Go to the Recipe: Sous Vide Chickpeas
I recently read that you should use Baking Soda to reach the optimal softness/texture of the chickpeas - thoughts?
Baking soda will definitely help soften chickpeas, or any other plant food for that matter. The reason is that alkaline conditions speed the dissolution of pectin that helps to "glue" plant cells together. But it's easy to overdo it and end up with mushy chickpeas (or hummus if you go way too far).This said, our preference in this recipe is for the taste of unadulturated chickpeas. But it's worth trying both ways.
Would your recommendation be to use a distilled or a low mineral water for most, if not all, legume hydration and subsequent cooking?
How long will they keep in a fridge?
My tap at work is well water and full of minerals. I've found (after working the sous vide formula for white beans here at CS) that using distilled water works best for me. I suggest using distilled if you don't know the mineral content of your tap so you can count on the timing here. Just my opinion.I'll definately work this method into next weeks schedule and look forward to the results.
I take it you didn't vacuum seal the bag with the water and chickpeas in it? Looks like you just put it into a big ziploc bag and just submersed it.
Alternate solution to vacuum seal the chickpeas with water: freeze 450g water, then vacuum seal ice cubes of appropriate weight with chick peas. Let thaw on counter.
Hey guys, the link to the Hummus ingredient is broken on this page fyi. Feel free to delete this after fixing it.
I'm wondering how much the time can be tweaked, either as an independent variable or in conjunction with the temperature. I'd love to have a chickpea base recipe (that I can adapt for stews, etc) that takes 8-12 hours, so I can set in the morning and have dinner ready, slow-cooker style. Any thoughts, before I just start experimenting?
I am intrigued by cooking beans sous vide ... I always use the pressure cooker, but I don't do it often enough to get a good feel for how long to cook each type of bean to get the desired firmness.
How would I adjust this recipe for firmer or softer beans? Do you recommend adjusting temperature, or just time (I'm guessing the latter, but I wanted to be sure).
Thanks!
I tried this method and the chickpeas never got soft after cooking for more than four hours. I'm using very soft water (reverse osmosis). Maybe some alkalinity is necessary to make the chickpeas in a reasonable amount of time.
It seems like it would be easy to avoid overdoing it using a small amount of precisely weighed baking soda. I've had difficulty preparing this recipe in very soft water (reverse osmosis). Do you think you will be able taste the difference in the baking soda batch if the concentration is very small?
I was making hummus and after adding salt, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice I couldn't tell that any baking soda was used.
What to you think the temperature tolerance for this is? These 90 degrees recipes work way better for small amounts with my portable induction burner (which has a 90 degree setting) instead of the SV pro (where it worked great!), due to less water and more power (I don't have to wait an age for it to heat up), but the temperature probably fluctuates at least 5 degrees C, if not little more.
Did this sous-vide and it has led to me experiment more (with lentils) and I've done as long as a 4 day soak (Chicago HARD water) and no adverse effect. Actually, the lentils still retained a nice "to the tooth" texture but REALLY released their starch when cooking. Instead of sous-vide, I opted for a dutch oven, first bringing bloomed spices and lentils together with a veg stock to just cover, at 200F for 8hrs, leading to a pleasingly creamy textured lentil curry. Didn't have to buzz it at all. An oven can and does work for sure if not in the mood to heat up a sous-vide bath.
What are the variables that affect the final texture? Do I get firmer chickpeas just by lowering the time cooked, or raising the temperature?
+1. I have a big bag full of grainy chickpeas now. Any insight from the CS community as to time for different textures?
If you want firmer chick peas, lower the temperature
Wow, I don't get this thing at all.
what should i do to cook in jars instead than bags?
try this, for 1 measure of rinsed chickpeas use twice the amount of cooking water in the bag, cook sousvide at 90ºC overnight.
Would it be possible to dissolved the chickpea skins with pectinase?
Have you tried this, Saddam? I've been wondering the same thing. Yotam Ottolenghi recommends using baking soda to create an alkaline environment to dissolve chickpea skins for smoother hummus. But, it would seem that pectinase might be a more effective. I might have to try this myself.
In case you or anyone else is curious, I purchased pectinase and attempted to make hummus with it. Sadly, it was a bit of a failure. I put a small amount of pectinase in the water bath to soak the chickpeas overnight, as well as a bit over the chickpeas as I heated them in a pot, substituting it for the baking soda in Yotam Ottolenghi's method. The pectinase did have an effect on the chickpea skins, but rather than dissolving them off of the chickpeas, it actually bound them more firmly to the chickpea. It was as if the pectinase fused the skin and the chickpea together, making the process and the result worse. I'm going back to my method of using baking soda and cooking the soaked chickpeas over high heat for five minutes before adding water and cooking them. The pectinase method seemed promising, and I still can't fully explain why it doesn't work. Still, I feel like there's got to be a better method possible. Maybe team ChefSteps could tackle how to make the smoothest hummus possible? I'm kind of surprised they haven't tackled that yet.
Hi,
i have been a member for a while now. I have recently bought a sous vide machine here in the UK. We cook a lot of indian dishes and would love to know what you suggest for timings and temperature for a classic Dhall as i cannot see any recipes on the website.
alex
Why do you want to cook dal in sous vide?
Just soak the lentil for 10-15 min & pressure cook it. Add a little turmeric, salt & asafoetida & cook it.
Our water down in Portland is very soft. I've had quite good results using the Cook's Illustrated method, in which the legumes are brined in a 1.5% by weight salt solution. That both seasons them and keeps the calcium hardness in the water, if any, from binding to the skin. It took four hours to get them soft enough for hummus, and the result was extremely smooth.
Cooking this now. Can’t wait until it’s done!!
Well, what is the point of putting chickpeas in a plastic bag to cook them in hot water?
This way you get the perfect texture. There are many ways to cook beans and this way takes out the guesswork and is consistent. Pressure cooking beans is quick but you risk overcooking.
Take them out sooner. The bag is left unsealed so you can test doneness during the cook.
I remove the skins just by rubbing the chickpeas together in a bowl of cold water after I’ve cooked them. The skins separate easily and float in the water. they are easy to pick out. Takes 2 mins.
The final part of the recipe says “Place bag in ice bath, and refrigerate until needed.” I figured out you don’t need to leave it in an ice bath going into the fridge part, but would like to know.. do you leave them in the water that you sous vide with or remove them and package them “dry”? Also, how long are there good for?
