Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Food, Drink and Cooking You don't know beans! vs Killer Beans

Hi Olyve,
I knew there had to other beanophiles out there! I have considered starting a new thread, but have been looking for just the right title for it. Should it be "You don't know beans!" or "KILLER BEANS, RED KIDNEY ALERT!!"?
Having been unjustly accused of or even worse purrhaps it would be better to take it elsewhere, but since the actual topic is explicitly "What's for dinner?" it would be appropriate for me,
it happens, to continue here as beans are very frequently included in my dinner, particularly with dried beans that provide so many leftovers compared to cans.
Re: Killer beans, there were 50 or so cases of kidney bean poisoning/toxicity reported in Britain between 1980-90 that were recognized to be due to raw or under-cooked kidney beans. This wont kill you, but can cause GI distress, from end to end, with possible dehydration needing IV fluid replacementKiller beans toxicity, symptoms, treatment, and prevention
There have been particular concerns about low temp slow cookers, that on low heats may not reach a high enough temperature to destroy the toxin phytohemaglutinin, that we call PHA for short, and use ut in the lab to stimulate lymphocytes to divide. Kidney beans have some of the highest levels of it, but other beans also have it.
I have never noticed a problem, but I dont use a slow cooker for beans. I would be interested in the details about what you call a small slow cooker, brand model, and the temperatures that you use. If it boils part of the time, like 10-15 minutes or more, that may explain why you haven' noticed any GI problem with it.
Curiously, poorly cooked beans, may have 5 fold increases in toxicity, compared to raw beans, as the toxin can be released from the beans, but not destroyed by the low heat.
Pressure cooking seems from my experiment to be OK even with short high pressure times and temps, but I haven't tried it the the large red kidney beans that have the most toxin. 4-5 beans poorly cooked can cause symptoms. I'm considering testing pressure cooking the Big Reds, but not when I'm going out.
Greger is missing out, but safe with his canned beans, as that canning process destroys the toxin. Otherwise we wouldnt be able to eat kidney beans right out of the can, when camping, or mimicking cowboys on the trail.
Most slow cooker recipes that I have seem lately, use canned bean, or soaked boiled beans.

As for wintering collards, Athens, greater Hotlanta, has winters that used to be a bit different from Syracuse, and in fact when I just looked outside, it was suddenly white.
Moar BEANS

TAT

Between July 1976 and February 1989, 50 incidents of suspected red kidney bean poisoning were reported in the UK. Nine incidents in which nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea developed within 1-7 h of ingestion, were confirmed by the detection of haemagglutinin in the beans. The diagnosis was made on a further 23 incidents on the basis of symptoms, incubation time and the description of preparation of beans prior to consumption. The haemagglutinin (lectin), which occurs naturally in the red kidney bean, is inactivated by thorough cooking of well soaked beans.In many of the outbreaks reported the implicated beans were consumed raw or following an inadequate heat process.

Haemagglutinins (lectins) are proteins or glycoproteins, capable of binding to specific carbohydrate residues which have been detected in a wide variety of leguminous seeds including soybeans (Glycine max),
lentils (Lens esculenta), lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) and red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)