I tried it!
Admittedly, with my own go-to hummus recipe (which makes a ton of hummus).
Employed the hubs to squeeze all those chickpeas out of their casings, and it took him probably about 25 minutes.
The end result? Definitely smoother, but not for daily/weekly use. I might try it again for a dinner party but it's not worth it since I make hummus all. the. time.

Yes, read this tip in a book years ago. Don't do all the time, but I do love it, so when I have the time and inclination to do so I will go the extra step.

Yep heard about this but haven't got around to trying it yet..keep forgetting. I don't think it would take too long either especially if I cook my dried chickpeas a little longer so the cases slip off that bit more easily.

I made this yesterday. And it worked. The hummus was so smooth. Actually my food processor/blender died (it was one of those cuisinart deals with the same base and both units), so I made it using my immersion blender. I peeled the chickpeas, then mashed them with a potato masher, the added the tahini, lemon juice and salt. I stirred well, added the garlic, stirred some more, then put a little bit of the chickpea water in for lubrication and started blending. It was delish!

I wonder if you could take a semi-lazy approach and rub the cooked chickpeas in a kitchen towel to take off *most* of the skins a bit faster. It wouldn't be quite as ethereally smooth, but it would be more feasible when you don't have time to gently undress each bean.

It is so good and so worth the extra effort. If I get to make hummus its usually when I have a bit more leisure time, so its totally worth the extra 20 mins for me.

We made a double batch of hummus a couple of weeks ago and my 8 year old and I went through peeling 2 cans of beans in about an hour. It was something fun for us to do together and, even though our fingers were kind of pruney by the end, the texture of the hummus was so much better than what I had made before. I also make my own pitas and tahini, so the whole meal is already kind of any event and I think it's worth the effort.

i saw this on smitten and tried it, it works pretty well! Its really not that time consuming either. Ill do it when im catching up on an episode of something, in 20 minutes to can peel a lot of chickpeas - bear in mind as deb illustrates squeezing them out of their skin takes no thought, effort, you dont even need to look at them.

you can easily peel the skin off the boiled chickpeas by immersing them in a large bowl with cold water and rub them gently in order to loose the skins. these will float and will be very easy to remove (10 min max for a 500g tin, but the result is great). another tip for smoother hummus is to warm the chickpeas in the microwave for about 30 sec before mashing them.

Yep, I've done it. It was more time consuming than normal, but since "normal" is about 5 minutes, it's not too big of a deal.

Yes! This is the only way I will make hummus now. It's a great exercise for small motor control as well. Try it with both hands at the same time and you'll see the difference between your dominant and non dominant hand! I can do one can in under 10 minutes so it's a no brainer.

Is hummus with texture something that actually bothers people? It hadn't occurred to me that this would be a problem in need of a solution.

I was using canned chickpeas last night, and I noticed that if you smash them a little with a fork (I did so in a mesh strainer after rinsing them), the skins pull up a lot. Then it just took a few minutes of picking skins out of the strainer and that was it-- I should've just submerged them in water and scooped the skins off the top! Next time...

I read about this trick a few years ago and have been using it ever since. I don't do it EVERY time, but it definitely makes a difference, and the peeling can easily be done while watching TV or chatting on the phone. However, while Deb recommends pureeing the chickpeas first, then adding the other ingredients, I've had better results creaming the tahini, salt, lemon, and olive oil first, then adding everything else.

I had not heard of this tip before; I may try it it next time I make hummus. I use the Cook's Illustrated tip to blend the chickpeas very well first before adding anything else--I've been pretty happy with that.

I have tried this after seeing it on Smitten Kitchen, however, since I prefer to make hummus with ground nuts- ie. almond meal or walnuts, etc. (I OD'd on tahini in college and I'm still not a big fan) I found that it didn't come out as smooth as I imagined, but I imagine that is because I use nuts instead of tahini.

lol...buttons_whims, I was thinking the same thing.

This same trick works great for making crispy roasted chickpeas. It is a pain but it works!

Haven't tried this, but yesterday I tried another trick I read on a different site, which calls for emulsifying the tahini and lemon juice for a minute, then adding the additional ingredients one at a time in 30-second intervals, ending with the chick peas in two batches. That came out pretty smooth...not "ethereal" but still good.

I just made hummus today! I've known about the trick for a while now but never have the patience to do it! I guess I just don't mind grainy hummus ;-))

On the subject of doing strange things in the name of smooth hummus, has anyone ever tried making it with chickpea flour rather than whole chickpeas? I love chickpea flour in socca but somehow the idea of using it in hummus sounds…gross?

I'm not really a fan of silky smooth hummus, but that works out well, because I don't have the patience to peel chickpeas, either. I like a bit of texture.

could you put them thru the foodmill to get rid of the skins? I am too lazy to do it by hand.

I make hummus in my Vitamix. Takes about 2 minutes, and it's pretty smooth, even without removing the skins.

