Can I use baking powder to soften dry beans or chickpeas? [duplicate]
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Dry beans or chickpeas don't easily soften up after boiling.
Can I use baking powder (not baking soda) to soften dry beans or chickpeas?
Best Answer
No, you can't use baking powder. Baking powder is part baking soda, and part acid, the two will react with one another and balance each other out, so you won't get the alkaline properties you need.
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Does baking powder soften beans?
Here's why: "The addition of baking soda to the cooking water does two things: It adds sodium ions that weaken the pectin, and more importantly, an alkaline environment causes the pectin molecules to break down into smaller molecules that greatly weakens the pectin causing the beans to soften much more rapidly.Can you use baking powder to soak chickpeas?
Before you actually start creating your hummus, your chickpeas need a good soaking. Place them in a pot or bowl, in water that covers them by at least two inches. Add 1 tsp. of baking soda and then let the garbanzo beans soak at room temperature for at least 8-10 hours (overnight is even better).Can you soak beans in baking powder?
To degas with baking soda, add a teaspoon of baking soda to 4 quarts of water. Stir in the dried beans and bring to a boil. Then turn off the heat and let the beans soak at least four hours (I usually do this the night before I want to use them; the longer soak won't hurt them).Do you soak beans in baking soda or baking powder?
Beans soaked in salt or baking soda brines performed much better in comparison to those soaked in just water. Beans brined in baking soda performed even better than those in the salt brine.You're Doing It All Wrong - How to Cook Beans
More answers regarding can I use baking powder to soften dry beans or chickpeas? [duplicate]
Answer 2
No, you can't.
If you have normal, still-good dried chickpeas and you are able to cook them to about the same texture as canned chickpeas, but you want to have softer than that, there are other methods you can use, for example baking soda, or pressure cooking. Baking powder won't have a noticeable softening effect, unless you happen to catch a brand which happens to be quite alkaline after reacting out. But don't rely on it.
If you have too-old chickpeas and they stay hard and appear uncooked, no matter how long you cook them, then there is nothing you can do to get them to the standard texture of cooked chickpeas (like the ones you get in cans). Neither baking powder nor anything else will help. See also Why won't my beans soften? for more info on that case. You have to either eat them hard, or throw them out.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Viktor Smith, Mike, Caleb Oquendo, Vie Studio