Am I missing something about dried beans?
Posted by Local_Fruit7140@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 175 comments
I see dried beans being praised here as like the ultimate food to store. But am I missing something? Don't you need to boil a decent amount of water just to get them edible?
Whats the point in stocking a food that would use a larger amount of gas and water and which are both much harder to store and accumulate than food?
Acceptable_Dust7149@reddit
I pressure can a good amount of beans too.
AnotherSpring2@reddit
You can boil them with wood, which you can gather.
drjembaslab@reddit
was looking for this comment. literally just build a fire, we have specked stove we made out of cans and scrap metal lol
AnotherSpring2@reddit
Nice! Very ingenious of you.
olycreates@reddit
When we lost power this last winter I did a batch on the wood stove. We might have been in the dark but the house was warm and smelled amazing.
DeafHeretic@reddit
IMO Lentils and split peas are better than beans - both in the nutritional and energy/water sense.
SolidPaint2@reddit
I don't get it... Why do people that prep because shit might hit the fan, expect to eat 5 star food like they do at home?!?!
Soak the beans for at least 8-12 hours and eat them cold!
When shtf, you will have to learn to eat food cold and maybe not what you are used to.
My wife hates when I eat beans out of the can cold without rinsing them.. I love when most food is cold and the fat(flavor) is all gooped up. I guess this is from being in the military... But I could survive without cooking food... Yes, I do eat raw (purple) steak when I feel like it, when I go out.
When shtf, you might not have the luxuries of a normal day... Ooooh, I smell someone cooking food, well, I'll take my crossbow and take them out then steal their food.
clementineford@reddit
If you don't have an indefinite supply of water you're completely screwed and there's no point storing dried beans because you'll have died as soon as your water ran out.
Old-Consequence1735@reddit
No need to store anything at all really. Dying of thirst happens pretty quickly.
Bastilleinstructor@reddit
I also came here to say that. 7 days or less (often less) with no water and you are dead.
Open-Gazelle1767@reddit
I always thought that until I cared for a terminally ill cancer patient who couldn't eat or drink. Turns out you can actually last a couple weeks without water...maybe longer, I don't know; she died then, but not from dehydration.
ponycorn_pet@reddit
This, lol. You've got a few days tops XD
jprefect@reddit
And if you have limited water, you're still going to get the water you cooked the beans in. Most of it will be in the beans you consume, and you can still drink the bean-flavored water.
(Many of us enjoy delicious beanwater daily!)
11systems11@reddit
Ok doomer
NikkeiReigns@reddit
Try this. Cook a huge stock pot of the best beans you've ever eaten in your life. Make a pot of the most flavorful rice you've ever eaten. Eat those beans and rice at least two meals a day til they're gone.
Then help me stop this stupid movement where everyone says to stock tons of rice and beans.
dingleberry_sorbet@reddit
been doing that for years, hahahaha
NikkeiReigns@reddit
It didn't take my body long to learn that beans aren't a healthy substitute for other food. Don't get me wrong, I have a Lot of home canned beans. They just dont have the vitamins and nutrients for long health sustainability.
People who are storing two hundred pounds of beans instead of concentrating on other foods would soon be in a bad way.
Leather-Truck-396@reddit
You can cold soak and short term store beans till they are ready to be cooked.
Derfel60@reddit
Beans are a good source of protein that lasts without using electricity. I dont know if youve ever left meat at room temperature for years at a time, but i wouldnt recommend eating it after.
Water isnt a problem, it falls from the sky every now and then. Fuel isnt either, it literally grows on trees.
ErinRedWolf@reddit
Water isn’t a problem in some places. It’s absolutely a problem in some other places.
Sato77@reddit
If you are in an area where water is that much of a problem, long-term survival isn't going to be feasible during an extended crisis regardless of what you do. So if you want to survive your plans should be around how to exit, not finding which things can prolong your dire water situation the longest.
ErinRedWolf@reddit
Some crises are more middle-term than long-term. For example, in my area, a large earthquake is not totally unexpected. Our home is built to withstand it, but some surrounding infrastructure would likely be damaged, and first responders would be overwhelmed. So we have enough water and other supplies stored to last us at least several days. That gives us time to assess, for roads to be cleared, infrastructure repaired etc. so that we can get somewhere else eventually if necessary and not suffer too much or rely on handouts in the meantime.
tweetysvoice@reddit
I love the way you phrased this!
