Dried legumes are a prep pantry staple. As are canned beans. I favour the canned variety for two simple reasons - they require less water (as they're already soaked), and less fuel (as they're already cooked). Perhaps this is due to my limited water storage and opsec regarding certain fuel types where I live.
Does anyone have comparative information regarding storage space requirements of canned beans vs dried beans + water for soaking & cooking? I've never measured the water required to prepare dried beans, but surely it must be greater in volume (and therefore storage space) than their canned counterparts...
Shinester! Spreadsheet !!!! Quick don't miss your oppurtunity
Bahahah... well I don't have that in a spreadsheet, though I'm a good data finder, and this won't be particularly scientific, though should be close enough for our purposes.
Short answer: Collect cans, Pete's right.
Long explainingly answer:
VolumeSo lets just say 3 cups [750ml] = 6.5 cooked cups, so the can volume is 2.25 times ... and cans are tubes not square, yet they occupy the same space as a square in boxes. If we take a 420g baked bean can as an example, the contest volume about 405mls, the space it takes up as a cube is 580mls, so 30% of the space is air. Of course we might stack them a little better or worse, though we're spit balling here.
So, this makes us 30% worse again, so 2.92 times, so canned beans take 'approximately'
3 times the space of dried beans.
But wait, we need water, so assuming you're storing that, we need 2-3L to cook that amount, so it will take up 'more' space with due to the needed stored water as well as the gas/fuel for cooking.
WaterWell it's 2.25 times the volume of beans you have, lets call that 3 cans a day [approx half your daily energy], so 1.2L, though there's going to be more as that's what the beans absorb, not what they're been cooked in which will be even more, so perhaps 2-3L. $4 for 10L [aldi/coles] = $1/day. Of course if you have big tanks the water will be almost free.
CostingsColes canned beans = 75c / 400g = $1.88/kg [cooked] + 95c gas = $2.83/kg
Hinustan Imports broad beans = $60.40/25kg = $1.07 [cooked] +80c/kg water if aldi/coles + 1.90/kg [gas] = $3.77/kg
Faba beans = $0.65/kg [cooked] + rainwater + firewood = $.80So we're talking about 2.5 hrs of cooking and a soak. Well that would depend greatly on the amount of gas used, though assuming it's about 1kg/week of 30min meal preps on high and a simmer much less, say twice the rate/week [it might be more unsure], we'll be using an additional $6.67/week in gas [Bunnings swap and go bottles $56ish], and of course need that gas storage space as well .... then we've got to have someone tending the beans whilst they cook instead of doing something else.
ConclusionsCheap Faba beans cooked over an open fire with a stream nearby [or good water source] is much cheaper at about 80c/kg of cooked beans which will provide 3500kj or about 1/3 of a man's dietary kilojoules.
Cooking dried broad beans with bottle gas and using stored drinking water will cost you $3.77/kg of similar KJ.
Canned beans cooked with bottle gas will cost you about $2.83/kg of similar KJ
So, it would depend on your situation. If you have a cheap source of fuel such as electricity/timber or natural gas then it's cheaper to go dried beans, but... we're prepping for the potential worst, so what stores and is a reliable source of fuel say SHTF? Gas and wood and almost nobody has wood cook tops now.
Having said that I think Peter is on the money in terms of water, cooking fuel, time saving [not mentioned], ability to eat them straight from the can [though still 'better' if cooked!] and they will probably keep a long long time in the cans assuming no fat is added. Dried beans really need to be sealed, otherwise that 2.25hrs will turn into 8hrs as I have experienced. You might use up more space with cans [3 times as much] though when you factor in the water and the gas needed it turns out that you'll be using up more space. The costs could be cheaper depending on your situation. So over all, if you buy the cheapo cans of coles beans [they're good!] then it looks like that's the way to go. To which 'that' surprised me and as usual I change my mindset 'to' the data, in this case cans are GO GO GO. [for most people]
