Picking through dried beans - many discoloured ones - moldy?
I was picking through some dried white beans and found a lot of discoloured ones, way more than usual. They smell fine. Does this mean that they are old (best before date is a long way away) or just poor quality? They are organic beans.
I don't want to be eating beans with mold toxins.
Best Answer
The beans in your photo simply look old and/or low-quality (the farmer didn't pick out the bruised & marked ones). They should cook fine, but they might not turn out as well as you'd like. If you have another bag of beans you can use that's better quality, and time, I'd swap it in. Or you could just pick out the discolored ones.
If you want to be really cautious, you could taste one of the discolored beans. If it's actually moldy, you'll be able to taste it in the soaked, raw state; it will have a musty or cheesy flavor.
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Can dried beans get moldy?
So if you see mottled skin, dark spots or any visible traces of mold, you should toss them. No unusual smells \u2014 dried beans should not have a strong smell. If there's a rancid aroma when you open your bag of beans, this cold be a sign of molding, fermentation or pest droppings. Toss 'em!What does mold on dry beans look like?
Symptoms and Signs. White mold first appears as a watery rot on stems, leaves, and pods. White mycelium (threadlike hyphae) is often visible on the surface of rotted tissue under moist conditions. The development of black, irregularly shaped sclerotia (compact masses of mycelia) is the best diagnostic feature.Can dry black beans get moldy?
How can you tell if dried black beans are bad or spoiled? The best way is to smell and look at the dried black beans: if the dried black beans develop an off odor, flavor or appearance, or if mold or insects appear, they should be discarded.What does white mold look like on beans?
White mold is first observed as wet, soft spots or lesions on infected leaves, branches, stems and pods. These lesions enlarge into a watery, rotten mass of tissue that is covered by a white moldy growth.You're Doing It All Wrong - How to Cook Beans
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