Help, Soup Mix!

recovering_spendaholic

Hi everyone, hope you are all having a pleasant Sunday. I decided to make some soup with a lamb steak which needed using by today, and some carrots, celery and leek which I needed to use up. I usually use pearl barley and make a kind of scotch broth, but when I went to the cupboard this morning I found I only had Scotch Broth mix - barley, split peas, lentils and big green peas I think. Anyway it needed soaking overnight which I hadn't done so I poured boiling water over it and soaked it from 10 till 3.30 and then put it in the pan with the lamb and veg and water - I didn't add any salt as I know this can make pulses refuse to soften. Now its about an hour and twenty minutes later and the lentils, split yellow peas and barley seem to be almost cooked but the green pea things are still rock hard. Dows anyone know how long I will have to cook it for till they are soft?

wendym

I think there's always a problem with pulse mixes needing different cooking times.
When my daughter used them recently, she abandoned all hope of getting the peas to soften, and rather than trying to pick them all out of the pan, asked us to leave them in the bowl. Not ideal dinner party etiquette, but fine among friends.

kethry

recovering_spendaholic wrote:

........the lentils, split yellow peas and barley seem to be almost cooked but the green pea things are still rock hard. Dows anyone know how long I will have to cook it for till they are soft?

I've used this a time or two myself, if i remember correctly the soaking is overnight, then you have to boil them for an hour *before* you use them in the stew or whatever. I've never done it without soaking but i know when i've used them in a stew i've always cooked them for a couple hours, so two to three hours cooking time total.. and the pulses have just fallen apart.

give it a while longer, if they still refuse to soften, i'd just pick em out and chalk it up to experience.

hope that helps!

keth
xx

squeaky

recovering_spendaholic wrote:

Now its about an hour and twenty minutes later and the lentils, split yellow peas and barley seem to be almost cooked but the green pea things are still rock hard. Dows anyone know how long I will have to cook it for till they are soft?

From experience I'd say you'll need to boil them until about June 2007.

freyasmum

I know this won't help now, but if you forget to boil any dried pulses that need to be soaked overnight what you have to do if boil for 10 minutes and then leave for 2 hours.

How did you get on with it? Did you just let it go for another while?

recovering_spendaholic

Thanks for the tips - I let it cook for about another hour and a half and the peas did improve, however I don't think I'll buy that broth mix again, and when I use the other half of the packet that's left I will soak it overnight. The soup tasted lovely though so it wasn't a waste.

CarolnMalky

Hello,
We are trying to be more domesticated and my sis bought us a slow cooker...we bought veggies and pulses today, but are unsure how to make soup in the slow cooker

Do we soak the pulses overnight?

Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks
Carol

LizD_2

Yes, you MUST soak most dried pulses at least overnight. I think most will need some boiling before you use them, although not sure if you need to if slow-cooking. Someone with more expertise will be along soon!

Gryfon

I know for sure that if you have haricot and butter beans you have to soak them otherwise they're hard and horrible! Then slow cook them but they can turn out a little mushy

mystery1100

I bought some broth mix from tescos and was wondering if anyone here has got a recipe for a nice soup that I can just throw in the slow cooker.

Many Thanks
Emma