How long can you keep beans, lentils and rice for?

lovelovinghorses

I am cleaning out my cupboards and I have found some beans, lentils and rice that are well out of date (I put them back in last time I cleaned out the cupboard because I felt so bad about not having used them!). The truth is that now that our situation has changed; my OH was made redundant 10 months ago, we need to utilize everything that we can to save money.
Can I use them and if so do I need to soak or cook them for longer?
Is there a recipe collection for them on here?
All the bags are unopened and were stored in a dark cupboard which is fairly cool (outside wall).

Thanks for your help x x

[Deleted User]

Rice and Lentils usually only have a 'best before' date on them and not a 'use by' date which means that they will still be usable but the flavour may have lessened a little. Rice should be fine and cook normally however old it is, lentils will still cook down but if they are older they might take a little longer to do so. Don't put salt in with the lentils to cook them or they will not soften properly, add your seasonings when they're cooked through. I would use them if I had them as I don't really take too much notice of 'best before' dates on anything anyway, Hope that helps.

Memory_Girl

"Gourmet" Basmati rice is "aged" for ten years ..... makes you think!!

You should be perfectly fine - they make take a little longer to cook but not significantly more.

I never met a lentil I didn't like - what do you fancy eating and lets see if we can point you towards some great recipes.

MG

PasturesNew

"Forever" if they've been kept in a dry cupboard (no danger anything's been crawling/nibbling around them).

lovelovinghorses

We have two vegans, one vegetarian and two meat eaters in the house (they don't eat beef). I am one of the vegans but I am also a Coeliac; you would think that we would have eaten all the beans etc but these were all right at the back in an hard to access cupboard
Most meals that I make I start off with them suitable for a Coeliac vegan then suitable for a gluten eating vegan, then add in cheese, milk or egg as necessary for the vegetarian and if I need too I will add in meat for the others.
I don't like kidney beans at all, well it's the skins I dislike. We have quite a range of beans and lentils available
Thank-you for your advice x x

lovelovinghorses

PasturesNew there were a couple of spiders in the cupboard :eek:

Memory_Girl

lovelovinghorses wrote: »

PasturesNew there were a couple of spiders in the cupboard :eek:

Well don't feed it to the vegan will you?

If you don't like the texture of kidney beans - then soup is an option.

MG