One Hand Clapping

This is a continuation of earlier experiments in making hummus that is soft and creamy.

Today, I tried another route, a tip given to me by the cook at M’shawsha, one of the best hummus places in Tel Aviv, and also some advice from a couch surfer on the P.I.T.A. group.

Based on past experience, I soaked 1 cup of chick peas in 3 cups of water and 1 tsp baking soda overnight. I then rinsed the beans a couple of times, and using a small espresso cup pressed the beans to loosen up their skins. The idea was to be able to get the skin off the beans before grinding. This advice came from P.I.T.A.

I also added to the cooking water 1 tsp baking soda, then simmered the beans for 90 minutes, skimming the foam that collected at the top. This is the tip from the hummus joint.

The effect of the baking soda was amazing – the hummus beans/peas nearly melted in my mouth, and this is definitely the way to go towards making a hummus you can mash by hand. As a matter of fact, I am going to try with less baking soda next time, since there is no need for the beans to be SO soft.

The presence of the baking soda makes the skins glutinous and soft, so while the treatment with the cup helped more skins separate, it is not necessary – the skins with the baking soda were so soft as to not matter.

It also apparently released some sulfur compounds from the beans, as evidenced by the dark spots on my aluminum pot, and the darker hue (Aluminum sulfide Al2S3? probably not, as it is supposed to be yellow, but maybe another oxide of aluminum or another metal sulfide). Since these products are from the beans, their extraction is not too important, but still, I prefer not to digest black liquids that come from my cooking equipment. So for now, I will not use much cooking liquid in making my hummus (with beans so soft, it probably won’t be necessary anyway). And next time, will use half the amount of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). And use a stainless steel pot, not an aluminum one…

After about 14.25 hours of soaking, the following was observed:

Hummus with baking soda
Volume after soaking: 20 Oz.
Weight after soaking: 388 gr (original 180).

Water is a little colored (yellowish).

Hummus with no soda (water only)
Volume after soaking: 20 Oz.
Weight after soaking: 396 gr (original 180).

Water is clear.

Initial Conclusion: The addition of soda does not have an effect on the amount of water absorbed through soaking of 14 hours.

Note: weight was determined by pouring off the liquid and tossing the beans to remove liquid water. The beans were still humid on the outside (what is known as saturated surface dry), but not wet.

The beans were covered again with 3 cups of water, with and without baking soda, and left for another day.

Introduction:

Before I get into the experiment, let me be clear what I am doing.

My quest is to create a hummus that is smooth. I reside in Costa Rica, where I have little control on the source and quality of beans, since most dishes here do not mash the beans like is done for hummus.

According to humus101 web site I should use middle eastern beans for best results. Unfortunately, I don’t have these available, so I have to find a way to optimize the local stuff.

My hummus is pretty good, but not as smooth as the ones in Israel. I suspect it may be one of a number of things:

• the beans are not inherently soft
• the skin of the beans has to be removed
• the soaking process has to be modified
• the cooking process has to be modified

As I am not likely to change the beans, and removing the skin is a solution of last resort (you try and peel several cups of beans every time you make hummus!), I am going to start with experiments regarding the soaking and cooking of the beans.

In the good old days, I would use software like Design Expert, SPSS or JMP to create a series of experiments, with variables including the source of the beans, their size, etc. and results containing the size and softness of the beans. Alas, I am no longer in possession of my old software, and the companies charge in excess of $1000 per package, so I would have to do the experiments one at a time, and only draw relative conclusions.

Experiment 1:

I got a bag of local garbanzo beans (Costa Rican), which seem much smaller to the eye then the usual variety I get at the local Walmart (Walmart controls most retail here, with chains called Mas X Menos, MaxiBodega, Hypermas and Pali. They sell whatever import they can get cheaper, and I usually shop there. Today, however, I found out I have no beans for my lunch tomorrow (slow cooked oxtail with vegetables), so I ran to the local mini-market, and got their beans.

The package says 400 grams, but my scale says 409 grams. My measuring cup measures a little over 2 cups. I am going to take one cup and soak it overnight in regular water, and the other cup in water plus 1 teaspoon of baking soda. I will report the experimental details bean’s weight and size before and after soaking in the next post.

By the way, in studying soaking, my hypotheses are:

1. Baking soda makes the beans larger, possibly softer after cooking.
2. Soaking for 8 hours or 24 hours or 72 hours make little difference.

See you in the next post.