The Secret to Smooth Hummus

You have to love the compulsives at America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country). They test a recipe every which way and explain it all to satisfy my inner geek.

It helped solve a mystery about my hummus. 

Hummus is a blend of ground chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (a peanut-butter-like preparation made from sesame seeds), and oil, flavored with garlic and a variety of other ingredients. It's easy, fast, and healthy. It's not low-calorie, with its substantial oil content, but the oils are mostly the healthier types. It's great with vegetables, crackers, or the traditional pita bread.

And what could be easier? Place the ingredients in a blender and you're pretty much done. 

But my attempts, while flavorful, were heavy and a little grainy. I tried a couple of recipes, from sources I trust, but they lacked the fluffiness and smooth, creamy texture of store-bought hummus. This is a simple recipe! There's no rocket science here! What could possibly be wrong?

From their May 2008 issue:

Most hummus has a coarse, dense consistency caused by the tough skins of the chickpeas.

We wanted hummus with a light, silky-smooth texture and a flavor profile that balances chickpeas, tahini (ground sesame paste), lemon juice, garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil.

So what's the cause of the coarse, dense texture? It's the skins of the chickpeas!

In theory, the best way to guarantee a creamy texture is to remove the chickpeas’ tough skins, but we couldn’t find an approach that wasn’t tedious or futile.

The secret? There are two.

First is to grind the chickpeas before adding any liquids.

Once the liquids are in the machine, the skins elude the whirring blades. When the chickpeas alone, the skins have no defense and are pulverized enough that they no longer wreck the texture. So I learned that a simple toss-and-blend approach won't work.

The second secret is to think of this as an emulsion like mayonnaise. As with a mayonnaise, the best approach is to work the wet and solid ingredients first and add the oil gradually while the machine runs.

The good folks at ATK said:

We started by grinding just the chickpeas and then very slowly added a small amount of water and lemon juice. To finish, we whisked the olive oil and tahini together and drizzled the mixture into the puree while processing; this created a smooth, light emulsion.

That worked for me. 

A commenter mentioned that a later article suggests microwaving the chickpeas for a minute. That also works. 

The remaining issue is flavor. In the past, I found it really easy to use too much garlic. Raw garlic is pungent! A single clove is a bit light; three is definitely too much. Two is usually fine. But to be really safe, use roasted garlic. There's an easy way: Toss four or more cloves with the papery skins still on into a dry pan and toast over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time, until the skins are charred several places. Let them cool and peel. (There's another way, too: Pressure-cooker roast garlic, which will be a future article.)

Toasting cumin seeds (pretty easy since you can use the garlic roasting pan) really amps up the spice! But you can use pre-ground and it will be nearly as good.  

Hummus, Perfected

NOTES:

• It's important to grind the chickpeas first, before adding liquids. 
• Be careful when using raw garlic, as it's easy to overdo it. With 1 average-sized clove, the flavor is subtle. With 2, it's good and not overpowering. Use two. Use one if the cloves are large. Or, use 3-5 cloves and toast the garlic (skins on in dry pan until charred). 
• It's best to toast whole cumin seeds until they are fragrant, then grind them using a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder (one you use only for spice grinding). If using pre-ground cumin, increase amount if it's not fresh. 
• Cook's Illustrated's top-rated tahini is the widely available Joyva Sesame Tahini. For chickpeas, most brands were fine. They preferred Pastene. Progresso and Goya are almost as good.
• Nut butter is a good alternative to tahini. Try peanut or cashew butter. 

The flavors meld overnight so it's best made a day ahead.

• ¼ cup water
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 Tablespoons well stirred tahini, or peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 can, 15 oz chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1-2 cloves garlic, 1 large clove, 2 small, or 5 roasted; see note
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin, see note
• 1 pinch cayenne
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Set aside about 12 of the whole chickpeas for a garnish. Place the rest in the microwave for one minute. 

Drop peeled garlic cloves into the food processor while it is running and process. Add the chickpeas, salt, cumin, and cayenne and process until coarsely ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the processor and grind again.

Add the lemon and water through the feed tube with the processor running for about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides as many times as necessary to get the chickpeas well chopped. 

Add the tahini and process.

Add the oil, with the processor running, until the hummus is fluffy.

Put the hummus in a bowl, garnish with the cilantro and whole chickpeas, and drizzle with some olive oil if you want. 

Comments

[lulu]

thanks for this - I love hummus. I usually make it with toasted walnuts (instead of tahini) and roasted red peppers but I want to try this method because I do prefer the super-smooth texture of store-bought.

[Carolyn Jung]

Smooth hummus is a very fine thing, indeed. I also read that Melissa Clark says to puree the chickpeas (if you're using dried, rather than canned) when they are still warm. They come out smoother that way, apparently.

[Glenn Fuller]

Give this recipe a try, It is awesome for parties. Adjust the size to fit your needs. Watch out, those peppers are hot. I suggest adding a couple then add others to taste. You can easily make it really hot like buffalo wings:

Chipotle Hummus
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 15 Minutes
Yields: 20 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 (15.5 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tahini (sesame-seed paste)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 chipotle peppers from canned peppers in adobo sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
Some (6?) sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste

I don’t strictly measure the Garlic, Lemon juice, cilantro, Peppers, tomatoes and roasted peppers but more or less season it to taste. Once I’ve added all, I’ll taste and adjust.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the garbanzo beans, water, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, chipotle pepper, garlic, and cumin in the bowl of a food processor; blend until smooth. Add the red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture until the ingredients are coarsely chopped into the hummus base. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover, and chill until ready to serve.

[Q]

I just used this, my first time making hummus, since I bought a food processor the other day and clearly hummus is the proper way to break it in.

Found this recipe via Google (searched "smooth" because a lot of homemade hummus I've had from other people has been too chunky).

It was absolutely fantastic! Liquidy silky smooth and tasted great. I dry roasted the cumin seeds and ground them in a mortar, I can taste that a tiny bit and I think it adds a lot. Squeezed my own lemon juice and used raw garlic (as opposed to roasting it). I used dry chickpeas, which I soaked and then overcooked slightly (1.5 cups cooked is about what's in a 15oz can).

Thanks!

[Moe Rubenzahl]

Q: Thanks for the great comment. Roasting the cumin is a great idea. I have never used dried chickpeas, will have to try that.

Moe

[Joe]

Moe... take your hummus to the next level by first zapping your beans in the microwave for 1:00-1:30, then toss them in the processor and proceed with your above instructions... this comes also from Cooks Illustrated (a tip in a 2012 issue), and the combination is TDF! it has something to do with relaxing the starch bonds and allowing for a more fluffy texture, even when cooled.

[FeedMe]

I updated the recipe to toast the cumin and to include Joe's and Carolyn's suggestion to heat the chickpeas. A minute in the microwave does the trick!