Do chickpeas cooked from scratch taste much different to tinned?

[lolalotta]

I have never cooked chickpeas from scratch before, are they much different in texture to tinned? I find tinned ones a bit tough, but thought that perhaps they are meant to be like this!

Do you mean dried ones? They are (in my opinion) minging compared to tinned ones and I only use them if we're really saving pennies. They have that awful dried pulse grittiness unless you cook them for hours and hours. I also think they have a more wind producing effect than the tinned ones.

Yes did mean dried! Are tinned ones meant to taste more crunchy than say kidney beans or do I need to switch brands?

The cooked from scratch version has a better flavour, nuttier & cleaner but the I don't think the canned version is too awful and will happily use them for everyday. I tend to cook fresh when I'm making something where chickpeas are the stars - like when I'm making Chickpeas with chillis - it's a heady mix that's worth the extra effort.

You don't need to cook them for hours and hours. You need to soak them over night or at least 8 hours. Change the water. Boil them for about an hour - depends how fresh they are - the older chickpeas will take longer to cook. Also don't add salt till the end otherwise they will never soften. They are not meant to be mushier than kidney beans!

My main complaint about the texture of the canned ones it that they tend to be too mushy and therefore further cooking can be detrimental.

I would switch brands but occassionally you will come across a can of chickpeas that just weren't cooked long enough within the same brand.

What are you using them for? If you find them too firm there are loads of other pulses that soften more easily....try cannelini beans or butter beans.

I always cook mine from scratch and then freeze so I have free-flow chickpeas instead of opening expensive cans. Buy them from somewhere with a good turnover of stock so that they are fresh (old ones are not so good), soak overnight in plenty of water, then change the water before cooking. During that rapid boil first 10 minutes, scoop away any froth that forms. I find the canned ones can taste a bit watery tbh...

Cognito, that is a brilliant idea! Do you freeze them dry in sandwich bags or in water?

I find all dried beans and pulses taste better but never remember to put them in to soak.

Thanks for your replies, i made falafels (spelling? ) I used Waitrose organic tinned ones and the exterior of the beans just seemed tough and you could taste that in the wraps IYKWIM? I haven't cooked with them before so though that perhaps that was the way they are meant to be! I would prefer them softer!

I soak/cook the whole packet as a job lot. Then drain really, really well by tipping the pan contents into a colander in the sink and allowing it to stand until they are quite cool and dry. (If they have too much moisture on them they stick together too much) Then I put them in a big freezer bag in a thin layer, lay it in freezer and freeze. When done, give the bag a shake and they should all separate like peas. Then I just use them out of the freezer as many as I want at a time rather than having half-used cans in the fridge. A 500g bag of dried ends up about 1.3kgs of cooked and it works great for any biggish pulse although butter beans seem to go mushy at the drop of a hat!

Thats really helpful, thank you

ah shite...

The supermarket own brand ones are normally too small and hard for my liking. My waitrose has an Asian food section where you can find decent canned pulses by East End Foods, and they're also half the price of the waitrose ones. They're proper big fat soft chickpeas.

Or your local corner shop is often a good bet -mine stocks lots of different brands of chick peas, I've found they're mostly very good. And again, cheaper than supermarkets.

I eat a lot of chickpeas

Proper falafels need to be made with dried chickpeas - the chickpeas are supposed to be raw!

I go the freezing route too [smug emoticon]

I didn't know that Betty, does that mean you just soak them and are good to go????

In some recipes you soak and then grind - others grind half - cook half. I know which one involves less effort and expense!