Well, I don't have experience with black-eyed peas in particular, but they're a bean, basically... So I would go ahead and shuck them out of their shells and cook 'em up.

Your recipes may call for dried, canned or fresh beans depending. If it doesn't actually say, look at how long the beans are supposed to be cooked- if it's only a few minutes then the recipe is probably for canned beans. In that case you would need to cook your beans first. If it is a long time (like an hour or so) then the recipe is likely for dried beans. In that case you would need to check your beans earlier than the recipe says because fresh beans cook faster than dried.

I have had fresh black-eyed peas from the market here, and they did go funky kind of quickly in the fridge, but we're talking a couple of days, not hours. :) Hope this helps, and hopefully someone more knowledgable will give you some more info!

Cheers!

Sunni

Yep, they need to be shelled. To the best of my knowledge there is nothing you can use those shells for.
After shelling (I use a pea sheller attached to a hand mixer base)wash, sort, and freeze for later use. You can also cook and can instead of freezing.
If you know someone with a pea sheller it would save you a world of time. Otherwise, grab 2 bowls and find a good movie, split the pods lengthwise (the dryer ones will be easier) and remove the peas.
YUM!

As Dar said you have a choice of using them as "picked green and shelled" (often called shellies or shelled peas) for fresh eating or dried on the vine for dry storage. Best not to mix the two as they require very different cooking times before eating. ;)

Down here black-eyed peas are almost always allowed to dry completely on the vine and stored as dry peas. That is the easiest. Then cooked as you would any dried bean or pea. We always harvest a couple of meals while still in the young green pod stage for fresh eating and let the rest dry on the vine.

You will know they are ready to be harvested when the pods are brown, dry, and the peas rattle in the pods.

Just posted our recipe for Hoppin' John, a traditional New Year dish made with black-eyed peas, over on the Harvest forum here. Check it out. ;)

Dave

Just a note, if your peas are the green kind (my favorites), they may not need an entire hour of cooking. The cream peas I plant will usally be tender in about 30 minutes. The only way to know is to check them. An 80 year old woman in my church taught me how to cook them: remove them from the shells. Put them in a boiler and cover with water. Add about a tablespoon of cooking oil, a heaping teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until they are tender. Boy, oh boy, would I love to have some of them fresh right now! :)

I love black-eyed peas, I always use fresh (green) I don't use the shells. I put them in a sauce pan with chicken stock, bacon cut into small pieces and cubed potatoes and simmer for about 30 minutes :) it's heaven on earth

Blackeyes are not the preferred cowpea down here, but most folks who use them do it as green shellies. Pinkeye Purple hulls are more popular, a liitle more flavor and the pods are a bit more tender young. Blackeyes can be used as snaps, but you have to pick the pods early.
A pot of cream peas with snaps {{gwi:10436}}

Now I'm craving blackeyed peas and have to wait until this summer :/ lol

I planted black eyed peas from seed this year. The plants sprouted, got almost a foot tall, and then exploded into growth. I have beans everywhere! Obviously, you have to harvest daily. Its interesting to read some of the responses to the question. I shelled half of a gallon freezer bag and don't know exactly what to do with them. No one wants to eat BEP's everyday so I need to know how to store the peas that will come. I grew up on bagged dry peas and, when mama was in a hurry, canned peas. I would like to keep some to use as seed for next year. Kinda lost here...are there "stages" in the peas once they're picked? Please help!

Help! I have some blackeyes not fully dried in their shells, still on the plant. We are expecting a freeze next week. Can I pull them and allow them to air dry in a sunny window?

I'm pretty far North & expect nothing below the mid-40's F. for the next 10 days... you must be really far North. ;-)

As others have commented above, you can harvest cowpeas (including blackeyes) either green or dry. If the pods have begun to change color or wither, you could pull those pods to dry... but it might be better to just harvest them green & shell out those with expanded pods. The shelled beans can be used fresh, or blanched & frozen. Young, immature pods can be used as snaps.

In the future, there are short DTM cowpeas which are more likely to mature in short-season areas. MN 13 (which I grew this year) and MN 150 are true-bush cowpeas, bred to mature in Minnesota. If you want to grow longer-season cowpeas (including blackeyes) you might want to consider starting them as transplants. I start climbing cowpeas & yardlong beans as transplants every year, with consistently good results.

Here’s a link explaining how to blanch and freeze black-eyed peas: https://oureverydaylife.com/freeze-fresh-shelled-black-eyed-peas-38682.html

Hope it’s helpful.