I have some kidney beans that I soaked overnight to cook the next day but didn't get a chance and accidentally left them out and it's been fairly hot lately. Some of the beans started to get little sprouts poking out. There's also a little bit of a smell. Is it still safe to cook the batch or have I wasted a bunch of beans?
Cooking kidney beans that just started to sprout a little
beansfood-safety
Related Solutions
The traditional way to make beans is to wash them, soak them overnight, change the water and boil them for a few hours the next day. This obviously takes a long time and you have to plan ahead.
With the miracles of modern science there is a better way.
Using a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of the water and decreases the cooking time dramatically. Some recipes call for as little as 12 minutes of cooking time.
You can get electric pressure cookers that make this process very simple.
Your question "What are the ingredients required" suggest that you may be asking about some particular dish and not just beans? The ingredients in my beans are: beans, onion, and salt.
According to this extensive bean cooking guide from University of Alaska Fairbanks, the secret is to simmer the beans gently. Unfortunately, they have little more to say on the matter.
Kenji Lopez-Alt, in his column on Food Myths at Serious Eats says (emphasis added):
Most of us have been told at some point in our culinary careers that salting beans will cause them to toughen. It's incredible that this little bit of culinary mis-wisdom still lingers, for it couldn't be further from the truth. A simple side-by-side test can prove to you conclusively that salting beans (both the water used to soak them in and the water used to cook them) actually tenderizes the skins.
It's got to do with magnesium and calcium, two ions found in the bean skins that help keep the structure of the beans' skin intact. When you soak the beans in salt water, sodium ions end up replacing some of the magnesium and calcium, effectively softening the skins. Your beans come out creamier, better seasoned, and have a much smaller likelihood of exploding while cooking.
He provides this image of the contrast:
I believe the take away from this is:
- Pre-soak your beans overnight, as your grandmother did using salted water
- Cook them at bare simmer, stirring them minimally, to prevent physical damage to the skins.
The second can easily be achieved by placing the bean pot in a moderate (350 F, 180 C) oven rather than doing it stove top.
Best Answer
This is totally safe to eat as long as you cook them. The taste and the texture would be a little bit different than what you use to though.
Here is an article about the safety of eating sprouted beans.