quick soaking lentils
Posted by pooh bear on Jul 28, 2008 · Member since Jun 2008 · 671 posts
Okay, so tonight I am making make-shift-random-ingredient shepard's pie, basically I'm just throwing everything in my pantry/frig that looks good into it, topping with mashed potatoes and walla! So I'm putting lentils in my pie and I've never cooked lentils before. On the package it says you can 'quick soak' them by boiling water, adding the lentils and letting it stand for 1 hour as opposed to soaking overnight. Does anyone have any experience doing this and does it work?
lentils are my favorite, and I NEVER have to soak em. I just throw them in with some kind of liquid and cook em til they're done...usually 30 mins- 1 hour depending on how I want them.
Um....yeah, in the "fancy" culinary school I went to, we were told that lentils and split peas DID NOT pre-soak before boiling.... You can also salt the water w/ lentils and they'll still cook through!
I've soaked beans and stuff like that (heating to boiling then turning off) before, and it worked well if you're still intent upon soaking the lentils.
Lentils have only ever taken me 20 minutes on the stove to cook. Just lentils + water -- boil for about 20 minutes until tender.
ya, after reading the first couple of posts I quit soaking them and just got right to making the soup! It turned out really good ;)b
Okay, so tonight I am making make-shift-random-ingredient shepard's pie, basically I'm just throwing everything in my pantry/frig that looks good into it, topping with mashed potatoes and walla! So I'm putting lentils in my pie and I've never cooked lentils before. On the package it says you can 'quick soak' them by boiling water, adding the lentils and letting it stand for 1 hour as opposed to soaking overnight. Does anyone have any experience doing this and does it work?
You can do the one-hour quick-soak with any pulse (legume) as long as you cover the pot they're in while they're soaking. I explained this in the cooking FAQ thread.
In India alone there are something like 80 different kinds of lentils. It depends on the type of lentil if they need soaking or not. The ones that say to on the package, really DO. Split lentils don't but remember split lentils should be rinsed before using.
I always soak them and it makes them much more digestible. You can quick soak or long soak them like you would any bean. I only soak the whole ones, not the split ones.