I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
and found them noticably tougher than my usual
S&W brand. As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
dehydrated beans. I think I remember seeing that
on the ingredients list, in years past. I have
a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
indication of what preparation that might be.

Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
quite a lot in recent years. I'm wondering whether
there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
I like the convenience of a can. If I have to
pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
that's not worth it. I'll buy the can.

Mark Thorson > wrote:

>I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
>and found them noticably tougher than my usual
>S&W brand.

This is deliberate. S&W are too mushy for my taste.
TJ's canned garbanzos are just right, and when I
cook garbanzos from dry beans I aim for that level of
doneness.

Steve

On 7/15/2010 6:22 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
> S&W brand. As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
> dehydrated beans. I think I remember seeing that
> on the ingredients list, in years past. I have
> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
> indication of what preparation that might be.
>
> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
> quite a lot in recent years. I'm wondering whether
> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
> I like the convenience of a can. If I have to
> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
> that's not worth it. I'll buy the can.

Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went and
looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe that
makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.

George Shirley wrote:
> On 7/15/2010 6:22 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
>> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
>> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
>> S&W brand. As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
>> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
>> dehydrated beans. I think I remember seeing that
>> on the ingredients list, in years past. I have
>> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
>> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
>> indication of what preparation that might be.
>>
>> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
>> quite a lot in recent years. I'm wondering whether
>> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
>> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
>> I like the convenience of a can. If I have to
>> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
>> that's not worth it. I'll buy the can.
>
> Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
> tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went and
> looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe that
> makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.

I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Janet Wilder > wrote:

>I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
>and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?

Yes. They come later in the season than fresh favas.
They just disappeared from the local markets a couple
weeks ago.

They have large fuzzy pods which I think only have one bean
in each.

Steve

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:45:27 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
>> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>
> Do you have a Fiesta Mart (Mexican market, mostly) near you? For
> some reason they have them more often than not. They come in
> thin, loose green pods, 1-2 to a pod like a peanut.
>
> -sw

No Fiesta but La Michuacana (sp) I'll check next time I'm near there.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On Jul 15, 6:45*pm, Janet Wilder > wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> > On 7/15/2010 6:22 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
> >> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
> >> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
> >> S&W brand. *As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
> >> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
> >> dehydrated beans. *I think I remember seeing that
> >> on the ingredients list, in years past. *I have
> >> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
> >> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
> >> indication of what preparation that might be.
>
> >> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
> >> quite a lot in recent years. *I'm wondering whether
> >> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
> >> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
> >> I like the convenience of a can. *If I have to
> >> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
> >> that's not worth it. *I'll buy the can.
>
> > Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
> > tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went and
> > looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe that
> > makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.
>
> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>
> --
> Janet Wilder
> Way-the-heck-south Texas
> Spelling doesn't count. *Cooking does.

I've seen them fresh at one of the local hispanic chains.

harriet & a new critter (I picked him up today...new name harley (he
had surgery on tuesday) supposed to be a pembroke corgi, but the coat
is entirely lab yellow & the face & body is slim corgi, but a little
longer. age between 8 - 12 years old.)

On 07/15/2010 06:45 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:

> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?

We see them here, but that's in Berkeley, where odd foodstuffs are
normal. I'm not sure if they're available other places in the US or not.
I do see some food blog posts about them from time to time.

Serene

--
http://www.momfoodproject.com

Serene wrote:

>> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
>> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>
> We see them here, but that's in Berkeley, where odd foodstuffs are normal.
> I'm not sure if they're available other places in the US or not. I do see
> some food blog posts about them from time to time.

I bought some from the Roseville Whole Foods earlier this year. While they
were okay, I don't think they were worth the trouble, and I won't buy them
again. I thought I had posted about it at the time (I was also cooking
sweetbreads that night), but Google can't find any such post.

Bob

On Jul 15, 6:22*pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
> S&W brand. *As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
> dehydrated beans. *I think I remember seeing that
> on the ingredients list, in years past. *I have
> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
> indication of what preparation that might be.
>
> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
> quite a lot in recent years. *I'm wondering whether
> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
> I like the convenience of a can. *If I have to
> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
> that's not worth it. *I'll buy the can.

