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| I understand that rinsing canned beans in cold water removes a lot of the sodium content. Does anyone have an idea of approximately how much this removes? 75%? 50%? 10%? I'm very curious to know.
Thanks! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Whenever I see or hear the words canned beans in sodim or canned beans in water, I cringe. First of all the kind of sodium they use is not healthy sodium. Unless of course you are buying from the health food store and they list what kind of sodium is used. I prefer to use sea salt over plain ole' morton table salt. Why not soak and prepare your own beans..it doesn't really take that long. It's really more about planning than anything. Besides, they make great decorating containers in your kitchen. I have mine all lined up in glass jars. Black beans look so cool in a glass jar.
As for rinsing, I haven't heard that in a long time, but it seems that there was some controversy over how much was being rinsed off and how much actually stayed. I would venture to say 30% rinses off and the rest stays. Also, think about it this way. Have you ever brined any meat before? When you brine a roast or turkey you marinate it practically in salt, I use rock sea salt when brining. Now, imagine how beans would sit in a can for God know's how long, all that salt is absorbed in the beans - just like the brining process. The deal is done and rinsing is not going to help that much. Anyway, I'm not one of those people who believes that salt is bad for you. I believe too much of the wrong kinds of salt is bad for you. I guarantee you that if you were to use the celtic sea salt with minerals in it like I do - moderately, (yes its expensive, but it last a long time) you would notice such a big difference in your health and at the same time you would reap the benefits of eating *true* sea salt, not the kind that they bleach and add iodine to. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
  
| I don't know about the sodium but my DD the foodie firmly believes in rinsing for flavour and texture reasons. I dunno. I like to chuck it all straight into the pot. |
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| I rinse for texture and flavor in my personal diet too, but since I will regularly be preparing food for my mom soon, I'd just like to know how much sodium to factor in for the dishes that include beans. She's on a restricted-sodium diet.
I have some coworkers with a good amount of nutritional training, I can ask them. I was just curious whether anyone on here happened to know. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Jean - I bet you can find some reduced sodium beans. It is getting more common even in the mainstream stores now to find those sorts of options. |
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| True - the organic ones (i.e. Eden) have a lot less sodium to begin with and they are getting easier to find. But, I like beans a LOT and $2/can is not going to work for long! I hope that the regular "house brands" like Spartan and Sam's Choice will start coming out with no-salt-added soon. They did with tomatoes!  |
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| trader joes has organic beans that are low or no sodium. they're less expensive than other brands. they use sea salt.
for the most part, i sprout mine, so it's a different process than simple soaking. but, i've enjoyed working with lentils, which you don't have to soak because of their size. they're great actually.
when i do use canned beans (and i have a few around for when i haven't soaked anything and my sprouts aren't ready and i just want something bean-y), i always rinse them. you can also soak them for a few minutes (4 or five) and change the water every 2 minutes or so. this will reduce the sodium further. I generally only rinse twice in a fine collander and then use the beans from there. When i'm cooking with canned beans, i do not add any more sodium to the pot.
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| I love Trader Joes! Unfortunately the closest one is a 2.5 hour drive, so my stock-up field trips are rare. After I move, the closest one will be only a 1 hour drive, and my mom will want to come with me so the field trips should become much more regular! Believe it or not, the item she's most excited about is their cheap DOG FOOD! 
I hate to disappoint y'all, but there's just no way that I'm sprouting or preserving my own. I'll soak the dried ones if I absolutely have to, but I'll probaby wind up eating a lot less beans if that's the case. And that would be so tragic, because I do love my beans!
I'll keep hunting for some resource that could tell me the approximate milligrams of sodium the canned ones might have after a good thorough rinsing. In case anybody knows of a place I can look, I'll keep checking back here. Thanks! |
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| it takes practice to sprout beans--i still don't have a total hand on it, but i do enjoy doing it. And sometimes, the rabbit gets to them before i do. He says "hmm, little green shoots. And tasty too!" it only takes two days, but he's got a good nose and often gets them the nite before they're ready. but he's such a good rabbit, so i don't punish him. Besides, it's like Gopala. He steals the butter, but it all belongs to him anyway.
Using dried beans just takes a little planning. I'm not so good at this. We're transitioning our kitchen again, more fresh veggies, less frozen (as it's coming out of winter rather early), and we've moved ryan into more organic meats (more variety), but i'm in charge of cooking them--meat loaf, pot roast, turkey and chicken (baked, roasted, boiled into soups sometimes). most of them take two or more hours, so i do it while i'm at home in the afternoons working on other stuff, or in the evenints while he's working. So, soaking my beans has taken a back seat to figuring out when i need to cook what so that he has enough to eat the next day.
So, i haven't been eating a lot of beans lately, sadly, unless i break out one of those cans of beans. i only have three on the shelf. But, i have been using dried lentils. They're so crazy easy to use, and they come in a nice variety. right now, as the turkey is roasting away in herbs du provecal and butter, i have a nice pot on the boil with veggie broth, leeks, celery, parsnip, carrot, onion (yellow sweet), french green lentils (dried), and hulled millet. It only takes about 35-45 minutes to make--and it's mostly quick chop, toss in the pot, and boil away for that long. you can definately walk away from it. Very easy way to make beans. I used red lentils with curry, potatos, garlic, bay leaf, veggie broth of course, onion, and broccoli in the last one (adding the broccoli late).
But, i see no real wrong in using canned beans. i think that rinsing is important, and low sodium is helpful. if it's what you can afford (money and time), then why not? |
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| Man, that sounds delicious! What time is dinner, and what should I wear?
Right now I'm barely able to cook anything - I'm gone for 11 hrs/day so by the time I get home from work, I'm STARVING and ready to eat whatever can be ready in 10 minutes or less. And, since I'm living alone now, it hardly seems worth the effort to mess up a bunch of pots and dishes, especially since I'm the only one around to clean them (no dishwasher either)!
But, I hope to move sometime in April and then presumably, things will get better. For starters, the next house has a dishwasher! And, even though my husband has to leave me for months at a time, my parents will be right next door and it's really fun to cook for them. Except for my mom's pesky low-sodium diet, which is what prompted me to ask about the beans in the first place. Maybe by then, I'll have more time/gumption to deal with other beaning methods!
Another thing that will be nice is that I'll be surrounded by little family farms, many of which set out a picnic table and whatever excess vegetables they've grown. Just leave a few bucks in the shoebox! Plus my dad will be growing chickens in the barn, which is a little bit depressing but a whole lot of delicious. There is also a lot of room to grow vegetables on our own acreage, but I'm not well known for my green thumb so we'll see. I can cook a mean dinner when I have the time, but I'm sort of hopeless when it comes to coaxing little green things out of the earth.
Sigh . . . . things will get better soon . . . .  |
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canned beans and sodium
