A question about lentils in a slow cooker...

Tete_en_l'Air · 2 February 2009 at 1:15PM

Hi everyone,

I acquired a slow cooker at the weekend (given by my great aunty, very MSE

) and was thinking of preparing some vegetables tonight to set away tomorrow morning before work for a veggie soup. I think I pretty much know what I'm doing with that, but then I thought I might put some lentils and/or other pulses in...

Now, I've never cooked with pulses before, but I have a vague idea that they're meant to be soaked overnight, is this right? Or would it be ok to just pop them in the slow cooker on the morning, as it'll be going for about 10 hours...?

Any advice or pointers appreciated!!

angelavdavis · 2 February 2009 at 1:22PM

Lentils don't need presoaking, just cooking. Your idea of just popping them in and forgetting about them is how I cook them!

Peas and other pulses can benefit from presoaking. Here are some tips pages:

http://www.bestcookingpulses.com/recipeTips.html
http://www.passionforpulses.com/tips.html
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/pulses.html

Watch because some pulses need to be boiled before cooking in slow cooker (such as kidney beans). The last link above proivdes this advice "[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Slow cookers: Pulses must be soaked and boiled for 10 minutes before being added to a slow cooker, as they do not reach sufficiently high temperatures to destroy the toxins. "[/SIZE][/FONT]

Some good recipes here

http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Pulses%20and%20Grains%20Main%20Courses.htm

Specific advice on slow cookers and pulses can be found here:

http://www.saskpulse.com/cooking/cooking.html

Tete_en_l'Air · 2 February 2009 at 1:34PM

Thank you very much Angela, some websites to be perused there! Might just stick with lentils for tomorrow then as a rookie!!

thriftlady_2 · 2 February 2009 at 3:21PM

Don't cook red kidney beans in the slow cooker without boiling them for at least 10 mins first. They contain toxins which are destroyed in the boiling process.

mummysaver · 2 February 2009 at 3:34PM

Barley is a good one to put in soups, really cheap and tastes lovely. Doesn't need any presoaking either.

Tete_en_l'Air · 3 February 2009 at 2:54PM

Thanks very much ladies! Yes I was aware somewhere in the recesses of my mind that red kidney beans can be a bit dodgy. In the end I went for a pack of mixed bean/pulses from Tesco, and ended up soaking them overnight anyway seeing as I had planned my soup in advance! I set it off in the slow cooker this morning at 7, hope it hasn't set the kitchen on fire by the time I get home from work!!!

mumofjusttwo · 3 February 2009 at 2:57PM

Thanks for the rewinder about kidney beans.

anyone got a great veggie soup recipe for the slow cooker.

Have seen lots of recipes but would love one that I can through in the slow cooker then leave it IYSWIM>

thanks for looking.

Tete_en_l'Air · 3 February 2009 at 3:21PM

All I did was really just what I normally do for veggie soup in a pan - chop up carrots, potatoes, leeks, onion, courgette, whatever's in the house - popped them in with a tin of sweetcorn, all the pulse things and a stock cube, then poured boiling water over and set the SC away.

I'm getting a bit worried about it now, it's been on 7 hours already. I have visions of getting home and the soup's grown into a giant mutant soup and taken over the kitchen!

penguin83 · 4 February 2009 at 3:38PM

How did the soup turn out Tete? I am making ham and lentil soup today but I havent used my slow cooker yet and getting a bit worried - dont want to ruin my gorg piece of ham! x x

Tete_en_l'Air · 4 February 2009 at 3:48PM

Hi Penguin,

It was OK, I was relieved it hadn't spilled out all over the kitchen at least. It was a little bit bland as I'd only used one of those Knorr Stock Pots (after using two in a risotto the night before and really regretting it), but I mixed up a little stock with a Chicken Oxo and put that in and that was better.

I was surprised that the vegetables stayed quite crunchy - normally the leeks disappear completely but they were still quite chunky. To be honest I have to say at this stage I still prefer my soup in a pan, but it was only my first go. I will persevere.

Let us know how you get on with your ham and lentils, sounds lovely!

LJM · 5 February 2009 at 12:47AM

i too just throw my lentils in and leave them,ive not tried making soup in mine yet,will have to search for some recipes

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A question about lentils in a slow cooker...

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