Sometimes it can seem frustrating to try a new recipe and not know how much of an ingredient to purchase at the store. Sometimes they give you a quantity of shelling peas in volume (2 cups), and sometimes as a weight (2 pounds). But what are they really talking about? Is that before the peas are shelled or after the peas are removed? So how much is in a cup of shelling peas?
In order to figure out "how many shelling peas are in a pound" we ventured out to the local grocery store to look over the vegetable selection. Shelling peas are normally only found fresh from local farms and the peas are removed from the pod before eating.
In general, the weight of the shelled peas will be almost half of the weight of the original peas purchased in the pod. On average, 1 pound of whole unshelled pods will yield about 1.25 cups of shelled peas. Or it takes roughly 3 pounds of shelling pea pods to make 4 servings as a side dish.
Did you know that in 1984 Janet Harris of Sussex, UK set the world record for eating 7,175 peas, one by one, in 60 minutes using only chopsticks.
Next time your recipe calls for a cup of shelling peas you'll know how much you need to purchase at the store to cover it. You can also use our conversion tool below for any custom "how much shelling peas are in a..." measurements you need.
If not using immediately, refrigerate all varieties of peas as quickly as possible to lessen the amount of sugar content that will turn into starch.
Shell peas don't have much of a shelf life, don't store them in their pods or shelled for very long. Store pods in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and use them within 2 to 3 days.
Shell peas: Once they're shelled, the best way to store peas is to freeze them. First blanch them for 2 minutes in boiling water and then shock them in an ice-water bath until cool, to help maintain their bright color. Drain and freeze them in airtight plastic bags. They will keep for 5 to 6 months.
There are two common varieties of peas: green garden peas (need to be shelled) and edible-pod peas (eaten whole). Of the edible pod variety, snow peas and sugar snap peas are the most common; however, there are differences in the appearances between these two non-shelled types. Snap peas have crisp, plump edible pods, and snow peas, sometimes called Chinese pea pods, are flat edible pods.
One of the biggest hassles when cooking and working in the kitchen is when a recipe calls for "the juice of 1 lime" or a similar measurement. Often times when cooking people use bottled juices, pre-sliced vegetables and other convenient cooking time savers. Produce Converter will help you convert the "juice of 1 lime" and other similar recipe instructions into tablespoons, cups and other concrete measurements.
Produce Converter can also be used to figure out how many vegetables to buy when you need, for instance, "A cup of diced onion." You can use our easy conversion tool to figure out exactly how many onions you need to buy at the store in order to end up with the amount you need for your cooking.
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