I am enough of a skeptic that a USDA statement of “is recommended” without stating why or even if they recommend it or they are merely stating that others do, fails to meet any standard of evidence.
A claim by Better Home and Gardens that this is what their test kitchen does completely lacks authority. Canned goods (with some exceptions that do not include beans) have liners that prevent interaction with the food. There is no interaction between the metal and the food.
Source for the lack of significant difference in sodium between drained alone and drained plus rinsed has been provided by @Ruken.
Meanwhile there is the very simple fact: for almost all dishes I make with beans I still end up adding salt before I am done. And I prefer food on the less salty side. Yes drained canned beans used require less salt added than having used dried beans. Canned beans have lots of salt added. Most of it, like oligosaccharides, is in the beans. If you want low salt you are much better off taking the time to use dried beans, or save time and money with an Instant Pot.
Anyway. The OP was specifically about the flatulence aspect. @crowmanyclouds answered that with original source citation early on.
I cited BHG because of the explanation, which the USDA cite didn’t provide. You’re entitled to your opinion, but it’s just an opinion, as my preference for rinsing canned beans is just mine. Ruken’s cite is very interesting and should be weighed in. At least it’s evidence-based.
I appreciate the research but the question wasn’t, “Will rinsing my beans make them taste better?” It was “Will rinsing beans keep me from getting gas?”
Of course. It seemed to me others had already established that point. I thought it would be relevant that while rinsing doesn’t do much to prevent gas, rinsing canned beans reportedly has other benefits. That, of course, is not what you asked for, but I thought it was still relevant. Turns out you don’t think so. I found all the posts on this thread interesting and informative. Thanks for starting it.
The first cited abstract, however, while raising intriguing possibilities leaves us hanging. Was the hinted-at “significant” reduction in putative gas-producing oligosaccharides by soaking, enough to measurably reduce flatulence in the test subjects, i.e. recently weaned male Wistar rats? If, so, how was this measured? Via detection of methane in an enclosed chamber? Or was a grad student detailed to sit near the rat cages with a notebook, counting tiny rodent farts? Would soaking beans have the same impact on adult rats’ gaseous output? Female rats? “More research is needed.” And why use rats? There are plenty of churches and other organizations in rural America that still hold beansuppers, and attendees would probably be delighted to make a contribution to the literature.
The second abstract suggests that a truly measurable effect requires cooking the beans, preferably in a relatively large volume of water. But if that’s all that’s needed, surely word would have gotten out long ago and share prices in the Beano Corporation would have plummeted.
Given the lack of definitive evidence, I must stand with skeptics who doubt that a simple bean rinse before cooking would make a significant difference.
*bonus points for not linking to the classic “Blazing Saddles” scene.
I’m still baffled how rinsing dried beans could reduce flatulence, let alone canned beans.
Of course I rinse dried beans to clean them. And I rinse canned beans because I think the bean water is slimy and unappealing. But there are plenty of canned bean preparations where you’re supposed to eat the sauce it’s canned in, such as tomato sauces, chili, etc.
I soak beans and toss the water. The water doesn’t seem to be all that rich in starches but it starts to soften them and reduces cooking time.
Split peas don’t need soaking but a lot of starch comes out and if you soak them for too long and discard the water your soup may not thicken well because so much starch has been removed.
I kinda agree unless you are rinsing dried beans after cooking them. Canned beans have already been cooked so one might guess (not assume) that some of the gas-causing oligosaccharides have leached out of the beans into the liquid.
That makes some sense to me, because I know when I add baking soda, the reaction is immediate, and I don’t have any problems with the beans after consuming them. However, if I skip the baking soda step, I’d best not have big meeting plans for the following morning.
{…} “The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly. Beans cooked with a tiny amount of baking soda (about one teaspoon per cup of dry beans) added to the cooking water cook in about half the time as beans cooked without,” Guy Crosby, Ph.D., of America’s Test Kitchen told The Bean Institute. {…}
but not that,
{…} according to a study from 1986, adding a little baking soda to the water while soaking dried beans decreased the raffinose family of oligosaccharides-aka the gas-causing stuff-found in the cooked beans. {…}
I knew it worked for gas but couldn’t remember why. I’m old enough to have read the study and forgotten about it. That’s my excuse anyway. Thanks for finding it @crowmanyclouds
That means I should clarify that I add baking soda to dried, then rinse, beans after soaking and while cooking them. I strongly dislike the texture of canned beans so I always cook from dry.
I have not considered what adding baking soda to the mix while pressure-cooking them might do. The question makes me afraid of BOOM.
