Exact Answer: 1 To 2 Years
There are so many nutritious ingredients that can be included in the food, and they can be made delicious and healthy too. When one mentions nutritious ingredients, their minds automatically go to plants and meats, since they contain vitamins, minerals, protein, and a healthy level of fat and carbs.
One ingredient that can be made into an appetizer, a main dish, and sometimes even as desserts, is beans and legumes. Beans and legumes are available in various forms.
Beans are available in various forms, they are available fresh in the market, they can be found in the grocery stores in a canned form, and when they need to be stored for a very long time, they can be dried and preserved at optimal conditions. Dried beans and legumes are the ones that last the longest.
How Long Do Dried Beans Last?
| Dried beans shelf life | Time |
| Dried beans lose their vitamin content after | 2 to 3 years |
| Dried beans lose their taste after | 3 to 5 years |
| When stored properly, dried beans are best for | 1 to 2 years |
Beans and legumes can be fruits or seeds from a family of plants called Fabaceae, and they are a great source of vitamins and protein. Beans can be sweet, bitter, and though they don’t have overpowering flavors, they can be mixed with other ingredients to be made into any dish. The taste of the beans depends on what they are cooked with and the nutrition level of the beans depends on how they are cooked.
Usually, fresh beans and dried beans taste better than canned beans, but canned beans can also be delicious too when used right. Beans, when added to the diet, can help in reducing cholesterol, blood sugar, and it also helps in maintaining a healthy gut. There are different types of beans and legumes, but about nine types of beans are known and used worldwide. Every type of bean has a different amount of nutrients.
Some of the different types of beans include chickpeas, lentils, peas, kidney beans, black beans, soybeans, pinto beans, navy beans, peanuts, and many others, which are regional and are not as well known as the others.
Why Do Dried Beans Last That Long?
Dried beans are also environmentally friendly ingredients as there is no actual waste generated from cooking with fresh or dry beans.
How long the beans last depend on how well they are stored. Fresh beans only last for a week even if they are stored properly, and canned beans can last for around a year. Although the dried beans can be stored for an indefinite time, it is better to cook them before 2 to 3 years after they are dried. The dried beans will start losing their vitamin content after 3 years, and they will lose their taste after 4 to 5 years.
It is better to cook and eat the dried beans before the end of three years, and when one buys dried beans in a packed form, it is better to cook them before the best-before date, mentioned by the manufacturer. Dried beans can be just stored in the pantry or anywhere in the kitchen, and there is no need to store dried beans in the fridge or the freezer.
Although, it is necessary to store the dried beans in an air-tight container so moisture doesn’t enter the container and spoil the beans. There are many ways to tell if the beans have gone bad, and there are also ways to increase the shelf life of the beans.
Conclusion
The dried beans will start smelling bad and will have a white liquid coating them, and when spoilt beans are eaten, the person who eats them will be affected with some sort of foodborne illness, and health risks are common when one eats spoilt food.
To make the dried beans last longer, it is better to store them in a cool and dark place if one wants the beans to last longer, and in a place with a temperature less than 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
After the dried beans are cooked, it is better to store them in the fridge or a freezer in a tight container, since it is never good to store cooked food in an open container.
