I've had several batches of split peas, purchased locally and online, fail to cook up into anything more than pebbles in water. The peas remained as hard and intact as you see in this photo. I tried soaking (once for 24 hours), boiling for up to 7 hours, using/not using salt, using different water sources (hard water, as I've read, can slow bean softening). I even tried to salvage a pot of cooked peas by whizzing them with an immersion blender. It produced hard flakes in water ... still not very edible.Harold McGee says:1
"Old seeds take longer to cook. If stored in hot and humid conditions, they develop the "hard-to-cook defect" and become impossible to soften.It's frustrating. I can't tell until after I cook them that they have "hard-to-cook defect." It's only happened with split peas (and a couple bags of black beans), and not all the time.
...
Sometimes dried legumes never fully soften no matter how they're cooked. This hard-to-cook defect develops when they've been grown in unusually hot and dry conditions, or stored for months in warm and humid conditions. There's no remedy except to find a more reliable brand."
Does anyone know a good source for organic split peas?
Photo: Me
24 comments:
The only thing you haven't mentioned trying, is adding some baking soda to the water. I haven't personally tried it but it's been mentioned to me a few times.
The only reason I bring it up is because I don't have any recommendations on where else to procure your lentils.
Thanks, shaun. I'll try it. I don't have anything to lose!
Bix, have you tried Goya? They do a lot of beans. They might not be organic though.
By the way, hope you're on the mend!
Goya was my old standby years ago. Maybe I should go back to them for these, at least. You have a point, organic food probably doesn't turn over as fast as regular.
I'm on the mend, yes, feeling much better. Thank you.
I forgot to say, the "Best By" date on the peas in the photo, the ones I couldn't get to soften no matter what I did, is December 16, 2011. And they look so fresh. I don't know how you can tell old beans.
I think baking soda softens bean skins. Which split peas don't have. http://www.kitchen-myths.com/ How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, Macmillan, 1998. But I'll be interested to learn the results of your experimentation.
Did you return them to Wegmans?
No, I was torn.
"I'd like to return these. They have hard-to-cook defect."
That's funny. No way would I return them, but my grandmother would. And without shame.
I’ve bought split peas from the bulk bins of my health food store. Also Shiloh Farms packaged products. I haven’t had the rehydration problem and I like split peas and lentils precisely because they don’t require soaking and cook up much faster than beans.
I have purchased bulk yellow split peas from this awesome Mediterranean store nearby, but they seemed to have absorbed the smells of all the spices in the store, and not in a good way, unless they were just spoiled or something, they were just really off.
Hmm, how about slow cooking your stubborn peas in a crock pot? Maybe a pressure cooker could force rehydration into them? I’m just throwing out some ideas.
I've eaten pinto beans all my life, but a few years ago I had a bowl at a friend's home - they were unlike any I'd ever had. I thought maybe the spices, or a new technique. No, they were from her uncle's farm - she knew how "old" they were, and picked some up every time she visited Colorado.
Perhaps a mail-order source in Utah, Colorado or Arizona, all dry spots in the US.
I tried Goya split peas. I put them on the stove at 5:00 am when I got up and they were done about 3 hours later, not 30 minutes as the package said. (I had soaked them overnight too.) At least they cooked!
I get the feeling people don't cook dry beans as much as they used to and they sit on the shelf too long.
Ben, you're idea about a pressure cooker is a good one. I'm just too lazy to drag mine out.
I'm going to add a little baking soda to these next time to see if they cook faster.
I think I found the problem: "I put them on the stove at 5:00 am when I got up. . ."
Even peas know better than to be getting up that early.
Laughing...
I know, it's crazy. I never in my life thought I'd be doing all this cooking at 5:00 am! But if I don't do it then, it doesn't get done. I'm just too tired at night.
Wegman's gets a reprieve. I bought *another* bag, this with a Best By date of February 2012, and true to the instructions, they cooked in 30 to 45 minutes. I didn't even soak them. At least I know it's not my water or technique.
Were you cooking the peas alone? I've never had that problem, every time I've cooked split peas they boil down to a creamy goodness! Although, I boil them WITH ham hocks, so I'm not sure if the fat makes a difference. Once they began to get creamy I add my carrots and onions, and right before I serve I add some whole milk and black coarse pepper. Hmm...now I'm hungry! haha!
In any case, I don't know if that makes a difference, and I buy my split peas at the supermarket, nothing fancy, just whatever is cheapest. ;) peace
So happy to have found this discussion -- I thought I was going crazy as pot after pot of pea soup refused to turn out like the creamy, squishy pea soup I made in years gone by. In response to an earlier comment: I have tried transferring my stubborn peas to a slow cooker. Twelve+ hours on low produced no appreciable change. I'm going to spring for some pricier peas next time (and check the sell by date!)
I feel for you. To this day I still can't tell a good batch from a bad batch, sell-by date and all!
You might want to break out that pressure cooker. I bought some of these "duds," and from the same source got over 20 lbs of corn, which is in the same boat. Hence, I was pretty motivated, to say the least. Well, after soaking the split peas a couple of days it took about 3 1/2 hours in the pressure cooker, but it was well worth it. Now, on to the corn!
My wife has just hit the dud pea problem. The peas were soaked for 72 hours, and then she made the soup. The peas were still pebbles. So she cooked them a little longer, this time in a pressure cooker. Still pebbles. We are now trying Jim's method of cooking for hours in a pressure cooker.
I know that this "dud peas that don't cook" thing must be capable of biochemical explanation. Some food scientist must have researched what makes peas dud, and what to do to make them cook. I'd really like to know.
very very frustrating. I used to make a wonderful pea soup and now those darn things just wont cook no matter what. At least now I know it is a worldwide problem - though the goya beans seem to work. Harumph.
very very frustrating. I used to make a wonderful pea soup and now those darn things just wont cook no matter what. At least now I know it is a worldwide problem - though the goya beans seem to work. Harumph.
I can report that it worked.
Another hour in the pressure cooker and the peas were soft. My wife did feel that the other vegetables in the soup were seriously overcooked, and and that the soup was not what it should have been - but I thought it was quite acceptable.
And, 24 hours later, I can report that there was no indigestion!
I miss my mum's split pea soup and I thought the problem was just operator error on my part. I tried boiling hard for 10 mins, and then cooked for about 2 hours. I added stock cubes bacon and tomatoes. All apparent errors but I do have soft water. Anyway results nit bad.still not as good as mum's but I am back from brink of despair. Thanks bloggers for all the posts on this
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