I batch cook chickpeas and freeze them. One day I didn't think ahead and thaw my chickpeas, so in the KitchenAid food processor they went. Frozen. It took a long time, but they went from shaved ice bits to the smoothest hummus we've ever had. Got my Syrian hubby's big stamp of approval!

Not enough hours in the day to be peeling chickpeas one by one.

Do the skins have nutrition that we would be throwing away?

I agree with cathrobi, I use my Vitamix! It make fabulous smooth hummus! I make it often my boys love it and it's such a nutritional snack!

I bounce them around in the colander which gets most of the skins off, but I still have to pick them out. Not a huge deal,but putting them back in water as someone suggested should make the skins float. Thanks!

I am amazed at all of these comments... I tried it yesterday and didn't notice a difference. Neither did anyone else in my family. Huh....

This is very timely, as I just made the ethereally smooth hummus for the second time. I do think the peeling of the chickpeas makes a difference. Really, if you're going to be cooking dried beans and getting out the food processor it's already a bit of a project, so the peeling isn't really a big deal.

I second the Vitamix trick. Makes beautiful Hummus! And no peeling required!

My Persian friend taught me the trick of adding plain yogurt to hummus before blending. Really ups the creamy factor while keeping it healthy. Peeling the chickpeas is on the list for the next time I make hummus though!

There's nothing new about this tip. I watched a Syrian cook make hummus in the kitchen of the hotel I worked in years ago. He drained the boiled chickpeas, let them rest for a minute or two, then rubbed them well with a clean dishtowel in a large bowl. Then they were tossed into another large bowl, water poured over, skins floated to the top and were drained off. It took a few minutes for all this happen but then he was used to doing it every day!

Seems like you could get the same effect by putting the chickpeas through a juicer?

Personally, I don't need ethereally smooth hummus. I like it chunky. I reserve a few whole chickpeas and mix them in with the finished dip. What a treasure it is to find one when you're dipping through it!

Ciao,

L

I've tried it, and it's fantastic! The hummus is also more digestible (I tend to have problems with chickpeas). But I'm a lazy person, I thought it was a lot of extra work even though my 7-year-old helped me.

It bothers me --- my husband is from the middle east and the hummus over there is NOTHING like what you can buy here --- it's absolutely silky. The photo on this post is looks very grainy --- definitely American hummus.

I like to add silken tofu --- it adds to the creaminess and ups the protein!

Try silken tofu!

This reply function leaves a lot to be desired --- perhaps the reply could show up under the original comment, like almost every other website? Sheesh! Even though it says "in reply to . . . " at the bottom, you'd have to scroll back up to see what the original comment was to make sense of the reply.

yes, it's an awful version of comment systems that allow for replies. like the world's laziest coder created it. i've always wondered who neglected to look under the hood of this new system. i hope they got yelled at for just taking the programmer's promises at face value without testing to see how it would actually work.

I used to make hummus with canned chickpeas until I realized that those cans are likely lined with BPA and it's preferable to properly prepare chickpeas to make them more digestible (à la the Nourishing Traditions book).

Here's a good guide with images:
http://www.cravingfresh.com/2011/03/how-to-cook-chickpeas.html

I used to think the raw garlic in the hummus caused my digestion problems until I made a hummus with properly soaked and peeled chickpeas... True happiness!

We haven't tried it yet -- our standby recipe and instructions come from America's Test Kitchen, and we've never peeled them before. But between the roasted garlic and the chickpeas cooked in ... (baking soda?) we've never had anything but silky smooth hummus.

It should not take 20 minutes to peel your chickpeas. When rinsing them, swirl them in the colander, this should loosen the skins, then pick them out. Or, as noted above, add them to water again so the skins float. 10 minutes, tops.

If you add a little baking soda to the water when you boil the chickpeas, it helps loosen the skins and makes a more tender bean.

I've peeled them before, but only when I'm feeling ambitious. I can't usually be bothered to do *all* of them. Besides, hummus is one of those few things that my husband actually loves to make, even if most of our friends don't like it. If I make a better hummus than his, he'll get demotivated and give up on it entirely...so I let him make his hummus. With skin.

I've peeled them before, but only when I'm feeling ambitious. I can't usually be bothered to do *all* of them. Besides, hummus is one of those few things that my husband actually loves to make, even if most of our friends don't like it. If I make a better hummus than his, he'll get demotivated and give up on it entirely...so I let him make his hummus. With skin.

I tried it today...... and indeed it was very smooth! But it is too much work!

Peeling the chickpeas gives you smooth, light almost cloudlike hummus. It also takes about an hour so I just add olive oil and chickpea water to my puree until it's the smoothness I like.

As the America's Test Kitchen discovered, treating a hummus like an emulsion gives you a very smooth result. Grind the chickpeas first, before you add the water, then add the oil and tahini. Additionally, my Vitamix really gets it smooth.

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/article.asp?docid=13463

Yes, I do that when I make a type of sandwich spread with them. It makes it taste better.