I cook my chicken carcasses first then strain add king soup mix to pot country chicken then add onion carrot, silver beet and small pieces of chicken and boil yummy
uli,
May 4, 8:13pm
Either you added salt to the cooking water - which is a no-no for any pulses or they were irradiated. We had that problem with chickpeas in NZ a few years ago. Never got soft, even after being soaked for 24 hours and cooked for 8 hours on high in the crockpot. I now buy organic chickpeas (if I ever use them) and check them if they sprout. If they do they will also cook. If they do not sprout they go back to the supplier.
uli,
May 4, 8:15pm
Kings soup mix are just barley, lentils and the like - you add your own flavours and veges to it.
nauru,
May 5, 1:14am
I know that, I have used them but prefer to make my own as they are way too salty for my taste. I was referring to olwens remark about cooking pulses in general not the soup mix.
lj1422,
May 5, 1:56am
I have been put off the Kings soup mixes for a few years now as they taste bland plus I don't like enhancers in them. I like to make my own mixes but would love some recipe base ideas such as how much lentils and barley and different flavour ideas. I'm a diabetic type 1 and try to eat as natural as possible with little fat.
uli,
May 5, 3:27am
How can a mix of barley, lentils etc be too salty? Am I missing something here. There is nothing in the mix that contains salt. Or flavour improvers.
And the others are similar - pea and ham for example is 81% peas and 4% ham so the other 15% is pretty much “filler”
kay141,
May 6, 3:07am
This one is marketed as "low salt" but the vegetables are only 71% of the toal. other ingredients, not measured include salt, yeast extract, both salty plus many other unmeasured ingredients.
They will definitely not be going on my shopping list.
nauru,
May 6, 3:22am
Yes, same product so you are obviously missing something. Try reading at the nutritional info, there is salt and also flavour enhancers (ie: 621, 627,631) in the ingredient list. Hence being too salty for my taste and I don't like using enhancers, 621 being MSG which I have a reaction to. Some also use yeast extract which is also very salty.
autumnwinds,
May 6, 3:45am
The basic problem is so simple - pulses do not like salt, and it inhibits the softening/breaking down process.
Always add condiments at the END of cooking, to taste.
If using a product like Kings soup mix, sieve the flavourings out, cook the pulses/legumes, add the "flavourings" at the end. but it's way better, and healthier, to use your own herbs and spices, along with the pulses/legumes you want - and way cheaper, too!
davidt4,
May 6, 4:13am
It is a myth that salt toughens pulses/legumes. In fact it softens the pectin in the skins, and decreases cooking time. I learned this only quite recently and have tried it out with our home grown cannellini beans, semi-dried. With salt they take 25 minutes of simmering to become tender, without salt they take 35 minutes. I was really surprised.
rua69,
May 6, 4:50am
I've noticed this with lentils, and used to see it with batches of soybeans when I worked in the food industry. Very frustrating. It's caused by heat treatment in quarantine - which must also affect nutritional value.
uli,
May 16, 4:58pm
I am really surprised too actually as I had some bean fails early on in my cooking endeavors. So I never added salt to the cooking water since then.
In Greece I learned that they also do not add salt, but a bit of bicarb to soften the beans quicker, important when you have hardly any wood for the fires because the goats ate all the regrowing trees on the islands.
vashti,
May 16, 5:30pm
I bought Pam’s yellow split peas this week and made soup, they broke down well. I tossed out the ones I had that were hard, I had put them in a container so I can’t remember which brand they were.
macb,
May 18, 1:42am
Try covering them with water and microwave for 5 mins then add them to slow cooker. Mine soften when I do this in the slow cooker
hidecote01,
Jul 22, 2:03pm
You can put lots of extras. It makes a good base I find.
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