Barley porridge or pearl barley has been known since ancient times. It is affordable, nutritious and healthy, it is included in many other dishes, so there is a place for it in every kitchen and every housewife should know how to cook barley correctly.

What is barley and what is its use?

Pearl barley is a cereal that is made from barley. It is named so because it looks like freshwater pearls (pearl). There are several varieties:

Barley - a whole grain processed in a certain way, it happens different sizes depending on the variety.
Barley groats - finely chopped barley groats, are not polished, therefore they have an angular shape.

Groats are known for their various beneficial properties, which allowed barley porridge to be one of the main dishes on the table of noble people. Barley porridge was very fond of Tsar Peter I.

Barley is close to wheat in terms of calories, the presence of proteins, vitamins and minerals: Of the micro and macro elements useful to humans, pearl barley contains phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and iron.

When cooking barley increases 5 times. This is one of the cheapest cereals, so it has been widely used in the army menu at all times.

How to cook pearl barley?

To make barley porridge tasty and crumbly, you need to know how to cook it correctly. And you need to cook it for a long time and this is the main disadvantage of this cereal. Barley porridge is usually boiled for about an hour and a half, sometimes even more. The difference in time depends on the quality of the cereal, and on the method of preparation. If the porridge is undercooked, it will be tough and tasteless.

With the advent of multicookers and different ways cooking time of barley grains has ceased to be an important factor influencing the choice of cereals for porridge, so pearl barley is gradually gaining popularity again.

The speed of cooking porridge depends on the grain size. There are different varieties of barley, the grains of each variety have certain properties, which affects the quality of pearl barley. Coarse-grained barley cooks longer, fine-grained with almost round grains cooks faster.

You also need to take into account when this cereal is grown. Last year's barley is cooked longer than grain from the current year's harvest. It is useful to look at the packing date on the bag with cereals.

How to cook barley in the traditional way

Measure the right amount of cereal;
Rinse it with cold water several times;
Put the washed barley in a deep saucepan, pour cold water in proportion to 1 cup of cereal 3-4 cups of water;
To put on strong fire, boil;
After boiling, reduce the fire to a minimum and cook barley under a closed lid for about 2 hours until fully cooked. Salt is better in the middle of cooking;
Periodically, the porridge must be checked so that the water does not completely boil away;
When the porridge is ready, add butter. It is advisable not to immediately lay it out on plates, but let it stand in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

How to cook barley in a fast way

This method can be called fast only conditionally, since it takes much more time, only the cooking time is reduced. To cook barley porridge for half an hour, the grits must first be soaked.

Measure the right amount of cereal and rinse it with cold water;
Pour barley with cold water in the proportion of 1 glass of barley per 1 liter of water, leave for 5 hours or more, overnight;
The cereal will absorb a lot of water, drain the remaining liquid before cooking. Rinse the cereal again, and then pour water. For cooking, swollen pearl barley is poured with less water, about 2 cups of water per 1 cup of dry cereal. This amount is difficult to calculate exactly, as it depends on the soaking time and the cereal itself.
Salt, put on high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the fire to a minimum;
Boil for approximately 30 minutes.
Butter is added at the very end.

How to determine the readiness of pearl barley?

Determining readiness is simple - try it. The boiled groats are swollen, soft, pleasant to the taste.

Crumbly barley porridge is an excellent side dish for meat and fish. In addition, boiled barley is used in salads and snacks, as well as in soups - fish, mushroom, meat. The most popular barley soup is pickle.

How to cook barley in a slow cooker

Wash the barley and soak in cold water for 2-3 hours.
Drain the water, put the barley in a slow cooker, greased with butter.
Add three times more water than barley (1 cup barley 3 cups water).
Set the multicooker to the "Buckwheat" mode, close the lid and cook from 50 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes, depending on the type of barley.

It is important to ensure that barley does not run away. Porridge greatly increases in volume, about 5-6 times, for this volume and count a serving. If barley porridge seems undercooked, then add butter and set the slow cooker to the "heating" mode for 10-15 minutes.

Barley porridge is obtained by grinding barley grains, as a result of which only the husk and the top layer of grain are removed. This cereal has been known since ancient times, when it was widely prepared and eaten.

Now many have forgotten about pearl barley and practically do not cook it, because they believe that this porridge turns out to be tough and completely tasteless. But it's not. Let's take a closer look at the main methods and recipes for making pearl barley porridge so that it turns out soft, tender and crumbly.

Useful properties of barley porridge

Barley rightfully belongs to useful products, since it belongs to the whole grain cereal, therefore it undergoes minimal processing, retaining all the nutrients.

