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Dried pulses
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Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:00 pm    Post subject: Dried pulses Reply with quote
    

on another forum someone is perplexed by the dahl they have made where the lentils have not softened (they make it regularly and have just used lentils from a different source). I thought they had probably got too old, does that sound right?

I have stopped buying dried beans now, as they take so long to cook, and then use or store, that I can't see that the energy is worth it on the gas stove. Do have lentils in stock though, but they don't need hours of soaking...and barley which I have to find a nice use for!

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28100
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Not sure really, lentils are something I cook until they are done, have never thought you could treat them like rice.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

jema wrote:
have never thought you could treat them like rice.


Eh?

judith



Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When I'm being organised, I buy 1 kg bags of pulses and cook them all up at once. Then I bag them up into portions and keep them in the freezer - much more Downsizery and lots cheaper than tins!

bagpuss



Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 10507
Location: cambridge
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

For lentils I will use them as they generally cook in less than an hour and don't need much if any soaking (I have recently done a nice recipe with puy lentils and sausages which is done is 30-40 minutes)

Other pulses I use much more rarely dried as the soaking and the cooking it much more of a hassle so for chickpeas or butter beans I tend to use tinned

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Judith wrote:
When I'm being organised, I buy 1 kg bags of pulses and cook them all up at once. Then I bag them up into portions and keep them in the freezer - much more Downsizery and lots cheaper than tins!


I did used to do that, but I wonder how much of a difference it makes energy wise - most beans need a good two hours and a change of water and then you go through a load of freezer bags too (I suppose tubs would solve that worry). If you had an Aga-like thing it would make perfect sense but I've started to buy kidney beans which we use most, in 2.5 kg tins from Suma, and this made 3 2-person portions of chilli recently (and we've been known to recycle the tins in to a smoker ).

I wonder whether there's a lot of difference in the end?

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Dried pulses Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:

I have stopped buying dried beans now, as they take so long to cook, and then use or store, that I can't see that the energy is worth it on the gas stove. Do have lentils in stock though, but they don't need hours of soaking...and barley which I have to find a nice use for!


Get a pressure cooker, you can cook dried pulses in a fraction of the time (and at a fraction of the energy cost) you would otherwise need.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Really? What sort of time/energy differences? And would I use it for anything else (remembering at the moment only TD eats meat, and not very much at that).

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
Really? What sort of time/energy differences? And would I use it for anything else (remembering at the moment only TD eats meat, and not very much at that).


I tend to soak some beans overnight, and then I can have them boiled in the pressure cooker inside of half an hour. Butterbeans I boil without soaking.

As well as for beans, I use mine for stock (it takes HOURS off that), boiling knuckles of ham, making soups and stews (vege and otherwise)... Sometimes I'll put a Kilner jar of beans in with whatever else I'm cooking, give it a good half hour at pressure and then stick the jar in the cupboard till I need the beans. Seems to work out okay. You can do rice pudding in it in a fraction of the time you would need in the oven (although it sticks a little).

For a lot of cooking a pressure cooker is just too vicious; I'd never do veg in there, for example, unless I want them good and dead.

As for energy use, I don't have the ring on any higher, so it's using less.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28100
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
jema wrote:
have never thought you could treat them like rice.


Eh?


I think you can be very precice about rice, double the water to the rice, bring to the boil, simmer just a little, then leave to cook on its own, with perfect result everytime without looking or playing with things.

wellington womble



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I only put pulses in things that are getting long slow cooking anyway, so I don't use extra energy, really (other than brain power in remembering to soak them - that takes a bit of doing!)

Lozzie



Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I recently made dhal in the slow-cooker. It was fine, but next time I will add more water as the process seems to take up more for reasons I have not yet fathomed.


sally_in_wales
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Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales
PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 05 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just bagged up a vast pot of chickpeas tat we did yesterday. We have a solid top commercial style cooker, so if we are having a cooking session it makes sense to put as many pans on there at once as we can, but I hadn't thought of the pressure cooker for beans, we make soup in our pressure cooker a lot, especially from the rare occasions when we eat chicken as it makes short work of turning teh carcass into good stock, but its also great for veg soups where you want quick well cooked reults.

ButteryHOLsomeness



Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 05 12:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
Judith wrote:
When I'm being organised, I buy 1 kg bags of pulses and cook them all up at once. Then I bag them up into portions and keep them in the freezer - much more Downsizery and lots cheaper than tins!


I did used to do that, but I wonder how much of a difference it makes energy wise - ?


a few points here

do your beans in a slow cooker, NO SALT! salt will stop the cellulose breaking down so they will stay starchy yuck!

i often put mine in the slowcooker on low before bed with a lot of extra water and they're done by the next morning most of the time

older beans won't breakdown well if at all

if you boil any beans for about 30 minutes then freeze them they will then cook very quickly once they are thawed as the freezing process helps the breakdown of the cellulose in the plant

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 05 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Salt is a definite no-no until the beans are cooked through. I like lentils red and whole, the whole ones are great mixed with rice.

Another quick cook dahl is Urd (also known as mahan) takes just a little longer than lentils

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