Help, Soup Mix!

The_Biff · 15 December 2005 at 8:18PM

Just bought some soup stew mix with no instructions. It's lentils, barley. slit peas etc. How should I use it? I have a feeling that it should be soaked - but for how long?

kiwichick · 15 December 2005 at 8:26PM

I would say overnight if possible, 6-12 hours otherwise.

black-saturn · 15 December 2005 at 8:26PM

No I think you just bung it in at the start of cooking.

Ticklemouse · 15 December 2005 at 8:32PM

I have one of these types of mixes. Contains pearl barley, pulses, split peas, marrowfat peas and lentils.

Instructions on my packet say:

Soak in plenty of water for 8-12 hours or overnight. Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Place in saucepan and cover with cold unsalted water or stock (according to recipe) (?) Bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 mins until tender.

I then drain mine and add to my soups. I haven't yet used them in a slow cooker so don't know if they would work without pre-soaking and/or boiling.

HTH
TM

cattie · 15 December 2005 at 8:42PM

I use it in my pressure cooker when making stews & just put it in at the start of cooking with no pre soaking. Always turns out lovely & tasty.

maryb · 15 December 2005 at 11:28PM

cattie wrote:

I use it in my pressure cooker when making stews & just put it in at the start of cooking with no pre soaking. Always turns out lovely & tasty.

that's what I do too.

fry an onion or leek with some celery and a carrot chopped or sliced quite small, then stir in a scant tablespoon of curry powder and some soup mix. then add some stock - the water left over from boiling a gammon joint is perfect for this and you can add leftover scraps of ham, if not add some chopped bacon- then bring it to high pressure and cook for 30 minutes.

this is the tastiest soup ever and it's so filling it makes a complete meal

elona · 15 December 2005 at 11:37PM

If there are dried beans in the mix - make sure that you soak them overnight and then boil them for at least 10 minutes as otherwise they can be poisonous.

Swan_2 · 16 December 2005 at 12:03AM

elona wrote:

If there are dried beans in the mix - make sure that you soak them overnight and then boil them for at least 10 minutes as otherwise they can be poisonous.

it's only kidney beans & soya beans that need special treatment like that to destroy toxins they contain. there's no problem with any other kinds

jobbingmusician · 16 December 2005 at 2:14PM

Agreed - I just bung mine into the slow cooker at the start, and the result is usually delicious! (When it's not delicious, it's not the fault of the soup mix - it's me getting something else wrong!!!!)

lindadykes · 16 December 2005 at 10:55PM

If the soup mix contains dried peas then generally you will need to soak overnight unless you use a pressure cooker. (From the above post it looks like a slow dooker will work without the soaking too) When I have tried the soup mix using an ordinary stove top cooking method the peas have been a bit on the hard side but the rest ok. I have generally found that the following cook fine without soaking: lentils, yellow split peas, barley and black eyed beans. I have never pre boiled though just add straight to the soup/stew.

alocin · 21 February 2006 at 1:36PM

Hiya, bit of a long time lurker here but I've been drawn out into posting as I don't want to poison my housemates and you guys are experts with O/S stuff!

I'm making veg soup in my slow cooker and I've got an old pack of soup mix to put in it. However I just noticed as I was about to add it in that it says to soak for 12 hours first! Argh! It's only pearl barley and various split peas - my mum always just added pearl barley to soup without doing anything to it first. If I just throw it in with the veg will I kill my housemates when they eat it?

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Help, Soup Mix!

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