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If I want to eat nuts like mung bean, ground nut, etc., then I should soak them in water for certain amount of time before eating.

Is it recommended to close the vessel used while soaking nuts? Why or why not?

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It doesn't really matter much one way or the other, if you do it on the counter. Oj16 is making the case for preventing an insect getting in - at least where I live, this basically never happens. The other concerns in that answer are for me misplaced - some dust will fall in, but it is the same dust I breathe when I walk around in the kitchen, and if it is present in large enough amount to be a concern, something should be done about the kitchen, not about the beans! And putting a lid on something never made it pathogen-free, the bacteria were there before you put the lid and will start happily multiplying once you give them the moisture.

If you do it in the fridge, a lid can prevent smell contamination. Nuts are neither likely to give off much smell (to contaminate other foods) nor are they very "soaking" of other smells the way milk is. So, you can cover them as a kind of best practice, but if you don't, it's unlikely that you will notice much difference.

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  • Then why are grains/ other food items which are not refrigerated, stored with a lid closed?
    – Ojasvi
    Jul 19, 2020 at 12:09
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    @Oj16 if you store stuff long term, then dust does get more pronounced. Also, there are insects (and other pests like mice) who go into dry (but not soaking!) grains and nuts, you get less exposure to light and to changes in humidity, and if you use a secured lid, then knocking over the container is less likely to create a mess. All these effects are marginal (or don't exist) when soaking for a couple of hours, but more pronounced long term. You can also store lidless in the long term, the effects are not all that strong, they just add up over time.
    – rumtscho
    Jul 19, 2020 at 12:33

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