Storing Beans

Fresh Beans:

Fresh beans are highly perishable.  They need to be stored in a cold moist eviroment to prevent them from wilting or drying out.  The easiest thing to do is to store your beans in the refrigerator crisper in a plastic container or a perforated plastic bag.

Fresh beans can generally be kept for 8 to 12 days.

Tips:

• Don’t trim the beans before storing.
• Don’t wash beans before storing
• Before using the green beans, wash them under running water. Trim the ends of the beans by snapping them off or cutting them with a knife.

Dry Beans:

Dry beans such as kidney beans, navy beans, and pinto beans are very easy to store, and can be kept for years.

Dried beans should be stored in dry, dark, cool locations.  Glass jars are great for storing beans.  Ideally, they should be kept off the floor and out of reach of rodents or other pests.

Exposure to oxygen can cause the beans to turn rancid.  To prevent this, remove all of the air if you are storing beans in plastic bags.  If you are using glass or plastic jars, you can buy oxygen absorbing packets to place in each jar.