Bean / Pea Soup

[Camping Dave]

I want bean or split pea soup next weekend when I hike some West By Gawd Virginia trails. These are things I made on the trail before, but this time I don't want to spend 2 hours waiting for it to turn nice and mushy. And I don't want to make it ahead of time and dehydrate it either. Do you have any tricks for speeding up the process? I'm thinking about putting beans and hot water into an insulated container during lunch, then carrying it until dinner time. Has anybody done this or something similar?

Thanks,
CD

[Wise Old Owl]

You need to accept that peas and beans and Legumes need to be soaked for hours. Or they need to cooked to death and Freeze Dried.

My dad got around it before his understanding of food dryers that he could fill a thermos with - lets say raw dried peas or beans, and room temp water, and would hike the entire day while they soaked say 16 oz or one extra pound... then quick heat it and add sauce or flavors in camp.

Or just learn to do what we do.... FBC.

[jlb2012]

what I have done is to freezer bag cook soups such as the Alessi brand - takes about 30 minutes depending on the soup - you may be able to find these soups locally but here is a listing of the various soups I am talking about: http://www.soupsonline.com/m-53-alessi.aspx?

[Odd Man Out]

Lentils are a bit like spit peas, but cook much more quickly. I have been able to cook raw rice and lentils on an alcohol stove with success. Boiled for maybe 5 minutes and then let to steam in a pot cozy for about 20 minutes. Added olive oil, salt, pepper, curry, and some vegetables.

I also had luck with Zatarains Black Beans and Rice Mix. The beans are cooked and dehydrated, so they also cooked in 20 minutes (with the rice). You could probably turn that into a soup recipe with some tweeking.

[grayfox]

Beans, grains, and rice will cook faster if you grind them briefly in a food processor or blender. Make small batches and be careful not to let them get too hot while processing. Think 'cream of rice or wheat' cooking times as opposed to rice or wheat whole grains.

As above, many dry mixes are good. And check out dry ingredients from Harmony House Foods--they also have soup mixes that are very good and cook in under ten minutes.

Other ideas, a dutch oven buried in coals overnight, a pressure cooker from GSI, a can of Campbells Chunky Split Pea Soup.

[Bronk]

Carry one of those thermos that will keep things hot for 8 hours and put them in there with some hot water at lunch time and they will be ready for dinner. Or a small container that won't melt with boiling water can be rolled up in your sleeping bag to keep it warm. I've seen people roll up a quart of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in their sleeping bag for a few hours also if its not too awfully hot.

[JAK]

I use lentils and I don't wait 20 minutes. I just bring it to a boil and then sip away as it cools and soaks up more liquids. I use alot of water, so there is plenty to soak up and sip at. Along with the lentils are dried herbs that aren't too strong in taste so you can add alot of them, like parsley and chives and paprika and stuff, and dried veggie soup bits like carrots and onions that I find at the dollar store in the herbs and spices section. Some of the containers they come in at the dollar store are great because they are cheap and light, and very reusable for other stuff. I like to nest them into larger containers as I go through my rations.

[DeerPath]

Try Bear Creek Split Pea Soup. Pretty good. Get it at the grocery store.

[Farr Away]

For split pea soup, try powdering the peas ahead of time in a blender or food processor. This will only take a few minutes, and will rehydrate much more quickly than 'whole' split peas.

-FA

[Camping Dave]

I put some peas and hot water in a lightly insulated container, let it sit for several hours, and then cooked them. They took about 45 minutes to turn mushy as opposed to about 2 hours when I start with un-pre-soaked peas. Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'll go with a thermos-like solution and put peas and hot water in a gatorade bottle at lunchtime. I'll call it my Pea Bottle!

[rocketsocks]

I like my peas all done ta,and some of the mushy.Good pea soup is worth wait'in for.

[Sandy of PA]

Bobs Red Mill sells powered peas. 3 minutes to mushy pea soup. I add dried onions, carrots, pepper and precooked bacon bits!

[Wise Old Owl]

Well Camping Dave most likely gave up on this idea. But as a group we answered his question..

And mushy peas needs one thing... Worcester.

[Tinker]

I like my peas all done ta,and some of the mushy.Good pea soup is worth wait'in for.

Al dente? Italian for "to the teeth, ie: not mushy"

I've used yellow lentils, which cook very quickly (10 minute boil and 10 min. in the cozy).
Brown lentils take longer.
I'm not sure about the red ones.

[Snowleopard]

Bobs Red Mill sells powered peas. 3 minutes to mushy pea soup. I add dried onions, carrots, pepper and precooked bacon bits!
Thanks for the Bobs powdered peas idea -- interesting product.

[sarbar]

http://www.trailcooking.com/recipes/split-pea-bacon-soup Yes, you can get good soup EASY!
http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Dehydrated-Beans_c_2.html and most of all see here: http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com/Split-Peas_c_34.html
Their beans are precooked and dried - ready to use. Yes, kids, it can be easy ;)