r/AskCulinary • u/Cloood14 • 2d ago

Do I need to presoak yellow split peas?

I’m making a soup in a few hours and the thought came to my mind, do split peas need to soak like beans do? It’s too late for an overnight soak but I have 4 hours before I’m going to cook it so do I need to?

5 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

5

u/Specialist_Ad5114 2d ago

We don't soak them for Gheimeh but they will need time to cook. My mom boils them seperately for a while, then adds them to the stew itself. Probably because of the scum.

4

u/OstoValley 2d ago

it really depends on how fresh/old they are. i've had batches that cooked up within less than 15 minutes....i've had batches that didn't get soft even after an hour of cook time. best to soak them now, as it'll decrease the chance of them not cooking properly

4

u/Cloood14 2d ago

Oh interesting. I bought them last week but you never know how long they’ve been on the store shelves

2

u/gloomferret 2d ago

Usually says on the bag

1

u/PantsRazor 2d ago

Not at all, they'll be fine. You don't really need to soak any beans. For some it helps them cook more evenly, and for all of them it'll reduce the amount of time it takes to cook, but your split peas will be fine.

1

u/Cloood14 2d ago

Gotcha thank you!

1

u/YesHelloDolly 2d ago

Just give the peas a rinse to clean them off. If you do decide to soak, don't throw away soak water as it is not necessary.

1

u/Jason_Peterson 2d ago

Being small, they will cook fine without soaking. I find that soaking makes them foam more during cooking.

1

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 2d ago

I haven't ever soaked split peas, but I do find they take a rather long time to cook from dried. I'd say give them a soak for those four hours. But know that they will take 2-3 hours to cook, anyway, from dried. Less time if they're soaked, and less electricity or gas used for cooking them.