Bacon hock soup - adding lentils

muffin2, Aug 17, 11:17pm
ok we have a crock pot and have made bacon hock soup a few times and we add kings soup mix to it
admittidly wife has made it most times with me chopping up the veggies. etc.
anyway I went to prepare it last night (turn crock pot on this morning) and was about to add the kings soup mix and wife said "stop - you add the soup mix in at the end. for the last hour"
I told her that I added it at the start last time we made the soup and it was delicious (she didn't know I'd added the soup mix in at the start then).
but she is adamant that you take the bacon hock out add the soup mix in for the last hour and turn it to high, then add the bacon meat just before serving.

does it matter when you aff the lentils / soup mix?
one thing I hate is under-cooked lentils that are still hard!

gilligee, Aug 17, 11:20pm
Sorry!
We don't want to interfere in a marital dispute!

245sam, Aug 17, 11:38pm
I agree there and this also brings to my mind the old saying "Too many cooks spoil the broth", in this case it is of course the soup; however I have checked Alison and Simon Holst's crockpot/slow cooker books and found that in their recipes they do indeed allow much longer than 1 hour for cooking lentils or soup mix in the crockpot/slow cooker, and remember that in the case of Kings Soup Mix there's the cooking time for the split peas that also needs to be considered. One of Simon's and Alison's recipes - for Smoked Pork, Lentil and Vegetable Soup - has the whole lot having a cooking time of about 10 hours on High!

Hope that helps. :-))

Edited to add. I haven't used Kings Soup Mix for a number of years but from memory the cooking time as per the packet directions was 1 hour for in the microwave so IMO in that case it would definitely need to be considerably longer in a crockpot/slowcooker. :-))

dbab, Aug 18, 12:12am
I'm with you. Soup mix goes in at the start

pinnochio1, Aug 18, 12:35am
I love soup so my motto is 'cook it to death' so soup mix at start. I like thick soup so right at the end I put in a cup or two of rolled oats, thats for an 8 litre pot.

kirmag, Aug 18, 2:15am
I agree too.

morticia, Aug 18, 2:21am
Soup mix at the start, hock at the start, hard veg half way through, soft veg in the lat hour. Rough but perfectly acceptable guideline.

rainrain1, Aug 18, 3:22am
All goes in together at the start, plus bone stays in till the meat has fallen off it, the lucky ones get some meat off the bone in their soup

muffin2, Aug 18, 3:23am
Haha, there won't be a mariatal breakup over the soup trust me. I just wanted everyones opinion.
I'll get home about 5:30pm take the hock out and add the soup mix with a chopped up potato, then turn crock put to high and it should be ready about 6:30pm

lindymf55, Aug 18, 11:15am
My Mum always cooked her split peas first, and so I do too. Probably for about 3 hours or so, then add the bacon hock and then veges.

I'm making mine tomorrow.

lynja, Aug 18, 6:50pm
I slowly simmer the bones for several hours. Then let cool, remove the meat from the bones and add this back to the stock. Then I add the split peas, which have soaked overnight, along with chopped onion and carrot and cook until the peas are soft.
I have started this process last night, and will finish today. I am using the Christmas ham bone.

kirmag, Aug 18, 10:09pm
So muffin. how did it turn out doing it the wrong way?

pinnochio1, Aug 18, 11:14pm
So OP is still alive and no marital breakup. This thread is going fine Haha.

muffin2, Aug 19, 12:55am
well the soup was tasty, but wasn't properly ready until about 8pm
I got some at 5:30 and added the soup mix and a chopped up potato - turned Crock pot to high , but at 7:30 the potato bits were still a little hard, but I blended it up at 8pm, added the bacon meat to it and it was nice - plenty left over for tonight

jia5, Aug 19, 4:10am
I cook the hock the afternoon before leave it simmering until bed time. Next morning turn it on again whilst I'm preparing all the vegies. Take the hock out make sure all the meat is off. Put meat, lentils and split peas etc, vegies and garlic, beef stock and a few other things back into the pot, top up the fluid then leave it simmering all day. Yummo

dalkemade, Aug 19, 10:04pm
Absolutely agree with rainrain1. Your wife is probably perfect except for the soup making ha ha

carter19, Dec 17, 9:59am
I bung everything in crockpot early in morning 7.30 today, and leave it all day. Sometimes the soup mix is still not done at 5 so i turn it to high when i get home for a couple of hours