For the benefit of the body, barley porridge must be eaten on a regular basis, since it contains such vitamins:

group B- has a beneficial effect on the condition nervous system calming her;
vitamin A- necessary for the normal functioning of the organs of vision;
vitamin E- acts as an antioxidant, it is also responsible for the condition of the nail plate and hair;
group D- promotes growth and strengthening bone tissue and joints;
vitamin PP- has a positive effect, improving the condition skin preventing premature aging.

Barley porridge contains other useful substances, microelements and macroelements, as well as amino acids.

For example, fiber, which is in barley, helps to improve the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Gordecin - being a natural antibacterial component, it allows you to cope with pathogenic microflora.

This cereal belongs to the pretty low-calorie foods, its calorie content is 320 kcal. Therefore, such porridge is often included as food, while dieting. Thanks to their useful properties, this product is included in the menu in children's, military and medical institutions.

During cooking, this cereal can increase in volume up to 5 times. This should be taken into account when choosing a container for cooking porridge.
It can be difficult to determine in advance the exact cooking time for barley porridge, since many factors affect this process. Everything will depend on the quality of the grain, the utensils used for its preparation, as well as the method of cooking. On average, the cooking process of this dish is from 1 to 1.5 hours.
The consistency of the finished porridge will depend on the amount of water in which the cereal was cooked. If you want to make barley porridge crumbly, then for 1 glass of porridge, you need to take 2 glasses of water. If barley is cooked in a larger amount of liquid, for example, by doubling the volume of water, then it will turn out to be viscous and viscous.

Popular Recipes

Consider the basic recipes for how to cook friable barley on water. Since this porridge is made from whole grains, it will take a long time to boil it. Many housewives use the method of pre-soaking cereals, leaving barley porridge in water for the whole night.

This method of cooking allows you to significantly reduce the cooking time, as the soaked grain becomes softer and boils faster.

Barley preparation with pre-soaking

Rinse the cereal well under running water. Fill it with water in the ratio of 1 cup of porridge to 1 liter of water. The grain should stand for about 10 hours soaked, it is better to leave it to stand overnight. In the morning, drain the excess liquid, boil water and pour out the porridge.

This dish is prepared from time to time, stirring from time to time and checking the degree of its readiness. This will take approximately 20 minutes.

When the porridge is cooked, the container is removed from the heat and covered with a lid. It is necessary to wrap the pan with a terry towel or thick cloth, and leave it in this state for another 15-30 minutes. During this time, the dish will reach full readiness.

Cooking porridge without soaking

The grains are washed well and placed in boiling water. So that the water protrudes 2 centimeters above the level of the porridge. It is necessary to wait until the barley boils, and then reduce the heat to a minimum value. On such a fire, the cereal is cooked for 5 minutes.

After this time, strain the barley porridge through a colander. Again, it is necessary to pour the cereal with boiling water and boil for 5.5 minutes. This manipulation must be carried out 6 times. At the same time, each time the amount of water should increase so that it protrudes 1 centimeter more than in previous time. Each time the cooking time is increased by 30 seconds.

AT last time, pouring boiling water over the cereal, you can salt it and add a little oil. When the porridge is ready, it is removed from the fire and filtered.

An old recipe for barley porridge

After that, the pan must be placed in an oven preheated to 125 degrees. In the oven, barley porridge should sweat for another 30–35 minutes. Before serving, the dish is seasoned with vegetable oil.

There is also a standard recipe for barley porridge, when the grain is placed in a saucepan, poured with cold water and simmered over low heat for 1-2 hours. At the same time, the cereal must be constantly stirred and monitored so that it does not burn.

Now you know how to properly cook friable barley on water and you can treat your loved ones to a tasty and healthy dish.

You will learn more about how to cook barley porridge in the following video.

Barley, which is barley grains processed in a special way, is a tasty and healthy cereal. Barley porridge, pickle and many other interesting dishes are prepared from it.

This product has only one drawback - barley is prepared for a rather long time. But if you cook cereals without soaking, which is also acceptable, it will turn out to cook it much faster.

How long to cook barley without soaking

It is recommended to cook pearl barley for 50-90 minutes without soaking. Exact time depends on its age and variety. The readiness of the product is easy to determine - it should be swollen, soft, but not mushy.

Step-by-step instructions for cooking barley without soaking

Sort the grits and rinse thoroughly.
Pour 3 cups of water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
After boiling, pour 1 cup of barley into it. Boil it over high heat for 2-3 minutes.
Drain the liquid and pour the product with fresh water (also 3 cups).
When the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 50 minutes. Check readiness.
Drain excess water. Put the oil, mix and let stand for up to 10 minutes. with closed lid.

