So I made like 3 gallons of chili a while back. I had 2 half gallon jars of beans I was rehydrating for said chili. Let them soak for a day but also added salt to the water. Well by next morning they were fermenting HARD. Like foaming out the top of the jars and bubbling like a soda. So I just let them go on my counter for a few days and then made chili out of them. Was delicious. Not sure if the fermentation did anything to the flavor of the beans but I had zero gas from them.
So anyway I decided to make more chili again. I decided to ferment 3 half gallons this time, black beans, kidney, and red. So I got them all fermenting I can can now officially say the max number of fermenting beans you should have goin in one room is two half gallons. Cause god lord do these make a smell. It’s distinct. Like you know it’s from beans. It’s like, you know how when you have a been fart you can tell it’s a bean fart. Like you just can tell by some off note “yeah that’s from those beans”? Well it’s like that but without the rest of the fart. Just the beans part.
Here’s where the science experiment comes in. I have them all with air lock bubblers. The smell has attracted gnats to the jars and they fly down into the bubblers and get trapped in the liquid I used which is a suuuper salty brine. The distribution of gnats however, is not even. It seems the black beans have attracted no gnats, the red beans 1 gnat, and the kidney beans 7 gnats. So, I can surmise that, kidney beans cause the stinkiest farts of the 3 types.
You’re welcome.
What kind of equipment do you use to ferment beans safely?
A half gallon jar with an air lock, salt, water, beans
How difficult is it to ferment without it becoming inedible? Also, do you ferment them before or after cooking?
It’s pretty easy to ferment any vegetable comrade. Just take the total weight of the vegetables pluss water, then add between 2-3% of that weight in salt. You don’t even need air tight just cover with a cloth. Just keep everything submerged below the water level. That’s the biggest issue. Using an air lock is just extra precaution if you worried about mold. I live in a very humida area where mold grows easily so I never ferment without an airlock.
Beans can be fermented before or after cooking. These are before cooking. They will loose their probiotic effect when I cook them but I do this primarily to make them easier to digest, reduce carb load, and… because I can. If fermenting after cooking you need a starter. I use excess juice from sauerkraut I make.
It’s also hard to go “too long” on a ferment. I’ve let kraut go for 3-4 months before I capped it and put it in the fridge. It stops fermenting usually after a month but it stays fairly well preserved in there because of the acid it makes and the salt water.
Very cool – I’ll have to give it a try soon. Have you ever fermented lentils or other non-bean legumes?
First time beans was an accident. This is only my second legume based ferment. Others I have done peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, sauerkraut, and kimchi styled sauerkraut. I also make kombucha and various vinegars including apple, raisin, cranberry, blueberry, and red wine.
An excellent accident