New_Internet_3350@reddit
I don’t prep for only doomsday. I prep for when the price of food is too high. Those beans will help an awful lot in those cases.
Also, if you really want to survive a big shtf scenario you will need a steady water source as well as something to heat water with. People don’t often think about how much fuel we would need to keep ourselves going in those situations. My plan is to always have a years supply of wood to heat my home on a wood stove. I can use that wood stove to cook with as well.
The actual problem will then be people smelling my food.
Enigma_xplorer@reddit
Your not wrong. Beans are great for their nutritional value, cost, long storage life potential, and limited space and weight. The practicality of cooking dried beans is a logistical problem you need to seriously consider. Like everything in life, it's all about tradeoffs
hypatiaredux@reddit
Use an old-fashioned stove top pressure cooker.
Takes 30 minutes or so.
Or slow cook them the old fashioned way on a woodstove.
dittybopper_05H@reddit
Or build a clay oven, fire it up to temp, and then place the beans inside. Or in a pit.
From the inestimable, ever valuable Townsends YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckELeAo-Lzo
HappyCamperDancer@reddit
Just build a hot box/hay box/Wonder Bag/super insulated space for your dutch oven. Boil 'em for 30 minutes then box them up to cook in their own heat for another hour or so. Uses MUCH less fuel. Yep. Uses water.
IamNana71@reddit
Ha! Reading this reminded me I have a wonder cooker/bag whatever it is called. I completely forgot about it. Now I have to try and remember where I stored it. I haven't seen it in 10 years! 🤣
Also, depending on the situation, you can soak your beams overnight and great reduce cooking time.
Camila_flowers@reddit
ou should always soak your beans overnight, regardless. It reduces the gas in your intestines.
OtisPan@reddit
Yep. I have a nice Coleman thermal cooker, I love that thing.
And for some of us, water isn't a problem. (I'm on the first ranch downstream from a massive icefield haha)
SweetAlyssumm@reddit
I do this now with a WonderBag. Easy and effective.
Better-Lunch670@reddit
I'm guessing the hope is that you have a water source figured out by the time you need to get into your 50 gal drum of beans?
Hellagranny@reddit
I have a lot of various canned beans and when I bought a new grill I got one with a side burner.
sfbiker999@reddit
By the time you need to dip into your long-term beans-and-rice stores, if you haven't figured out a water source and a heat source for cooking, you're not really prepared for long term survival.
AppointedForrest@reddit
Absolutely. I'm a little surprised by some of the other comments here. If a reliable water supply/source isn't a top priority I'm not sure which food supplies you have prepped would really matter. In survival there's a reason water, fire, and shelter are the 3 things you focus on. You can't survive very long without water.
MerelyMortalModeling@reddit
Yes, you soak them in room temp water over night and then either par cool and store in an insulated space or use a solar cooker to cook them over the course of a day.
You can also grind them into paste, most of my bean end up being hummus.
Honestly though even if non of those options existed beans would still be worth it because they are the cornerstone for long term storable complete proteins.
dingleberry_sorbet@reddit
Invest in an instant pot or pressure cooker. They are common in developing nations to save on cooking fuel. I can pressure cook a pot of beans with an inverter and 300ah battery. The 1000watt heating element only cycles on every couple minutes once it builds up to temperature. Been vegetarian and/or impoverished for years eating rice'n'beans / lentils'n'beans for many many meals.
DayManFOTNightMan@reddit
You can cook them over pretty much any heat source, a water isn’t a concern in a lot of places. I can pull water from the creek behind my house, and boil it and/or cook beans over a cook fire, or on the stove.
Stickyv35@reddit
Yum, runoff beans :) my favorite!
DayManFOTNightMan@reddit
lol. It’s actually spring fed, or the pond where it originates is. I’d still boil it, but I spend my entire childhood drinking straight from the stream with no ill effects
ryanmercer@reddit
I prep for Tuesday not doomsday. Tuesday has water.
SituationSad4304@reddit
It’s the cheapest naturally long lasting dry protein. Rice takes more water than beans. Which both take less water than water than oatmeal or any freeze dried food. If you don’t have enough water to cook beans you’re fucked TBH. I usually drink about 3L of water a day. If you’re so low on water you can’t use an additional 3L to cook an entire pound of beans you’re emergency is water, not food
ElectronGuru@reddit
Compared to canned beans, dry beans take up much less space (calories per lb/gallon) and are cheaper/healthier/tastier. I only cook them with pressure cookers, which takes very little energy. And the ‘waste water’ is so useful, it has its own name.
