I soaked some great northern soup beans for 48 + hours,I started cooking them and they smell bad,what happened ?
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They may have begun to ferment, hence the somewhat yeasty smell; food safe, they should be okay. Have you tried discarding the liquid from soaking, and replacing with fresh water?– GiorgioCommented Sep 14, 2016 at 20:22
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2 Answers
It is normal for pulses to develop froth when soaked. Note that soaking dissolves lots of molecules contained in the beans. Some recommend to soak and throw out the soaking water in order to remove the oligosaccharides contained in most legumes, because bacteria breaking down these indigestible sugars produce gases as a side product, which is felt as bloating. Soaking also dissolves many of the micro-nutrients contained in the beans, and is adviced against the practice. If the beans are soaked (for shortening of cooking times), the soaked water should be used for cooking. If the eaters experience bloating, the beans should be cooked for a longer time, to give oligosaccharides time to break down under temperature. I would recommend that you soak in the fridge for much shorter period the next time - you don't need any fermentation to take place, so the low temperatures aren't a problem.
Soaking beans in water releases their oligosaccharides, which are then further broken down into simple sugars. Without knowing more about your cooking environment, I suspect naturally occurring and airborne yeast began the fermentation process. Unfortunately for you, the carbohydrate to protein ratio is too low to make a proper whiskey.
The real question is: did you cook your beans in the same water used for soaking?