One of the main secrets of properly cooked barley porridge is thorough washing of the cereal. It is advisable to pour water several times during the process. When washing, cereals can be rubbed between the fingers, so the husks will come off them, and the porridge will turn out to be crumbly.

If you want to cook exactly friable porridge, you need to take 1 full glass of cereal for 2.5-3 glasses of liquid. Those who like viscous porridge should take 1 liter of water for the same amount of barley.

Cooking time depends on when the cereal was grown. The longer it is stored, the longer it will take to cook.

Simple recipes for dishes with pearl barley

From pearl barley you can cook a healthy, satisfying and delicious porridge. This dish goes well with vegetables, mushrooms, different types meat, spicy sauces. But this is not all that is usually prepared from pearl barley.

Pearl barley pilaf

To prepare pilaf, you need to stock up on the following products: 500 g of pearl barley, 500 g of bacon, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 250 g of fatty butter, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, spices.

Cooking process:

Boil the meat until done. Save the broth.
Fry chopped bacon with chopped vegetables in a thick-walled dish (cauldron or stewpan).
Add there tomato paste, spices. Mix.
Pour in the broth.
Boil barley until half cooked. Then put the porridge in an even layer in a saucepan with the rest of the products. Cook until the broth has reduced to the level of the grits.
Close the lid tightly, then place in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.

Pickle with barley

For this recipe, you will need ingredients such as 300 grams of beef, 50 g of pearl barley, 250 g of potatoes, 100 g of pickles, 0.5 cups cucumber pickle, 1 onion, 150 g carrots, bay leaf, 2 tbsp. spoons of sunflower oil, peas, pepper, salt.

Cooking process:

Rinse pearl barley, boil it until half cooked.
Fill a 3-liter pot with water, place the meat in it and cook it for an hour.
Take out the beef, cool, cut into pieces.
Add barley to the broth, cook for half an hour.
Peel, cut potatoes into cubes. Add to soup.
Peel and chop carrots and onions. First fry the onion in oil, then add the carrots.
Cucumbers cut into thin chips. Stew them in a separate pan with the addition of three tablespoons of broth.
Transfer the onions with carrots and cucumbers to the broth. Pour out the brine.
After boiling, salt and add spices.
Sprinkle generously with herbs before serving, add sour cream.

Milk barley porridge

This simple and at the same time nutritious and tasty dish is prepared from 1 cup barley, 600 ml of milk, 20-30 g of butter, 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar and salt.

Properly cooked pearl barley is a porridge of beauty and strength. If you want, male power. However, not everyone knows how to properly cook barley porridge and deprive themselves of tasty and healthy food on breakfast. This hearty dish (very cheap, by the way) can be afforded by students and bachelors who do not know how to cook at all. Or very busy, but in need of replenishment of energy, people.

Everything is very simple if you know some secrets of cooking Peter the Great's favorite porridge. If you do everything right and boil every grain, you will understand why barley porridge is called pearl barley. And be sure to include it in your diet.

Proper barley porridge

Ideally, it was once put at night behind the damper of a heated Russian stove, and in the morning the porridge was ready. Or they put it on the whole day, along with cabbage soup, behind the same damper. Time and gradual heating are important here - the so-called languishing of cereals.

It is also important that the cereals need to be washed well. Unwashed, it will give a slimy porridge. And we need pearl grains on a plate.

In the oven

If possible, the same number can be turned in the oven. - Place the pre-washed pearl barley in a cast-iron or pot in the oven. Let it first boil at 100 - 120 degrees, and then you can switch the regulator to 80 degrees and leave it for 8 hours.

The porridge should be closed and there should be enough water so that the top layer of barley porridge does not dry out. The proportions are one to three. One part pearl barley, three parts water.

Barley tricks on the water

First of all, rinse the pearl barley thoroughly so that the water becomes clear.
Then soak for 8-12 hours with cold water, at the rate of a liter of liquid per glass of dry cereal. After the barley is infused, drain the remaining liquid and rinse again in cold water.
To cook friable barley porridge, you need to take 2.5 glasses of water per glass of cereal (glass volume 200 ml). If you want to get a viscous porridge, take a liter of milk or water for a glass of water.
Barley porridge is cooked from 40 to 90 minutes. Cooking time depends on the type (grade) of pearl barley, the size of the grains, the thickness of the walls of the pan, the soaking time of barley.

Fast way

To cook barley on water without long soaking, you will need cereals, water, salt to taste. Pour 2 full glasses of water into one glass of barley.

Put the saucepan on the stove and bring everything to a boil. Drain completely and refill with cold water. Bring everything to a full boil. When the porridge boils, salt to your liking, cover the pan with a lid, reduce the fire to a minimum and cook for about an hour.