You can argue that in a bug out emergency it’s hard to manage, but cans aren’t particularly portable either. And in the meantime, you’re eating better and can rotate through inventory, eating less processed food.
wunami@reddit
Which is? I've always just called it bean liquid or bean broth...not really anything special that would indicate it being particularly useful.
baardvark@reddit
Aquafaba. Can be whipped into an egg substitute for certain uses.
wunami@reddit
I thought that was specific to chickpeas, but I guess it's all legumes according to wikipedia.
baardvark@reddit
Chickpea liquid has a more neutral flavor so it’s preferred, but I think all bean juice “works”
hamakabi@reddit
they're probably referring to "aquafaba" but that's just latin for bean water
NirvanaSJ@reddit
Just soak overnight and use a stovetop pressure cooker
Soff10@reddit
Having a stash of beans can save lives and hold off starvation for quite a while. Same with beef jerky. It sounds crazy. Soaking beans in water for 24 hours before a short boil is much easier. I eat the ones that are the oldest in my store. I have quite a few pounds that are vacuum packed and 30 years old. It’s amazing they taste brand new and fresh.
infinitum3d@reddit
The fats in commercial jerky go rancid.
But if you’re dehydrating your own meat, it might last longer.
Report_Last@reddit
they are very stable if stored properly, have very complete protein, and if you don't have enough water and a fire to cook them you are screwed anyway
infinitum3d@reddit
Only soybeans are a complete protein.
Any other legumes need a grain to complete the protein.
Soy is a complete protein bean.
Quinoa is a complete protein grain.
Pistachios are a complete protein nut.
Otherwise it’s legumes/grain combos.
Good luck!
Standard-Recipe-7641@reddit
I think is you're worried about how much water they will use, you need to revisit your long term solution for water imo.
infinitum3d@reddit
My first thought also.
If you don’t have enough water to cook, you’re not really prepared.
meowingtrashcan@reddit
Dried lentils take a lot less time to cook, especially if you soak them for a night
Advendocture@reddit
A lot of the prep can be them soaking initially, boil only at the end. As others have said, solar concentrator ovens can help reduce fuel cost
arielrednyc@reddit
We've taken to having them on hand, BUT we eat a reasonably large amount of beans, so do pressure can the dried beans on a regular basis and just roll through a larger stock (and will be adding onto it a little at a time). It's nice to be able to regulate what type and how much salt and/or seasonings in each.
It is so convenient to have canned beans on hand, but we'll always have a lot of dried too for the occasional pots of beans and to have as seeds. Like someone said, by the time you need them, you should have your alternate water supply figured out.
UsernamesNotFound404@reddit
Grind them and cook like grits.
ThisIsAbuse@reddit
We stock pre-cooked and freeze dried beans and rice in our supplies just add hot or even warm water.
karl4319@reddit
Water should be your first priority. You need an reliable source of surplus water that is independent of the municipality. Ideally, you have a homestead that does rain capture and has it's own wells. If not, then being able to modify your own place so it can capture rain (what I did) or hopefully live near a creek or river. All I did was attach a rain barrel to my gutter system so I can save on watering my garden, but it gives me a hundred gallons of emergency water and a means to collect more. That still means I need to purifier the water before I can drink it or use kt for cooking, but a charcoal filter and an ozone maker can do that for almost no power or cost.
And why are you using gas? Propane is the expensive, dangerous to store in quantity, and requires an extensive logistics network to resupply. A couple of solar panels, a battery bank, and a portable induction cooktop is a much better choice since you can use electricity for a lot more than gas.
As for beans, use a pressure cooker. Dramatically reduces time to cook, energy needed, and the amount of water used.
As for why beans: they are stupid easy to grow, a lot of varieties can be eaten as snap beans as the grow giving you food quicker, shelling beans are amoung the easiest things to store, and the plant fixes nitrogen which is a vital thing if supplies of fertilizer runs low. Best part is that each bean is a seed that can grow 6 to 10 pounds of food. Add to this the nutritional value of beans, and you got a great long term survival food.
