Slow-cooked kidney beans

[watermelonman]

I have read about these things causing a nasty sort of food poisoning when thrown in to a slow cooker without cooking ahead of time. I used a full can in a chili once, without cooking them first. I ate all the chili without issue. Is it more likely that I happened to have a pre-cooked can, or am I overestimating the power of the toxin at play?

I currently have a vegetable stew in my slow cooker for 8 hours on low. The two cans I put in definitely do not claim to be pre-cooked, just allergen-free. Am I going to get sick if I try to eat this stuff? Should I throw it out, eat around the kidney beans, or just not worry about it?

 

[kitchenelf]

Dried beans only come in a bag and are very hard. If you put in two cans they are already cooked - there was some "juice" in the cans right?. No worries as far as I can see.

 

[babetoo]

enjoy and i will come and help you eat it.

babe

 

[mcnerd]

Watermelonman you need to cancel your subscription to whatever you are reading on that subject. It's making you crazy with unnecessary worry.

A slow cooker is for cooking [raw] food slowly and safely, which is usually in the category of meats, poultry, dried beans, and other items than naturally take a little time and effort to cook. The slow cooker gets you away from the stove so you can more fun things.

A can of chili, as are most canned goods, are already pre-cooked and only need to be reheated. Unless the can is leaking, bulging, or giving some indications the contents have gone bad.....the contents are quite safe.

I don't really know why you are putting canned (already cooked) food in your slow cooker for hours on end, but its not necessary or recommended. There are occasions where you might add some canned vegetables to a meat, but you would do it in the last minutes of cooking just to be heated.

Enjoy your meal. Don't worry about being poisoned.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Yep - if it's canned - it's already cooked. All you need to do is "heat-n-eat". No need to put it in a corck-pot for 8-hours ... all you need is maybe 7-minutes in the microwave, or 15-minutes in a saucepan on the stovetop.

 

[mozart]

And I've never heard of a food poisoning associated with dried beans in a crock pot.

There is a problem with dried beans softening when cooked in the presence of too much sugar.

I'd be interested in the name of the food poisoning your talking about.

 

[jennyema]

Raw or undercooked kidney beans have some sort of toxin that can make you sick.

If your crockpot doesn't get hot enough it will not kill the toxin.

raw kidney bean toxin - Google Search

 

[mozart]

Raw or undercooked kidney beans have some sort of toxin that can make you sick.

If your Crockpot doesn't get hot enough it will not kill the toxin.

raw kidney bean toxin - Google Search

Thanks Jenny. That's a new one on me.

The good news is that it is a short duration toxicity usually lasting around 3-4 hours. The bad news is under cooking, say at 80 degrees C, can potentiate (make it stronger) the toxin 5 fold.

I guess the answer is keep the Crockpot on high when cooking red kidney beans until they are really cooked.

 

[mcnerd]

I guess I won't be munching on dried Kidney Beans like peanuts any time soon. In reality I don't use dried Kidney beans that often, using other style of beans preferred instead, but the information is nice to know.

Here is a quote I found:

The following procedure has been recommended by the PHLS to render kidney, and other, beans safe for consumption: Soak in water for at least 5 hours.
Pour away the water.
Boil briskly in fresh water, with occasional stirring, for at least 10 minutes.
Undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans.


All crockpot recipes exceed these requirements so I would not be worried at all, as long as recipe directions are followed.

 

[sabixatzil1]

When buying "homemade" hummus from a deli, I was told that they cook the chickpeas (and beans - for toppings and stuff) with baking soda, and it really softens it up.