How To Properly Store Beans
Dried beans are a great food to have around. They are an excellent source of protein and store well right in your pantry. If you need to come up with a filling meal without having to go grocery shopping first, these dried beans are the way to go.
Beans are also a good buy when money is tight. They are a cheap and healthy meat alternative that provides your family with plenty of protein and fiber. With grocery prices on the rise, many of us have started to cook with dried beans the way our grandmothers used to.
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 and fastest way to sort through a bunch of dried beans or lentils is to spread them out on a large table and pick through them. Keep an eye out for small rocks that may have gotten in. When you’re done, throw your beans in some ziplock bags or plastic containers with a tight fitting lid. Then move those containers into a dark place. I keep mine in my kitchen pantry.
Dry lentils, beans and peas will last longest at room temperature. That makes your refrigerator or freezer a bad storage solution.
Be sure to write down what type of bean you have in any given container as well as the date when they were purchased. If you get in the habit of buying beans every few weeks or months, you want to be able to use up the oldest ones first which is where the dating comes in handy.
You may also want to jot down any cooking instructions that were printed on the original bag that the beans came in. Either attach it to the container you transferred the beans to, or start a little notebook with cooking instructions for different varieties of beans.
If you don’t get around to using your dried beans for a few months, don’t worry. Stored properly in a container kept in a dark pantry, they will last for decades.
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