TheGanzor@reddit
Ideally between local flowing water and rain, water would be a non-issue for a sufficiently prepped person.
Queasy_Holiday_4170@reddit
Beans are my long term plan. For things going to pot for days/weeks/ I have more convenient options. But I also have about 300 gallons of water on hand and a major river maybe 5 minutes away on foot with a large filtration setup, as well as a standalone rainwater catchment system I can deploy that will get me 4k gallons a year.
TexFarmer@reddit
Easy to cook, tastes good, very filling, low cost, long storage life, and, in the right combination, will provide all 21 necessary amino acids, what's not to like? Beans & Rice stores forever and can feed an army for pennies; it is no wonder it is the go-to combo for budget prepping.
Usagi_Shinobi@reddit
That you think food is easier to get than fuel and water says you have a fundamental misunderstanding of reality. In any extended catastrophic event lasting more than a few days, food becomes first difficult, then impossible, to get in any sort of timely fashion. We spent the better part of the last twenty thousand years developing agricultural science and technology precisely because food is so many orders of magnitude more difficult than making fire and getting water. This is why, in any large scale TEOTWAWKI scenario, 90-99% of the human population will die.
Firm_Pie_9149@reddit
Rinse in creek water soak, use the same water in a pot with a tight fitting lid. You're going to need to get water to survive either way. Lol.
Spiley_spile@reddit
Just uh, dont soak them during a toxic algea bloom. 👀😭
Spiley_spile@reddit
You are missing info. And, your curiosity serves you well.
Not all beans require soaking. I dont buy beans I have to soak. It helps that I dont cook them in a slow cooker. So, that expands my options. (It is dangerous to cook some beans in a slow cooker, without soaking them first. This is because of a toxin that slow cookers dont tend to reach a high enough temperature to denature.)
Because I dont cook beans that require soaking, any water used to cook the beans helps hydrate me when I eat the beans.
Beans are very inexpensive in many places and take up very little space for as much food as they provide. (I just bought a 25lb bag of pinto beans for $18. That about 125 servings of beans for under $20.)
Combine beans with rice, and we get what's called "a complete protein". That is, all of the 9 essential amino acids necessary for health, that our body cant create on its own.
resident1fan2022@reddit
Rain water can be collected indefinitely for cooking, and a fire pit will provide a heat source as long as you feed it wood.
Beagle001@reddit
Solar oven. If I don’t have enough water to cook beans, I’m done.
D1rtyH1ppy@reddit
If we are living out our end time fantasies on here, we are going to be burning a lot of wood for heating and cooking. A little bit of extra time over the fire pit won't be too big of a deal for some beans. They will go well with the neverending stew that we will be eating.
Incendiaryag@reddit
Not everything is preparing for grid down, there’s supply chain issues, pandemic, personal economic disaster and so many more situations where you might have power but still are food insecure without a robust emergency stash. Anyone at any economic level can start stashing beans. You can also get beans for sprouting which is great if you access to vegetables gets scarce.
OtherwiseAlbatross14@reddit
This is why I prefer canned for most things but if you're thinking real long term cutting down some trees to boil some water from the creek with beans in it is not outside the realm of possibility
Antique_Onion_9474@reddit
I dont like beans that much to go through all that trouble. They also go hard after a while. I rather stock quinoa, bulgar wheat and cous cous. Those cook super fast
National-Practice705@reddit
solar oven does the trick
Torch99999@reddit
I keep thinking I should build one of those.
Do you have a specific design you've used before for beans?
National-Practice705@reddit
SolCook All Season Solar Cooker - Camping Cookware, Fruit & Food Dehydrator, Camp Stove, Fruit Canning Supplies, Camping Gear, Survival Gear, Emergency Supplies, (17) Camper https://a.co/d/0ilUpHrI
Torch99999@reddit
Thank you.
I actually tried to order something similar (maybe even that exact one...I don't recall) off Amazon years ago. Never received it, they just cancelled the order after a month.
Sounds like I should try ordering again.
Big_Satisfaction_876@reddit
Agreed, I kinda have the same issue with rice. One thing is to focus more on smaller beans/legumes that cook faster. Red lentils are super versatile and cook up fast. Yellow and green split peas, brown, green and beluga lentils are much less resource consuming than like chickpeas and the like
digit527@reddit
Cold soak overnight. Drink the foamy bean water. No loss and way less cook time.
