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I never worked with purple beans before this year. I couldn't decide what to do with the bounty of veggies in my garden. My family lives minestrone and vegetable beef. Problem solved. First I made 12 gallons of minestrone then 5 of the veggie beef. All spoiled over night. The only thing that I used in both that I never used before was the purple beans. Could they be the culprit? I'm going crazy trying to figure it out

Judy Lewis
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  • I would doubt that it is because they are purple. but that does not eliminate them as the culprit. The cooking characteristics of the bean are really not related to the color, it really is more of just an aesthetic. You should be able to use them just as you would green with the same results. But, if the beans happen to have been tainted, old, or in some way contaminated, they could have caused the quick spoilage. The same would be true with green. Spoiling overnight if properly refrigerated would usually yell to me that it was the meat or possible stock that was used though. – dlb Sep 07 '16 at 21:05
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    No, meat was good as was the stock. We had some the night it was made. It did not have a bad smell at all. Both were "foaming" the next morning, with a very sour taste. They had no common meat. I gave some if the beans to a friend. She blanched them right away, and said they were bad the next. They were freshly picked I don't even wash them until I'm ready to use them. – Judy Lewis Sep 07 '16 at 21:49
  • I've had chowder and bean soup breathe the next day. But I found it was because I refrigerated them while they were too hot. So that's not what happened – Judy Lewis Sep 07 '16 at 21:54
  • I'm thinking about your broth comment. I did add a powder broth to both – Judy Lewis Sep 07 '16 at 21:55
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    When you say "purple beans", do you mean the string beans with the purple fleshed pods (which turn back to green on cooking)? Or that the mature seeds inside the pods are purple ...Or is that their official name: "purple beans?" I'm just curious, but even the people who are able to answer your question might need to know this. – Lorel C. Sep 07 '16 at 22:03
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    They are the purple pole beans that turn green when cooked – Judy Lewis Sep 07 '16 at 22:37
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    If blanched beans also soured the next day, the the beans likely were turned and had bacteria going in them already. Likely a case of the beans being the culprit. but because they were going bad already, not because they were purple. The purple is really normally superficial, tends to vanish as soon as you cook them. I have not seen them have any tendency to spoil faster than green beans or smell different in some way to hide that they were turning. – dlb Sep 07 '16 at 22:41
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    @Lorel C I would go so far as to call them purple colored green beans. They are a variety, as far as I know simply from selective breeding. There have long been green beans that will show a little purple and I think the seed companies simply selected for color, I don't believe they even crossed with something else to get the color. I have never noticed any difference in taste or culinary characteristics compared to traditional beans. When I grew both, the only difference I saw was some bugs seemed to like one color over the other. – dlb Sep 07 '16 at 22:46
  • We have been eating them up to and after the great soup spoilage. Does anyone have thoughts on the beef bouillon I sprinkled a few packages in both soups. I don't know how you would tell if that was bad – Judy Lewis Sep 07 '16 at 23:47
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    Was it refrigerated or not, and if not, how was it stored? – rackandboneman Sep 08 '16 at 09:20
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    Can you confirm those quantities are actual *gallons*? That is a lot of soup and a potential serious challenge to cool down quickly. If the soup was too warm for too long, that could explain the rapid spoilage. – logophobe Sep 08 '16 at 14:38
  • Yes after cooling I put the minestrone in gallon storage bags. I kept some out to eat. It was bad. The veggie soup was bad before to started to freeze it. There was much less of the veggie soup. I kept stirring both from the bottom and I had it in three seep rate pots – Judy Lewis Sep 08 '16 at 15:21

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Purple beans just have slightly different pigments in them, and the purple actually goes away when you cook them.

There's nothing particular about that pigment that would cause your soup to go bad. While it's possible that the beans, or some other ingredient, caused it to go bad, it's not the color, itself, at fault.

The "foaming" and sour taste you describe in your comments suggests fermenting or bacterial activity. I'd guess something was off with dried beans that you soaked and cooked, since you see that kind of activity start if you let beans soak for way longer then needed just to re-hydrate them. Did they get both soaked, and then fully cooked?

Anyway, that's a more likely candidate vs. the color of a fresh or frozen snap bean.

EDIT - I see that the OP commented that she gave some of the snap beans to a friend, who blanched them right away and said they went bad. Sounds like the snap beans could be the culprit, though not because of their color, per se.

PoloHoleSet
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    I agree that the foaming and sour sounds like a fermentation either yeast or bacterial. The beans and the powdered bullion sound like the potential candidates. Either potentially could have picked up a yeast or similar mold contaminant, or some bacteria. If two different soups did it, it would sure sound like a common source. I would tend to question the bouillon, except for the friend having blanched beans also sour. For it to be the beans, normally I would expect them to have been picked and stored wet or such, but they were fresh picked. – dlb Sep 08 '16 at 15:16
  • One suggestion would be to use a bit of the bullion with just some other veggies to have something that could ferment. Let is set and see if it quickly does the same. Maybe a small pot with no bullion, but some beans and compare. If neither do it, then there may be hidden molds in the fridge that are acting as a contaminant and showed up in the soup because of the slow cooling. – dlb Sep 08 '16 at 15:19
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    The OP also said it was gallons of soup and didn't mention any rapid cooling (ice bath, separating portions) so the ingredients might all have been okay, and might not cause issues in other uses if handled properly. – Cascabel Sep 08 '16 at 16:21
  • Foaming in beans is inconclusive, because they are high in saponins. It still can be a case of fermentation, but the foam is not telling much about it either way. – rumtscho Sep 08 '16 at 16:32
  • Foaming when sitting, still and inert for hours, would still be a conclusive indication of activity. It might be easier to spot because of the saponins, but that doesn't cause spontaneous foaming. We're not talking about the soup while boiling or being agitated in some way. – PoloHoleSet Sep 08 '16 at 16:41
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    Both soups were cooked and cooled in several pots. As for the veggie beef, I made it in two pots. At one point, I saw one pot had a nice clear red broth, while the other was cloudy. the minestrone was made in several pots and mixed together in a large roasting pan. Then separated into different pots for cooling. – Judy Lewis Sep 09 '16 at 11:30