[Sca-cooks] My problem cooking lentils

Gwen Barclay gwenb at cvtv.net
Mon Oct 22 13:31:11 PDT 2007


In my area of the U.S.(Texas) we occasionally have trouble with beans of all 
sorts that are "old" and refuse to become tender.  I am very careful to 
purchase beans from retail stores which move lots of  product.  Wholesale 
purchases, usually in 20 lb. quantities must be used promptly too - within 
about a year or you may have the same problem since you don't know how long 
they have been on a warehouse shelf.

I have never had the problem with lentils staying hard as I usually use the 
French green type, especially for salads, and they cook  tender in a 
relatively short time, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours - but never mushy..  They work 
well in soup or Middle Eastern stews. For a smoother soup or soft vegetable 
puree, the yellow, red or brown lentils are appropriate as they will become 
soft and mushy, but still leave some whole for a pleasing texture which I 
prefer.

I hope this is useful information because unless you have  had it happen 
more than once, it probably would not  occur to you that the problem is with 
the beans, not the cook

Hmmm - I think I will make some lentil soup tonight since the first "blue 
norther" (one that comes with rain) just rolled into Texas this morning and 
it is a shock from yesterday's 90 degrees.

Gwen 



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