FasHi0n_Zeal0t@reddit
If you cook in a pressure cooker and do natural release, most of the water is retained in the beans and the surrounding fluid and that broth is hella nutrient dense.
U-47@reddit
I hear you don't need to boil em long if you soak em long
ErinRedWolf@reddit
It still requires a lot of water.
PrepperBoi@reddit
I mean, the water you use to boil them isn’t a 100% net loss. That still counts as fluids going into you.
Mysterious_Cow_2100@reddit
Lentils > beans for time, water, and fuel efficiency. RIP my digestive system tho. D:
ToothSufficient7763@reddit
I'm currently utilizing 5 year old beans. They are meh, but edible. I soak them for about 18 hours and then cook in a crock pot.
vampiremessiah51@reddit
Stick them in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes.
Scrub_Jae@reddit
They are great as seeds for next season’s harvest too, so I make sure to store a variety of species and test out all the varieties so I know what can produce in my climate. I’ve been buying stock from Rancho Gordo, and they that process, I’ve found a handful that grow well in my garden and produce enough for meals and next year’s crop.
Beans are protein, fiber, nutrition. Sure, you need water to prepare them, but if you don’t have enough water to make a pot of beans, you’re already in dire straits.
The1Zenith@reddit
Soak overnight or pressure cook. Dry beans keep practically forever with proper storage.
YankeeDog2525@reddit
Overnight soak.
MacaroonUpstairs7232@reddit
Because they are also seeds to grow more of your own.
takeitfromthemilkman@reddit
Bean sprouts all the way, but also requires water.
mistergrumpalump@reddit
Good point. Try lentils especially the red ones. Very fast cooking.
grislyfind@reddit
A crock pot could work directly from solar, with no battery or inverter. Don't use the thermostat, though; it would arc nicely with a DC supply.
baardvark@reddit
How do you not use the thermostat?
grislyfind@reddit
Turn it up to maximum or short the wires together. Monitor the temperature with a thermometer, disconnect the panels, or add an incandescent bulb in series to limit the current. Or there might be a suitable electronic temperature controller that'll switch a solid state relay. It's not something you should mess with unless you're knowledgeable about electricity; DC at line voltage levels from solar panels is much more dangerous than a wall socket.
emilymh2018@reddit
You do need a lot of water for dried beans. Lentils are somewhat easier. Plus certain dried beans have tannins, which they can make you sick if not properly cooked.
8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit
Lentils are significantly easier. Takes 10-15 minutes of boiling (or even near-boiling) and they are ready to eat. Once I figured that out, I swapped out a good portion of my bean stockpile to lentils.
emilymh2018@reddit
Also split peas if you can get them. Make vegan split pea soup. Like, split peas with maybe some onions if you can get them, maybe some carrots. They basically cook like lentils but also have protein.
ErinRedWolf@reddit
Lentils have protein as well.
8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit
Yes! Split peas are awesome.
suzaii@reddit
1000% to lentils. One could feed the family in less than 30 minutes, or wait at least 6 hours for beans. 😂 Lol
8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit
Yeah, if you want to eat beans today, you need to have started cooking them yesterday.
eastvanqueer@reddit
Lentils have a lot more available surface area so they cook so much faster. I’ve made a mush of them by accidentally over cooking them. If you pre-soak them, even better.
Dmau27@reddit
You can filter and boil water though. Even if not you can cook them in minimal water. They'll absorb it but you'll ultimately be intaking the water anyhow.
JuniperJupiter4@reddit
I live in Michigan. Water and wood is kind of our thing.
tragicxharmony@reddit
If by water you mean the residential roads flooding multiple times this year already 😭 I’m in a weird part of town where the nearest water source actively makes the air smell funny when you drive by it, and there aren’t many others that don’t require driving. But the second it starts raining, suddenly we’ve got lakefront property 😂 I’m just thankful the basement stays dry
JuniperJupiter4@reddit
Oddly specific, but no.
