Crockpot Chickpeas

I totally have a brain-gastronomy crush on Alton Brown.  So when he said slow cooking chickpeas in a crockpot was the way to go, I went.  No questions asked.  And not that it's a surprise, but he's right.  

Properly cooked chickpeas are key to creamy hummus.  I'd read one article saying that you had to cook the chickpeas then peel them.  Which I did; it took forever; and the hummus still wasn't that creamy.  Plus, I was that idiot hand peeling individual chickpeas...  This method, well, it still takes forever, but it's with a crockpot and not sitting with a bowl of chickpeas in your lap popping off every single skin.  

So, the first step to the super creamy hummus, the chickpeas. 

Chickpeas are a staple in our house so I always have them in our dry storage.

You'll need 1 lb.  How many cups is that?  That's a good question. I should have measured that before I cooked them.  Given the size of my scales cup, I'd guess 2- 2 1/4 cups.  

In your crockpot add the chickpeas, 7 cups of water, and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.  What does the baking soda do?  I have no idea.  Alton said to do it so I'm doing it.  Oh yeah, see those little discolored chickpeas in there?  Fish those out; I did after I took the picture.  Those guys wont taste good.  I clearly forgot to mention how you should probably sort the chickpeas first and pull those out before they get in the crock pot.  

Set on high for 4 hours and go do something else.  This is my husbands favorite part.  I used to cook chickpeas on the stove top and would do that 'go do something else', and 5 times out of 10, (OK maybe out of 8), I'd burn them because I forgot they were on.  And he, being the studly husband that he is, would end up cleaning (scrubbing and scraping) the pot clean.  

4 hours later, perfectly cooked chickpeas and no burned pan or smoke detector training! 

Seriously, these chickpeas are the softest, tenderest little legume nuggets.  Ready for hummus, roasting, salads, and so many other options!

Crockpot Chickpeas 

1 lb of rinsed and sorted dry chickpeas 

7 cups of water 

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 lg. crockpot. 

Put chickpeas, water, and baking soda into crockpot, set high for 4 hrs.  When done, drain and let cool.