# Are soaked but uncooked beans edible?



## cookingnewbie (Feb 22, 2008)

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.


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## pacanis (Feb 22, 2008)

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


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## sattie (Feb 22, 2008)

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


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## Fisher's Mom (Feb 22, 2008)

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


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## Constance (Feb 22, 2008)

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.


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## auntdot (Feb 22, 2008)

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.


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## Constance (Feb 22, 2008)

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]


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## Andy M. (Feb 22, 2008)

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


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## suziquzie (Feb 22, 2008)

Fisher's Mom said:


> 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!


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## bethzaring (Feb 22, 2008)

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


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## Constance (Feb 22, 2008)

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.


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## Michael in FtW (Feb 25, 2008)

cookingnewbie said:


> 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.


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## jennyema (Feb 26, 2008)

auntdot said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


 

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.


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## YT2095 (Feb 26, 2008)

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


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## jennyema (Feb 26, 2008)

Good to know.


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