The Step To Consider Before Adding Canned Beans To Dishes

Canned beans are a pantry staple that can quickly boost the protein content of various dishes. They're perfect for effortlessly upgrading a bagged salad, for instance, and are among the most underrated canned foods you could be using. However, there's a key step many people skip when using canned beans: rinsing.

Failure to apply a quick rinse with water is one of the huge mistakes you're probably making with canned beans, but don't be too hard on yourself — plenty of people do the same. However, there are multiple reasons to wash these legumes before using them, including reducing sodium, improving taste and texture, and — that greatest of all bean problems — excess gas.

Luckily, rinsing your canned beans doesn't take much time. The benefits are worth the few extra minutes required to drain out the liquid, wash the beans in a colander, and let the water run off and dry.

Even with a low-sodium product, the canning process packs in extra salt. According to a 2009 study, draining the liquid from beans has been shown to lower sodium content by as much as 36%, and rinsing after you drain takes that number up to 41% (per Bean Institute). Eliminating all that excess cuts down on the amount you're consuming in your overall meal, and it also prevents unintentionally oversalting your dish with those juices.

Depending on what you're making with your beans, retaining the preservation fluid can also add excess moisture that you don't want, as well as viscous properties that may further impair texture. It can additionally imbue your food with that tinny taste so quintessential of canned products, along with other canning liquid flavors you don't want in your dish.

In terms of the aftermath of consuming the musical fruit (you know what we mean), washing away the tinning juices is also known to cut down on oligosaccharides, a type of sugar naturally found in beans that the body struggles to digest, leading to discomfort and flatulence.