Should dry beans be washed before soaking?
When making dried beans, generally I wash the beans, then soak them, then drain&rinse, then cook. I realized today that I started my soak without the prior wash (by accident), and then realized it shouldn't matter; after all, I am going to drain&rinse them post-soaking anyway; that should take care of the wash step, shouldn't it?
tl;dr Do dry beans always need to be washed pre-soaking, or is post-soak ok too?
Best Answer
It's always a good idea to wash and "pick over" a bag of dried beans before soaking them. You never know what sort of grit or weirdness you might find. It's a lot more difficult to find the stuff-that-isn't-beans once it's all been soaking together for a long time.
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Quick Answer about "Should dry beans be washed before soaking?"
The easiest way to soak beans is the overnight method. Wash and pick out any dud beans and then cover the beans with water, one part beans to three parts cool water. Allow the beans to soak overnight or at least eight hours. After that time, drain the beans and then cover them with water again.Do you have to rinse beans before soaking?
Before You Start Dried beans last up to two years, but are best cooked within a year of harvest. Always rinse beans before cooking, and check for stray rocks, twigs and leaves. Leave substantial time for bean soaking (either overnight or using our shortcut method) and cooking.Do you have to rinse dried beans before cooking?
The short answer to this question is no. You don't have to soak your dried beans overnight. We'll get to what you can do instead in a second, but first, a note about why we soak beans. Soaking beans in the refrigerator overnight will reduce the time they have to cook drastically.Why is it important to rinse beans?
Soaking dried legumes dissolves the membranes that cover beans and releases their oligosaccharides. After soaking, discard water and rinse beans to remove sugars. According to the Science of Cooking website, navy and lima beans have more gas-producing potential than most other varieties.More answers regarding should dry beans be washed before soaking?
Answer 2
I don't think there is anything disastrous about doing it in that order. I suppose any impurities might penetrate the membrane of the bean, but the expected impurities (especially if the beans are organic) is just soil. I'd still rinse beans before soaking in general, but if I forgot once, I'd do what you said.
Answer 3
I always wash legumes and grains. This may be gross to consider, but in most elevators and plants dealing with legumes or grains, there is at least one rodent or there is one person using a contaminated shovel or other tool. You never know what is mixed with your cooking ingredient, so it pays to wash just in case.
Just for information's sake: rodent feces and bugs will both float to the top if you dump your grain or legumes into a pot of salt-water, and the salt will also kill most bugs. I always use the salt-water dump-and-skim before rinsing; most times it's not needed, but there have been times I was glad I did it. Additional info: The salt-water dump is also great for getting the bugs out of broccoli and cauliflower.
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