My green split peas aren't getting soft!

[Soma]

Thought I'd make a green pea 'stew' of sorts, using curried powder and such....it's been cooking for 2 hours now, and the
dried peas are still crunchy.

i finally transferred the whole mess to my pressure cooker, and hope we can have some for lunch soon....

anyone else have difficulty cooking dried green split peas?

 

[Zhizara]

The time cooking can be affected by the age of the split peas. I've had it happen with great northern beans, but not split peas.

With the great northern beans, I soaked them for 3 DAYS and cooked for 4 hours, and they never softened.

I'd suggest you give it up to 2 more hours, Keep stirring because when the split peas do soften, they will drop the soft "mush" to the bottom of the pot and can scorch, ruining the whole potful.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Note that if you added any sort of acidic ingredient, for example tomatoes, vinegar, or citrus juices, that can significantly impact cooking time of dried legumes. I've also read that salt, even in the form of chicken broth, can have an effect, although I always salt the cooking liquid for beans and haven't found it to be a problem.

 

[jennyema]

Salt is fine. People even personal in salty water.

Acid is not.

Also hard water can hamper softening.

But the likely cause is old legumes.

 

[Kayelle]

This question comes up here occasionally Soma. It's been concluded that the peas are too old........likely years old as in sitting at the back of a grocery shelf or in a pantry. I've probably made a hundred pots of my favorite pea soup over the years and it only happened to me once, but once was more than enough. I don't have a bag of peas on hand right now, but I'd love to know if they have an expiration date on the bag. They certainly should have if they don't!

 

[stregawoman]

For the past 8 years or so I've had this problem with split peas. Growing up my grandmother used to make split pea soup all the time and I NEVER had hard peas in her soup. It seems like something has changed in the past few years (possibly GMO peas). When I make split pea soup I make it in my crockpot and cook them on low for 8 - 10 hours and I use peas that I've purchased within the past 3 - 6 months. I just find it hard to believe that in the past 8 or so years I haven't had one pot of soup come out right.

 

[Kayelle]

Welcome to Discuss cooking stregawoman!

Now you're scaring me! I bought some ham hocks and peas the other day to make the beloved soup so I'll just hope for the best and make a report after it's made.

Edit: I just checked my bag of peas, and they do have a "best by use date" on the package, so we'll see.

 

[Dawgluver]

Yes, welcome to DC, Stregawoman! I make spit pea soup in the CP all the time, and thankfully have never had the problem of hard peas. I'm wondering if using a stick blender might help, as well as using enough liquid.

 

[Kayelle]

Report: Soup is done and the peas have liquified as I had hoped and expected. The just bought pea package said the best use by date is 2015 and that's a shorter shelf life than I had expected. Interesting.

 

[Cheryl J]

I was curious, so I got out my package of split peas that I bought last week and looked to see if there was a 'use by' date. There was, it's January of 2015. Split pea soup is a fave of mine and I make it often.

I usually use about half of the 1 lb. package at a time and ignore the package directions of simmering about an hour until tender - that's not nearly long enough. I cover the peas by about double as much water, slowly simmer, and once they start cooking down, whisk it really good every so often, adding chopped carrots, celery, and onion when it is nearly done.

I've tried different ways of cooking it over the years, by replacing the water with chicken broth, or adding different herbs or spices, for example. My fave way is just split peas, water, S and P, a few veggies, and maybe a bay leaf. I guess I just love the flavor of the peas themselves.

I think I'm going to have to make a pot of split pea soup tomorrow, after reading this thread.

Ooops, forgot to add....smoked pork neckbones or ham hocks are awesome in split pea soup, too, I'll have to go hunting in the freezer to see if I have some.

 

[Dawgluver]

I looked at my split pea package expiration dates too, both 2015. Sadly, I'm out of carrots and frozen soup veg, but I sure have a hankerin' for pea soup!

Edit: so I'm gonna do pea soup, and I can't find a bay leaf. The bay leaf jar is empty. I'm tearing my spice cabinet apart. DH comes downstairs, and for the one time in his life, he spots a bag of bay leaves in a clear plastic container in my spice cabinet! Of course, I will never hear the end of how he rescued me and found the bay leaves....

 

[Mad Cook]

Report: Soup is done and the peas have liquified as I had hoped and expected. The just bought pea package said the best use by date is 2015 and that's a shorter shelf life than I had expected. Interesting.

In one of my books (I think it was Lizzie David) it suggests that pulses don't have an eternal shelf life. She recommends that they should be used by the year after they are harvested to get the best out of them. IME this is a bit too stringent and your "best before 2015" sounds quite a good deal. Personally I go by the best before/use before date. Obviously, they won't instantly become unusable after that date but they will get harder and harder until they are too far gone to bother with

I know that DC-ers don't all agree with me but I find that most beans and whole peas (but not lentils) are improved by soaking and, whilst some "authorities" say that the use of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda leaches some of the goodness from the pulses, many cooks swear by a little in the soaking water to help the softening. In fact, packets of Batchelors dried peas include a "free" a tablet of bicarb and recommend it's use when soaking. I generally don't bother with it but it's a matter of choice.

And now I have a dreadful confession. I keep a few tins of "mushy peas" in my store cupboard for when I want to make pea soup and have forgotten to put the dried peas to soak. (Slinks off in shame)

 

[Mad Cook]

I looked at my split pea package expiration dates too, both 2015. Sadly, I'm out of carrots and frozen soup veg, but I sure have a hankerin' for pea soup!

Edit: so I'm gonna do pea soup, and I can't find a bay leaf. The bay leaf jar is empty. I'm tearing my spice cabinet apart. DH comes downstairs, and for the one time in his life, he spots a bag of bay leaves in a clear plastic container in my spice cabinet! Of course, I will never hear the end of how he rescued me and found the bay leaves....

Which reminds me, I have a ham hock in the freezer for just that purpose. Must get it out to defrost before I go to bed so I can cook it in the pressure cooker tomorrow and use the stock for pea soup.