Soaking chick peas/garbanzo beans - not softening enough

Anonymous
I boil for a few minutes - but even after soaking for days (as in forgetting about) - they’re still a bit too firm.
Any tips? I prefer to not use canned.
Anonymous
You need to cook the beans for longer than just a few minutes. Old beans will also not soften as readily.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:You need to cook the beans for longer than just a few minutes. Old beans will also not soften as readily.


Agree, I have to cook chick peas for as long as I have to cook other beans. I typically throw them in the slow cooker for a few hours so I don't have to monitor them on the stove top.
Anonymous
Soak overnight with a little baking soda. Rinse and cook with a little baking soda as well. Don't salt until fully cooked. They should get plenty soft using this method (and perfect for hummus).
Anonymous
Soak overnight and pressure cook, will be super soft.
Anonymous
I do the quick soak where you boil for one minute and then let rest 1 hour. Then you drain and add new water and boil for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Anonymous
You soak them overnight in cold water or for an hour in boiled water with the lid on. THEN you have to cook them! (You are cooking them, aren't you? For at least an hour?)
Anonymous
Use an instant pot. You don't even need to soak them.
Anonymous
Old beans may not soften as much. NBD for hummus, less good for a salad.
Anonymous
Chick peas take forever to cook, IME. Way longer than most other beans. And much more than a few minutes.
Anonymous
Use a pressure cooker
Anonymous
Older out of date dried beans will often never completely soften.
Anonymous
I use a teensy bit of baking soda. I use Alton Brown's recipe and cook them in the crock pot. https://altonbrown.com/slow-cooker-chickpeas-recipe/
Anonymous
Chickpeas never completely soften so their bonus is that they are impossible to overcook.

Baking soda works because it chemically breaks down their cells. I personally find them a bit mushy after the soda treatment so I just resign myself to them always remaining a bit crunchy.
Anonymous
Page 10 says 3 hour soak before pressure cooking

That is not quick. Thought speed was large part of pressure could Omer
https://www.fagoramerica.com/content/download/3859/28094/file/Express%20manual.pdf
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