I live a block from two rivers. One to the south, one to the east. Both are upriver of the closest major city.
tragicxharmony@reddit
Man, that would be ideal. I live a block from two major roads, by the Detroit city line. We already don’t trust the tap water, so I’ve got a decent stockpile of water and water filtering/purifying options instead
JAFO-@reddit
Pressure cooker. Dry to cooked beans in a half hour.
stream_inspector@reddit
Some of us have an easy source of reasonably clean water (river or lake) that only requires a bucket and leg power. Add a wooded lot for cooking fires and beans become simple. Build a fire and just keep it smoldering much of the day with a lot of soup beans simmering. Occasionally add a squirrel or rice, etc and everyone eats throughout the day.
baardvark@reddit
Assuming the water isn’t contaminated by heavy metals or something, does cooking beans reasonably purify the water they’re cooked in?
stream_inspector@reddit
Probably. With salt in the water it will boil at higher temp. Should be good re: bacteria and such. If nasty that day, I'd filter it first. Or could drop in a tablet for 30 minutes first.
HappyCamperDancer@reddit
Just build a hot box/hay box/Wonder Bag/super insulated space for your dutch oven. Boil 'em for 30 minutes then box them up to cook in their own heat for another hour or so. Uses MUCH less fuel.
stream_inspector@reddit
Fuel not much of an issue for me. I'm thinking the fire is going so I can cook the beans \soup, make coffee, boil water for drinking, heat water for clothes or dish washing, etc. plenty of uses for heat throughout the day if it's my main source of power \heat \clean water.
KTeacherWhat@reddit
I have an old school pressure cooker. Great way to cook beans (skip kidney beans because they can be risky) without loosing water.
Virtual-Chocolate385@reddit
What's risky about kidney beans?
ladymorgahnna@reddit
https://eatingmeals.com/are-kidney-beans-poisonous-if-not-soaked/
KTeacherWhat@reddit
They need to be cooked a specific way to make them non-toxic to humans, and I don't trust myself to do that perfectly in an emergency.
ronniebell@reddit
If you’re cooking in pressure cooker, kidney beans would be perfectly fine. They need to be boiled for 10 minutes and getting your pressure cooker up to pressure would easily take care of that.
Virtual-Chocolate385@reddit
Huh, learn something new every day. I had no idea
los-gokillas@reddit
Worth mentioning that dried beans double as seed for planting. If things go that route
RunAcceptableMTN@reddit
Yes, and you can sprout them for vitamin c.
baardvark@reddit
I always forget about sprouting.
PetrockX@reddit
Feel like you're missing the benefits. You can soak them in water overnight and it cooks much faster. Good source of protein, cheap, stores easy, and one bag can last many meals.
Traditional-Leader54@reddit
You soak them overnight and then you only need to boil them for 30 minutes or so.
Yea it uses more water and energy than other things but that’s the trade off you get for a dried food that’s shelf stable (with O2 absorbers etc) for 25 years and is also a good source of protein when paired with rice. Beans also have the benefit that you can plant them and the grow easily and quickly.
Senior_Ad_7598@reddit
Soak dried beans overnight in a bowl of cold water. They will be ready to cook with after this.
Ryan_e3p@reddit
I can store a LOT less canned beans than I can dried beans. Not just due to mass, but weight.
lr99999@reddit
The liquid in the canned beans (both inside the can and inside the bean) goes to the positive side of the algorithm. The lack of liquid in the dry beans is just the opposite. A modern can is very light. The rest is stored water.
A can of beans with no tomato sauce is good for for 10 years. A pinto bean skin is pretty garbage by then. Correct storage is a big deal for these.
Squint-Eastwood_98@reddit
pre-soaking helps a lot, and pressure cooking any dried grain or beans is way, way more energy efficient than regular boiling, both in terms of energy input and water required.
Lasshandra2@reddit
You soak them overnight. That’s after picking through for any non-bean material in amongst the dried beans.
To enhance digestibility, drain then freeze the soaked beans.
The water you’ll need to cook them (use a crockpot or covered heavy casserole dish on your stove or in your oven) is not excessive.
Free_Broccoli_1174@reddit
Soak em overnight.
02meepmeep@reddit
I think humans have been storing beans for at least 9000 years.
Ra_a_@reddit
What’s the point
To have food storage
Aggravating_Act0417@reddit
Eating cold, wet beans is better than eating your neighbor.
theBigDaddio@reddit
Man your forefathers lived on dried beans.
CaptWyvyrn@reddit
If you soak them before you cook them, it really shortens the cooking time, using less fuel.
carbonpenguin@reddit
An instant pot is an incredibly energy efficient way to prepare them if you have a solar battery.
7o7A1@reddit
soak overnight then use a pressure cooker
codewolf@reddit
Wood and water....
