Dr. Feelgood
intellectual nerd
More specifically, do you know how long dried beans stay good after the container they're in has been opened? I had a really unfortunate experience with some elderly navy beans last year -- I boiled those suckers half a day and they stayed hard -- and tonight I boiled up some pintos I opened last spring. They weren't a total loss like the navies, but I had to simmer them twice as long as I usually do. They've been kept in a plastic jar with a screw-on top, so they haven't been exposed to atmospheric changes. Can anyone advise me about this? 
