11 replies to this topic

[MRios]

I have a question that´s been bothering me for the past 2 weeks, when we made some beans at home.
Just to let you know what I´m talking about:
About 5 lbs of beans were pressure cooked for 1 hr, then put in the blender with some of the bean stock in order to have "mushy" beans, and to make it easier on the blender. They were then cooked for another hour in a great big pot so that they would thicken. They were then left to cool off to room temperature (about 20°C) for about 1.5 hrs. When we came back to check on them, they had a horrible smell, like very smelly feet.
Needless to say, we had to throw them out and start over again. The same procedure was followed the second time, very successfully I must say.
This is the process we usually use when we make this type of bean dish, though it´s usually not 5 lbs, but 2 lbs at the most.
Any microbiologist have any idea what kind of microorganism could´ve done this? The wierd part is, when beans start to get nasty (it happens to the best of us, we too forget we have food sitting in the fridge for too long ) they usually have foam on top, but not these.
And now for the question: should I have just stuck them in the fridge to cool down? I don´t have that many small dishes to put 5 lbs of beans in to cool them.

[GMO]

It does suggest something is growing in the larget batch size but I'm surprised it grew so quickly. I'm no microbiologist but normally only spores would survive that and then not many of them. Is there any way you could have overloaded the pressure cooker so it no longer worked?

On cooling quickly, maybe spreading out on trays would speed up the cooling process? Alternatively I'm thinking if you have access to some food safe dry ice that's such a cool way to go (excuse the pun!) Cooled beans and spooky ooky smoke!!!!

[Abdul Qudoos]

I have a question that´s been bothering me for the past 2 weeks, when we made some beans at home.
Just to let you know what I´m talking about:
About 5 lbs of beans were pressure cooked for 1 hr, then put in the blender with some of the bean stock in order to have "mushy" beans, and to make it easier on the blender. They were then cooked for another hour in a great big pot so that they would thicken. They were then left to cool off to room temperature (about 20°C) for about 1.5 hrs. When we came back to check on them, they had a horrible smell, like very smelly feet.
Needless to say, we had to throw them out and start over again. The same procedure was followed the second time, very successfully I must say.
This is the process we usually use when we make this type of bean dish, though it´s usually not 5 lbs, but 2 lbs at the most.
Any microbiologist have any idea what kind of microorganism could´ve done this? The wierd part is, when beans start to get nasty (it happens to the best of us, we too forget we have food sitting in the fridge for too long ) they usually have foam on top, but not these.
And now for the question: should I have just stuck them in the fridge to cool down? I don´t have that many small dishes to put 5 lbs of beans in to cool them.

Despite i am not a microbiologist, but my senses says:
Many factors involved:

• The quantity/size looks little bigger when you cook in pressure cooker (what is the size of pressure cooker- Is there a gap/space in cooker when you fill with beans) before cooking and after cooking because size does matters.
• keeping in mind Bacterial growth 5 - 63 deg celsius (danger zone for growing/multiplication of bacteria)
• Have you maintained the time between cooking and blending, type of blender used, closed blender and blending in hot condition and with moisture activity the raise of bacterial growth possible. many reasons could happen here
• Have a cross-checked all the beans in good condition (no rotten or contaminated)
• At what temperature you have cooked for 1 hour (on slow flame)
• Are you watching these 2 hour cooking process and sure there is no contamination

Hope you have taken care all the above actions, still need to take extra precautions while preparing / making a tricky dish.

The best of luck,

[MRios]

Thank you Abdul.
All suspicious looking beans are removed. Usually we don´t fill up the pressure cooker more than 1/2 full of beans because they absorb lots of water.
I´ve never taken the temperature of the beans. That would be interesting, especially since I live at a high altitude (2,333 m above sea level).

[Charles.C]

Dear MRios,

Very innovative thread. Reads like a "Director's Cut" from Blazing Saddles.

As Abdul commented, rather limited data unfortunately. I half wondered if perhaps some brave person had actually sampled the problem prior to rejection and was now seeking re-assurance.

Specially cheap beans ? The speed of the problem is rather unusual (perhaps luckily for the users), looks more chemical / raw material. Contaminated cooker ? No unmentioned magic additives ?

The history of the bean stock might also be revealing.

My lunch now looks less attractive somehow.

Rgds / Charles.C

added - sorry, forgot the original question ! GMO's distributive ideas looked pretty good to me. That really is a considerable lot of beans.

[Abdul Qudoos]

Thank you Abdul.
All suspicious looking beans are removed. Usually we don´t fill up the pressure cooker more than 1/2 full of beans because they absorb lots of water.
I´ve never taken the temperature of the beans. That would be interesting, especially since I live at a high altitude (2,333 m above sea level).

Interesting!
Thanks Charles for your valuable input,
I am waiting to see the comments from the expert microbiologist, I am eager to know what happened???
Can anyone in the forum to solve this mystery, please welcome!

[Simon]

Interesting!
Thanks Charles for your valuable input,
I am waiting to see the comments from the expert microbiologist, I am eager to know what happened???
Can anyone in the forum to solve this mystery, please welcome!

Can anyone solve the great mexican bean problem?

[Tony-C]

I have a question that´s been bothering me for the past 2 weeks, when we made some beans at home.
Just to let you know what I´m talking about: About 5 lbs of beans were pressure cooked for 1 hr,

Hi There

A few questions:
How you prepare the beans in the first place and what was the source? Were they dried beans that were soaked for 24 hours, if so at what temperature?
Did you apply a weight to pressurise the pressure cooker?
Did you boil the mix afterwards or simmer?

Regards,

Tony

[MRios]

Ahem, Simon! You mean GUATEMALAN beans!
The procedure is:
You hand pick all the good beans from any that look damaged, and take out any stones, sticks, weevils or other contaminants. (Hey! We still don´t have a Sortex anywhere in the country to clean our beans, cereals, etc).
You soak them in cold water for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, at room temperature, which is usually 18°C. If any beans float right away, it means that they were emptied out by weevils, so you take them out.
You put them in a regular pressure cooker (I don´t know what you mean by putting weight on it, Tony), with enough water to cover the beans, salt, garlic, onion, tomato or whatever else you want to season them with. Cook them for 1 hr.
You can eat them like this or you can put them in a blender with some of the bean stock and then cook (simmer) them 1 hr more to make them thicker. This is what was done in this particular case. Then you have to wait for them to reach room temperature so that you can refrigerate them. It´s the way they´ve always been made, and we´ve never had a problem.
We live at 2,333 meters above sea level, so our water boils at around 94°C, still high enough to kill whatever might be in the beans.
And Charles, no one could even get close to the beans, much less try them!!
I´m voting on contamination in the pressure cooker. Maybe the lady that works with me didn´t wash the lid adequately (you have to take it apart).

[Tony-C]

Normally you would have a weight which you put on the exhaust of the lid so it is pressurised during cooking?

[Simon]

Excuse my ignorance Mrios.

[MRios]

Beautiful use of Guatemalan flag colors Simon!!
Tony, she did put the weight on the lid.