Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Those beans will definitely not expire, they're dried. They might have a sell-by date, but they're not going bad.
I cook a 15-bean blend in the crock pot, which negates the need for soaking them. I usually do some variation on the basic package recipe, adding ham hocks. Onion, garlic, celery, chopped tomato, broth, seasoning to suit my mood, stew it in the crock pot all day, and bake some crusty bread. Perfect for cold winter days.
I cook a 15-bean blend in the crock pot, which negates the need for soaking them.
Soaking dried beans isn't just to soften them, it's to reduce the intestinal gas they can produce.
Dried beans contain a hard to digest sugar called Raffinose, which is a primary source of intestinal gas as it ferments in the intestines. Soaking dried beans dissolves the raffinose, then discarding the soak water and rinsing the beans before cooking greatly reduces the raffinose content, and allows the finished soup or beans to be much... ummm... quieter.
Once I cooked the soup to where there weren't any undercooked beans many of them had dissolved into the soup. It tasted good and the dissolved beans added thickness, but it just wasn't what I was hoping to create.
Yeah, that's the way it spoze to be... the quickest cooking beans and lentils and peas dissolve, creating luscious thickness around the heartier beans which enjoy more tooth appeal. That's why it is a 15-bean soup, rather than a 11-bean soup, or whatever.
Matter of fact, I push it further, using my trusty old Braun stick blender to pulverize about half the beans once the pot is ready, producing a satisfyingly thick, rich soup with complexity of texture sustained by the whole beans which remain.
Thanks for all of the great replies with lots of information!
The grocery store didn't have ham hocks. I told the butcher what I was trying to do as I was holding a smoked ham bone. He said it wouldn't give me enough flavor. He pointed me in the direction of big chunks of ham that have the bone cut right through them. These weren't the type of hams you bake for holidays. They're like waste parts with lots of fat, bone and meat. I'm hoping this will work.
I also picked up some ground sausage. I didn't know if ground would work for this meal. I can use it for a different meal if regular sausage is what's needed. It would be great if someone could give me input on this point.
I bought lots of fresh winter vegies that were on sale. I'm stocked up on everything else I need.
Soak them overnight in 8 cups of water. Tomorrow at about noon, throw in a chopped onion, a hunk of ham, or a pound of smoked sausage, and any other veggies you might have around, like carrots or a can of diced tomatoes or some peppers, etc.. Bring to a boil and simmer until the beans are tender (about 2-3 hours). Add salt and pepper if you want. Turn off the heat and let it rest a half hour or so. Make some corn bread or biscuits and there you go.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I told the butcher what I was trying to do as I was holding a smoked ham bone. He said it wouldn't give me enough flavor. He pointed me in the direction of big chunks of ham that have the bone cut right through them. These weren't the type of hams you bake for holidays. They're like waste parts with lots of fat, bone and meat. I'm hoping this will work. 