Eredani@reddit
Pros and cons to everything.
If you can't or won't stock water and fuel for beans (and rice) then don't store them. If you can't or won't have the time or bandwidth to prepare them don't store them. If you don't have the knowledge or cooking skills don't store them.
Many alternatives are shelf stable, ready to eat and require no preparation. Canned goods being the most obvious.
However, in terms of cost, calories, nutrients and longevity, rice and beans are the king and queen of long term food storage.
firstrevolutionary@reddit
I soak my beans overnight, then just place a big pot in the morning on the stove with a pork shoulder, brown sugar, and a few tablespoons of garam masala. Done by noon.
Burning wood to heat anyway. So its only a winter thing. Could do crock pot too.
daringnovelist@reddit
Yeah, assuming short term crisis (like a storm), canned is better, but if you’re assuming a long term doomsday scenario, you’re going to have to resolve any water and cooking issues anyway.
One option to blend the advantages of both cooked and dried beans is to add some freeze dried cooked beans to your stash. You would still need uncooked dried for sustainable food supply, because if they were well stored you can plant them.
fearless1025@reddit
You can also plant and grow them. ✌🏽
onedelta89@reddit
Wood fueled cooking for thousands of years before gas was discovered. You will need water supply more than anything else. All dry goods will need water to prepare meals.
wild-wiesel@reddit
Just stock up on canned beans, get yourself a can opener, and a spoon.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Straight from the can into the man
trichar54@reddit
And then back to the can
OppositeAbroad5975@reddit
The beans go from the can to the man, and hours later, the man heads off to the can.
trichar54@reddit
That’s what I was referring to 😁
OppositeAbroad5975@reddit
Great minds think alike.
BerylliumBug@reddit
I try to store food for a range of situations. Dried beans are useful for some situations, but less useful for others.
I try to make sure that I have about 2-4 weeks of no-prep or very low-prep food stored for acute emergency use. (Like, what if we had to live out of our car for a few weeks, with only a little fuel available.) This means food that we could eat without cooking, or maybe just a few minutes of heating or boiling water. So canned foods, crackers, peanut butter, dried fruit, etc. Maybe some emergency freeze dried meals. Canned beans are great for this; dried beans or not.
But other situations are possible in which we'd be able to use our camp stove, wood stove, etc to prepare at least simple meals, so I also store things like pasta, rice, flour, and beans, especially quicker-cooking beans like lentils. I also think of situations where we might have food-supply problems even while we still have most of our utilities (something that seemed possible during the covid pandemic), and beans would be fine for that.
WhereDidAllTheSnowGo@reddit
We also advise preparing sufficient water too
Wrt cooking, there are lower energy methods to learn
BallsOutKrunked@reddit
Yeah. I've got two solar cookers, pressure cooker, 500 gallon propane tank, a well, and 10 cords of almond wood.
I think I'm good for cooking beans
GridDown55@reddit
Solar oven and pre-soaking and you're pretty good to go. Obviously doesn't work on cloudy days, etc.
WeinerBarf420@reddit
There aren't a whole lot of foods that last basically forever in storage, much less ones that have extremely high nutritional content and good amounts of protein.
Jdmisra81@reddit
Pressure cooker.
The_Reverend_Dr@reddit
Store water (you'll need it anyway if the SHTF. Find alternate cooking / heating sources (wood, propane....) The water in beans counts towards your total daily water intake.
A generic can of beans is $0.88 for 15 oz (water included) at Walmart today. $1.00 will buy you 1 lb of beans ($0.50 if you buy in bulk)..1 lb (2 cups) of beans plus 9 cups of water = 11 cups of beans (10 cups because of evaporation) 10 cups=5 lbs.
Math: $0.88= less than 1 lb of canned beans/ water Vs. $1.00= 5 lbs. Dried beans/ water. (10 lbs. If you buy beans in bulk)
Canned beans are great. They often have too much salt; to each their own. Dried beans are way tastier when paired with onion, garlic, stewed tomatoes, ham, bacon, bacon bits, maple syrup, jalapeños...
Once you've made dried beans (especially in a pressure cooker - takes half an hour) you'll ONLY go back to canned beans because you just don't have the time.
whiskey_piker@reddit
Yes, the water required for dried beans might make them a less ideal option, but there are ways to include that in your prep plan. Apparently lentils require far or less water and our about the same protein.
