Chickpeas from a can should be soft enough; no nead for baking soda.

The Washington Post Food staff recently answered questions about all things edible. Here are excerpts from that chat.

Q: I’m planning to make this hummus recipe that gives me pause. It calls for canned chickpeas to be boiled for 20 minutes with 1/2 tsp baking soda. I’ve only used baking soda in baked goods before, but the recipe claims it aids softening. I’m curious to hear what Joe thinks.

A: I use baking soda sometimes when I cook dried chickpeas to help with the softening, but with canned, that seems like a waste! I’m sure boiling them for 20 minutes will sure get them even softer, and the baking soda will help you take the skins off so the hummus would theoretically be even smoother, but I frankly wouldn’t bother. My favorite hummus recipe takes all of 5 minutes, and you use canned chickpeas and a Vitamix or other high-powered blender, and you use the liquid from the chickpeas to keep it nice and light. I like the hummus to be the consistency of thick pancake batter when I’m making it — and this does the trick.

— Joe Yonan

Q: Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t grate garlic (or almost anything) with the box grater without grating my fingers. Any tips?

A: This won’t really help, I know, but I love my garlic press. It saves my fingertips. Also, for most recipes, you can simply mince the garlic.

— Ann Maloney

A: I grate garlic (and nutmeg and ginger and zest lemons and such) using my trusty Microplane! I can’t recommend this wonder-tool enough! The reason I prefer to grate garlic rather mince it is because I am lazy and grating it into the bowl or pan or whatever means I don’t have a cutting board to wash.

— Olga Massov

Q: What do I do with excess yeast? Will it stay fresh in a Ziploc bag?

A: I store all my yeast in the freezer. That keeps it years, in my experience.

— B.K.

Q: I miss sharing meals with friends and family. But I especially miss sharing baked goods with them. How can I do this safely? For instance, if I bake bread or cookies and only handle them with tongs afterwards, can I share these baked goods? Are you able to share food with people you’re not sheltering with? How?

A: I think you can safely do this. Really, you just need to practice the same kind of food safety for handling food you always do. Wash your hands frequently (before and after cooking), don’t cook food while you’re sick, etc. As far as we know, the risk of transmission via food is very low.

Since we’re still making food for remote photo shoots, there’s still food being passed off (from me, that’s mostly been baked goods). Obviously, no one is sharing plates or bites! But I’ve been careful about doing the things I said above, and I have felt confident in letting people eat what I’ve made. And sure, if you go minimal-touch after baking, that certainly isn’t a bad thing.

– Becky Krystal

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Q: What do I do with excess yeast? Will it stay fresh in a Ziploc bag?

A: I store all my yeast in the freezer. That keeps it years, in my experience.

– B.K.