Just buy the dried garbanzos and soak them 7-8 hours in FRESH water,
then use as you see fit. If you want them softer, boil in FRESH water
(no salt, no additives including seasonings) until they are soft as
you wish.

John Kuthe...

On 7/15/2010 8:45 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> On 7/15/2010 6:22 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
>>> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
>>> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
>>> S&W brand. As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
>>> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
>>> dehydrated beans. I think I remember seeing that
>>> on the ingredients list, in years past. I have
>>> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
>>> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
>>> indication of what preparation that might be.
>>>
>>> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
>>> quite a lot in recent years. I'm wondering whether
>>> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
>>> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
>>> I like the convenience of a can. If I have to
>>> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
>>> that's not worth it. I'll buy the can.
>>
>> Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
>> tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went
>> and looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe
>> that makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.
>
> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>

I haven't either Janet and we lived in the Middle East for five years,
all the souk bean shops sold them dried. Somewhere in the world there
may be someplace to buy fresh but I've not been there.

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:35:42 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:45:27 -0500, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
>>>> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>>> Do you have a Fiesta Mart (Mexican market, mostly) near you? For
>>> some reason they have them more often than not. They come in
>>> thin, loose green pods, 1-2 to a pod like a peanut.
>> No Fiesta but La Michuacana (sp) I'll check next time I'm near there.
>
> I've only seen them once at any of the La Michoacana's. Fiesta's
> are full size supermercados (and more). About 24x as big as your
> average La Michoacana. Looks like they're just in Austin, DFW and
> Houston. Wow, 60 stores in all! We only have 2 of them.
>
> -sw

I was in one of them in Houston and I just loved it. I wish we had one
here in The Valley, but HEB is king here. Nothing but a few local
chains, Super WM and a handful of La Michoacanas (which have flies)

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

critters & me in azusa, ca wrote:
> On Jul 15, 6:45 pm, Janet Wilder > wrote:
>> George Shirley wrote:
>>> On 7/15/2010 6:22 PM, Mark Thorson wrote:
>>>> I recently tried Trader Joe's canned garbanzo beans,
>>>> and found them noticably tougher than my usual
>>>> S&W brand. As I recall, S&W (and presumably other
>>>> brands of canned garbanzo beans) are made from
>>>> dehydrated beans. I think I remember seeing that
>>>> on the ingredients list, in years past. I have
>>>> a recent can and I checked it, and that ingredient
>>>> is now called "prepared garbanzo beans" without any
>>>> indication of what preparation that might be.
>>>> Canned garbanzo beans seem to have risen in price
>>>> quite a lot in recent years. I'm wondering whether
>>>> there would be a cheaper brand as tender as S&W.
>>>> I've thought about preparation from dry beans, but
>>>> I like the convenience of a can. If I have to
>>>> pressure cook them or something to soften them up,
>>>> that's not worth it. I'll buy the can.
>>> Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
>>> tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went and
>>> looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe that
>>> makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.
>> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
>> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>>
>> --
>> Janet Wilder
>> Way-the-heck-south Texas
>> Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.
>
> I've seen them fresh at one of the local hispanic chains.
>
> harriet & a new critter (I picked him up today...new name harley (he
> had surgery on tuesday) supposed to be a pembroke corgi, but the coat
> is entirely lab yellow & the face & body is slim corgi, but a little
> longer. age between 8 - 12 years old.)

Best of luck with the new guy.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

Janet Wilder wrote:
>
> George Shirley wrote:

> >
> > Heck, I use the Kroger store brand canned garbanzos and they're very
> > tender. All I use them for is hummos but they are tender. Just went and
> > looked at the label, they're made from dehydrated beans, maybe that
> > makes them tender, all that soaking and cooking.
>
> I have never seen "fresh" garbanzo beans. All I've ever seen is canned
> and packages of dried. Do they actually sell fresh garbanzos?
>
> --
> Janet Wilder
>

Just saw some in the Mexican megamart this week. Tiny fuzzy pods with
one or two beans each. They didn't look very good so we didn't buy any.