Our house has been focused on organizing and rotating our food preparations the last few days. I've been looking at this bucket of beans and wondering how fresh they could be after being packed in Mylar Bags since 2013. So, I got an idea. Why not try them and get some real world experience of eating almost seven year old food?!
I took the opportunity to reseal some newer beans to replace the old ones in the 5 gallon bucket. We also used some two year old Jiffy Mix and a can of Spam that was a few years old. The beans were left to soak overnight and put in the crock pot on low around 8 this morning.
The beans were checked around 3pm and they were still rather hard. This was to be expected because of the age. The Crock pot was turned to high for about two hours. It stayed on low for another hour and during this time I made cornbread.
The beans and spam were not bad but I could definitely tell a difference in the flavor. It tasted the same but it was a dulled taste. The flavors weren't as robust is the best way I can explain it. Someone that doesn't eat beans often probably wouldn't notice the taste difference.
I imagine adding cilantro or other spices would help with the robustness of the flavor. Next time I will also start the years old beans on high for the first four hours to ensure their mushiness! Overall, I would say this is definitely a meal that is store-able long term
Heck, even the kiddos still liked it.
Rotation is key. I have found my best use for old beans is to make big batches of refried beans. They store in the freezer for months, or fridge until gone (they are super good). You can find plenty of recipes online or I can shoot you mine if you want. Speaking of I need to sort a bunch of my old beans from the chaff and use them. Just had them bagged in a box in the pantry and never cleaned them, probably 5 years old and not air tight storage.
It's definitely a good time for rotation. Great idea on the refried beans. Would def love some more recipes. You'll have to let me know how the bean rotation goes:-)