Is the awful taste of canned chickpeas the can or the chickpea?

It’s a matter of taste. I eat them straight from the can. Love them.

I have not noticed an awful flavor.

Do you rinse canned garbanzos thoroughly before you make humus? I make it both ways (canned and dried peas) and I can’t tell the difference. But I learned the hard way about rinsing them well.

First drain the canned chickpeas then rinse the chickpeas, discard the water rinse them again, and again. Then cook with them.

If they don’t taste good, there might be something wrong with the can. As above, rinse at least twice in clean water before you use them.

I agree with all the rinsing. But if you think they still taste bad, mash them up with lots of lemon juice, pressed garlic, salt and some sesame oil and voila, you’ll love the hummus.

I never noticed a nasty taste, but I must admit the only time I have cooked with tinned ones is when I make chickpea burgers and I add lots of spices etc. so it might be masked.

What sort of cooking do you do with them?

I too love canned chickpeas and have never noticed a bad taste. I’m guessing that you might be one of those folks that they call Supertasters

These folks tend to have a genetic pre-disposition to be able to taste more flavors and compounds than your average person and some flavors are way more intense which can be unpleasant if you are tasting something metallic or too salty or too bitter.

You would think that supertasters would make good foodies, but usually the opposite is true, because some of the flavors that these folks can taste are often overwhelmingly strong or even putrid tasting to them, subsequently a lot of supertasters are very picky because some of the good things that taste sweet or savory and yummy to other people (like Brussels sprouts) taste terrible to them.

You didn’t say whether or not you get the same bad flavor if you used dried chickpeas that you have cooked yourself, that might be something to try.

Most canned food products are disgusting, flavorless and taste slightly metallic from the can. I will never understand why people eat this stuff!! Easy solution, make garbanzo beans from dried beans as they were meant to be. Just throw in an instant pot (any pressure cooker) and in 35 minutes they are soft enough for salads, 50 minutes, soft enough to make hummus. No pre-soaking required. And they taste much better and it is more environmentally friendly, because a 10-lb bag of dried garbanzo beans equals about 30 cans. Canned goods require metal, processing, canning, and shipping and are a pain to transport, store and cost 4 times as much. No reason to used canned anything!