but still needed more time in the IP. So in it goes for another 15 minutes with a 35 minute NPR. Definitely edible but still with a bit of chew to the beans, I'm thinking they could have used 45 minutes in the IP.

Suggestions on how to get them so they're actually edible sooner? I have gobs of beans that are 12 years old or older I want to start using up here and soon, and this is especially true for my garbanzo beans/chickpeas. I haven't had any issues with the black-eyed peas or black beans, yet, just the red beans and kidney beans.
 

KMR58

Veteran Member
Never add any seasoning, especially salt, until the beans are exactly as you want them. Once you add any seasoning, again especially salt, your beans will stay the same. If you have old beans pour hot water over them and cover with saran then let soak at least 12 hours. Dump water then fresh water in pot on the stove. Let simmer until they are how you want them. Then add any seasonings.
 

hummer

Veteran Member
Years ago I had old beans. I first cracked them my moms old crank food mill. They seemed to cook better for me once they were broken apart and in smaller pieces. I also would grind them with my hand flour mill and use some of the flour in bread, gravy, etc.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Never add any seasoning, especially salt, until the beans are exactly as you want them. Once you add any seasoning, again especially salt, your beans will stay the same. If you have old beans pour hot water over them and cover with saran then let soak at least 12 hours. Dump water then fresh water in pot on the stove. Let simmer until they are how you want them. Then add any seasonings.

Thank you.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Agree on not adding salt or acid ingredients until they're already softened. But I recently read that hard water is a major cause of hard beans. I'm going to try soaking mine in distilled water next time and see whether it helps.

Summerthyme
 

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
interesting thread. I was under the impression that once ANY dried bean was beyond 7-8 yrs old it was difficult to get them to soften up by any means without a pressure cooker and best use of them was to grind them and mix into flour.

any other suggestions or thots on that out here?
 

amazon

Veteran Member
I had the same situation a few weeks ago. My pinto beans were about 9-10 years old. I initially cooked them in crock pot 8 hours. Still hard, not good, threw them out. Tried again and cooked in crock pot for about 18 hours. They did get tender. I didn't season until they got tender. If you try it, be careful and watch the amount of liquid in them. (I did boil them initially with the "quick soak" method.)
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
interesting thread. I was under the impression that once ANY dried bean was beyond 7-8 yrs old it was difficult to get them to soften up by any means without a pressure cooker and best use of them was to grind them and mix into flour.

any other suggestions or thots on that out here?
We've been routinely using beans from Y2k (so, 1999) which were stored quite haphazardly in our root cellar... most in gallon glass jars, but some in 2 liter soda bottles. I haven't had any I couldn't get softened, but at times it required 24 hours in the crock pot or using the pressure cooker.

Summerthyme
 
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Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
We've been routinely using beans from Y2k (so, 1999) which were stored quite haphazardly in our root cellar... mist in gallon glass jars, but some in 2 liter soda bottles. I haven't had any I couldn't get softened, but at times it required 24 hours in the crock pot or using the pressure cooker.

Summerthyme

thanks for that - hazarding a WAG here but it will be very close - we've got roughly 55lbs of mixed beans packed in mylar and then into gamma sealed buckets - yellow eyes, pinto, great northern and black approaching the 8 yr mark. looks like we've got more time than I thought :)
 

mecoastie

Veteran Member
Soak for 24 hours and then a long slow cook has worked for us. We usually make baked beans with our old beans with great results doing this. We put them in the oven for about 10-12 hours. Just check the water level.
 

mourningdove

Pura Vida in my garden
I watched a preppier video recently that said to add a tablespoon of salt to the soaking water. Next day drain and rinse.

Naturally, when I made a pot of beans last week, using REALLY OLD pinto beans, I forgot the above tip and like the OP, I had trouble getting them to soften. I eventually (after several hours of stovetop cooking) went to the Instant Pot. Cooked on high pressure for 30 minutes and problem solved. The beans were great.
 

Shooter

Veteran Member
I had the same situation a few weeks ago. My pinto beans were about 9-10 years old. I initially cooked them in crock pot 8 hours. Still hard, not good, threw them out. Tried again and cooked in crock pot for about 18 hours. They did get tender. I didn't season until they got tender. If you try it, be careful and watch the amount of liquid in them. (I did boil them initially with the "quick soak" method.)

I have always soaked my beans in a Crock pot, about 16-18 hours. usually when making chili, just wash them a few times, then back in the crockpot with meat and stuff,
 

Grouchy Granny

Deceased
Did some garbanzo beans yesterday (maybe the day before) and I just bought these a month or so ago!

Soaked them over night and then put them on simmer (no IP here). Took me 12 hours to finally get them cooked to the right consistency for hummus.

Think it depends on the type of bean and the age - not sure.
 

Babs

Veteran Member
I soak my old beans twice for about 10 hours each time. I drain and rinse after each soaking. I do the double soak even for fresh beans to 'neutralize' the Oligosaccharides , which give me immense digestive distress. Then I just cook normally on the stove, or in the instant pot.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Agree on not adding salt or acid ingredients until they're already softened. But I recently read that hard water is a major cause of hard beans. I'm going to try soaking mine in distilled water next time and see whether it helps.

Summerthyme

I may try this as well, the city water has changed here in the past three years ever since they got the new water plant up and running and I think the quality has gone down hill.
 
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