Astonishing! Did you know that rinsing canned beans and peas before using them reduces the sodium content by up to 40%!! Rinsing your beans and peas also gives you with fresher tasting beans and peas.
Canned beans or peas are inexpensive, non-perishable and a quick and healthy way to add protein to a meal. Canned beans are often high in sodium and the starchy liquid in the bottom of the can add a slightly strange, muddy taste to the dish you add them to.
I know you’ve seen that weird-looking goo in the bottom of the can. It’s so nasty! To avoid the excess sodium, I always drain and rinse my canned beans and peas under cold running water before adding to my recipe.
I hope next time you use canned beans or peas that you will remember this tip and practice it. You will end up with a much healthier and better-tasting final dish.
K. Quesenberry says
I’ve never heard that suggestion before. But that leads to another question. I fix a batch of pinto beans now and then, which of course begins with soaking them overnight. If you ever fix beans like that, would you change the water before cooking them?
debbeedoodles says
I have always heard to discard the soaked water from beans that have been soaking. I have always done this. I did a some quick research and this is why your discard the water after soaking:
Soaking makes the beans more digestible. It cleans them more thoroughly (since beans cannot be washed before being sold or they can turn moldy). Soaking beans helps them to cook up in about half the time.
So after the beans have soaked for a while, the soaking water now contains these elements that you are trying to eliminate by soaking the beans in the first place.
And this is why the bean water is discarded. So it is best to drain the water and rinse the beans thoroughly before cooking.
Hope this helps!
K. Quesenberry says
Well, I guess that explains it. However, I never have. And when I eat them, I use plenty of salt, but no sodium. Don’t add any pork, though, but I do throw in sliced onions (about halfway through the cooking) and some chili seasoning.