SunLillyFairy@reddit
Beans are praised because they are cheap and nutritious. Add some rice and you've got a complete protein. But yes, if you're storing dried beans you need a good water source. You need a good water source with all dried foods, but beans don't only require boiling... if you don't pre-soak and rinse they are a cauldron of GI distress. On that account, lentils are better... but also more expensive.
I think chia seeds are underrated. They have protein, fiber and fat, and no cooking required. You should soak them before eating so they don't swell in your belly/guts, but no heat is required.
Panthean@reddit
If you don't have adequate access to water you have bigger problems than beans.
trichar54@reddit
I live in a forest and have a spring. And lots of beans! 😁
HotIntroduction8049@reddit
Beans are boring! Dont forget about chick peas and lentils. We should be eating more of all of these anyways. Get into Indian cooking to appreciate how delicious they can be. Instantpot is my friend but a std pressure cooker will work too in a power down scenario.
JRHLowdown3@reddit
Lentils is what you want to store.
Store better than pintos which get rock hard after 7-10 years and unusable. Lentils have a higher protein, cook up quicker and do not require pre-soaking.
If you don't have water you won't be eating, most LTS are going to require water to prepare...
SithLordRising@reddit
Buy an instant pot duo and your life will be amazing
VansAndFaygo@reddit
I highly recommend having a pressure pot. It significantly cuts down the time and fuel needed to cook a pot of beans.
pbmadman@reddit
Get a mill and grind them into a flour. They cook really fast then. Just eat bean paste.
quietprepper@reddit
As others have said, water isn't that difficult depending on your location. It also doesn't require that much water to cook beans. As a ballpark number the way I cook beans now requires about a gallon of water to rinse, soak and cook a pound of beans if I wanted to conserve it I could do them in a pressure cooker, and not dump the excess soaking water and probably get it down to close to a half gallon. Also, bean cooking water doesn't just have to go to waste, you can use it as a soup base even if youre pulling the beans to use otherwise.
Also, it takes less fuel to cook than most people realize IF youre using efficient burners and the right pans. I have a little portable propane oven/range combo that I use for camping and keep around as a backup for home if there were a natural gas disruption. The oven at full blast (450ish degrees) burns a pound of propane in about 7 hours, the range burners would each go through about a pound in 2 hours at full blast, but holding a bean pot at simmer is again about 7 hours for a pound. That heat might not also just be used for cooking. If youre in a cold climate and heating your home anyway, might as well cook a pot of beans (or make soup/stew etc) and get extra use out of the heat.
Its also fairly easy in many places to gather fuel. If youre cooking outside over a fire, and the firewood is free, fuel costs aren't a concern. Even if i didn't live in a wooded area, and there weren't people on Facebook marketplace constantly giving away wood from trees they had cut in their yards, on a weekly basis I drive by enough commercial buildings giving away untreated pallets that I could cook every meal over them if I bothered to stop and pick them up
BaylisAscaris@reddit
You are correct. I stock canned and dry beans. In an emergency I'm using canned beans first because they don't even need to be heated to be eaten. I keep dried beans mostly because I plant them and eat the greenbeans straight off the vine or in stir fry. It's rare for me to have the patience to cook dried beans. (You also need to soak them overnight first or the zombies will hear you farting./s)
Some types of dried "beans" can be sprouted and eaten without cooking. I store whole chickpeas, lentils, peas. These came in handy during the early pandemic when we were craving fresh food but didn't want to risk the grocery stores.
Jolopy4099@reddit
Could boil water over a fire also pretty easily.
Feral_668@reddit
Prepping food and water is kinda key. Dry beans are easy to transport, a good source of protein, calories and fiber. You get a pot to boil them in and to boil the water, using gathered wood and you don't need gas. Add rice and some multivitamins and you can carry one the species.
Fun_Journalist4199@reddit
A thermos cooker and soaking can get beans from dry to fully cooked with about 10 minutes on the stove but will take a good 20 hours to complete
Unfair_Newspaper_877@reddit
If you can soak beans, they take way less energy to cook after soaking for as long as 72 hours... but must be cooked and consumed shortly thereafter
livestrong2109@reddit
Micro Solar + Small Convection burner. Game changer for camping as well.
You should also definitely have a system for harvesting and sanitizing water.