Are soaked but uncooked beans edible?

[cookingnewbie]

What does cooking beans (instead of just soaking them) do to them?

I mean, I'm sure that there's a reason (actually I'm not. that's why I'm asking) like food poisoning; but it would still be cool to know if soaked but uncooked beans are edible.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah.... I'm pretty sure they can be ingested .......

 

[sattie]

Yea, you can eat em, but I would not reccommend it. They tend to do a number on your tummy!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

They are easier to retrieve from a kid's nose if they're cooked.

 

[Constance]

From one who knows!

I had to get a neighbor to help me get a dried bean out of my 2 year old's nose when one of the cute little felt bean bags I made her got a hole in it.

 

[auntdot]

Yeah a lot of beans contain toxins.

A number of years ago a Bulgarian dissident was killed by the KGB by a miniscule pellet injected into his leg by a device in an umbrella. That pellet contain ricin, a very toxic poison made from the castor bean - yep the bean that they make castor oil from.

Many beans do have toxins and they are usually destroyed by heating.

Am not speaking of green beans or beans of that sort here. Just stuff like kidney beans or canneloni beans.

Some folks say toss the water, it contains toxins.

Have used it without a problem.

All I know, hope it helps.

 

[Constance]

Actually, Aunt Dot, Castor beans are not true beans. They come from the family [SIZE=-1]Ricinus communis, while kidney beans are a cultivar of legumes, [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Phaseolus vulgaris.
Legumes are not poisonous.
[/SIZE]

 

[Andy M.]

Toxins aside, uncooked beans would be kind of tough on the teeth and digestive track.

 

[suziquzie]

They are easier to retrieve from a kid's nose if they're cooked.

I'll be sure to keep all uncooked beans out of reach from now on!
Thanks for the tip!

 

[bethzaring]

oohhh, that hurt my stomach just reading the post, please, not a good idea!

 

[Constance]

I can laugh now, but at the time, I was living in a huge trailer park in Baton Rouge, with no car or phone. I didn't know anyone, and was scared to death, but when I went banging on her door with my child, the neighbor lady came to the rescue. I held the kid upside down so the bean wouldn't go down to her lungs, and the lady got the bean out with tweezers.
Nowadays, people would be afraid to do that for you.

 

[Michael in FtW]

What does cooking beans (instead of just soaking them) do to them?

I mean, I'm sure that there's a reason (actually I'm not. that's why I'm asking) like food poisoning; but it would still be cool to know if soaked but uncooked beans are edible.

I assume you're talking about dried beans and not fresh beans? Cooking alters the charbohydrates and starch, and the degree of hydration. Depending on the bean - it's not always a matter of toxins - it's about digestibility. If you want to get into the technical stuff - check to see if your local library has a copy of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.

Other foods that can be soaked, but are not really edible for the same reasons, include: pasta, oats, cornmeal, rice, cream of wheat, etc.

 

[jennyema]

Yeah a lot of beans contain toxins.

A number of years ago a Bulgarian dissident was killed by the KGB by a miniscule pellet injected into his leg by a device in an umbrella. That pellet contain ricin, a very toxic poison made from the castor bean - yep the bean that they make castor oil from.

Many beans do have toxins and they are usually destroyed by heating.

Am not speaking of green beans or beans of that sort here. Just stuff like kidney beans or canneloni beans.

Some folks say toss the water, it contains toxins.

Have used it without a problem.

All I know, hope it helps.

It is not true that "a lot of beans contain toxins."

Only red kidney beans and soy beans are thought to be toxic when uncooked.

You toss the water from soaking other kinds of beans to prevent farting, not because it is unsafe to consume.

 

[YT2095]

and Fava beans!

ever heard of Favism?
Broad beans are rich in tyramine, and thus should be avoided by those taking monoamine oxidase (MAOI) inhibitors.
Raw broad beans contain vicine, isouramil and convicine, which can induce hemolytic anemia in patients with the hereditary condition glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD). This potentially fatal condition is called "favism" after the fava bean.[1][2]

taken from: Vicia faba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jennyema]

Good to know.