Barley porridge with stew in a slow cooker

Barley in a slow cooker is prepared not simply, but extremely simply.

Ingredients:

2 cups pearl barley
900 ml water
Salt (as you like)
100 g good butter
one can of stew
1 medium sized carrot
1 medium bulb.

Cooking

Rinse the pearl barley thoroughly, put it in a deep bowl and pour boiling water over it.
Cover with a lid, wait 15 minutes.

While barley will swell, start preparing vegetables.

Peel and cut carrots into small cubes
finely chop the onion.

Put vegetables, butter in the slow cooker and turn on the “frying” mode. Fry until the onion becomes transparent.

Rinse the barley soaked in boiling water with cold water, put it in a slow cooker and pour 900 ml of boiling water over it. Salt.
Turn on the "buckwheat" mode and cook until the sound signal about the end of cooking.
Salt, add the stew, bay leaf, mix well, close the lid and leave for another 15 minutes.

Serve with fresh herbs.

Barley in the microwave

To prepare pearl barley porridge in the microwave, you need to take cereals soaked in advance for 12 hours.

Put it in a container suitable for microwave oven.
Pour water at the rate of 1 cup of soaked cereal for 1.5 cups of water or milk.
Close the bowl with barley and turn on the microwave at maximum power.
Set the timer for five minutes.
Then take out the porridge, salt, add sugar (optional) and butter to taste, and then close the lid again and cook at medium power for half an hour.
Porridge must be stirred every 10 minutes.

Barley porridge is delicious, to be convinced of this, it is enough to learn once how to cook barley porridge correctly, roll up your sleeves and cook it. After your family appreciates barley porridge, you will cook it often.

With what to cook it and with what it will be possible to serve it to the table, you decide for yourself, since pearl barley is a dish that goes well with vegetables, fish, and meat. It's delicious on its own.

They say that barley porridge was Peter the Great's favorite porridge since childhood. Is it any wonder that he had the strength to do so much in his short life.

It is true that barley porridge is for male strength, for female beauty, for children and the elderly. It has everything that everyone needs. The main thing is to know how to cook barley porridge in water, and the rest will come with experience.

The old name for pearls is pearl. It is no coincidence that one of the oldest cereals known to us is called pearl barley. Our ancestors saw that it is very similar to small river pearls. And they were absolutely right, because its value for our body is great.

Actually pearl barley- these are barley grains that have undergone minimal processing, that is, they have removed the outer part from them; we call it bran. Also in Soviet time pearl barley was widely used in the catering system as a side dish because it was hearty and healthy. But it was public catering that secured its reputation as state-owned food with low prices. palatability. As with any other product, you just need to learn the secrets of making barley. Then not only a delicious dish will be added to your diet, but also food rich in fiber and proteins, trace elements and vitamins A, B, PP, E and D. There are dozens of barley recipes. Let's look at the simplest one first. So, how to cook barley on water?

Delicious to cook pearl barley possible in two ways. One of them will require more time and the other less.

1 option for cooking pearl barley

To begin with, barley must be thoroughly washed. This is a fairly dirty cereal, so you will need to change more than one water to get a really clean grain. The photo shows what cloudy water after the first wash.

Usually need about 4-5 water changes

.Some chefs recommend soaking pearl barley in yogurt, promising that in this case it will acquire an unusually delicate taste. But cook barley properly You can use regular water too. The main thing is that you should wait about 12 hours before cooking. Well-washed and pre-soaked barley will not have a slippery and unappetizing appearance and a bluish color.

For a glass of cereal, take 5 glasses of water. After 12 hours, the croup will swell, increase in size and become soft. Now you can transfer it to the pan and cook after that for about an hour and a half.
Here you can also put a small piece of butter or pour a little vegetable oil.
Professionals advise laying cereals in boiling water. First, barley is boiled over high heat for several minutes, and then it is reduced so that the porridge languishes.

If you want to get the perfect porridge, then take milk instead of water. It needs to be heated a little and then pour the swollen barley there. After the milk boils over high heat, put the pan in a water bath and continue to simmer the cereal for about 6 hours. Then it is flavored with butter and served either as an independent dish or as a side dish. In this case, the porridge will turn out crumbly and very tasty.

Instead of a water bath, you can use a less time-consuming method: transfer the porridge to a pot or a suitable container with a lid, and then put it in the oven for a couple of hours.

Another the secret of a delicious barley- this is the addition of salt at the very end of cooking.

Option 2: cook barley without long soaking

Sometimes we do not have so much time, but nevertheless, we want to eat this particular porridge for a side dish. How to cook barley without soaking so that it is no less tasty and crumbly? Are there ways that answer the question “how to cook pearl barley” and do not require such time costs? Of course have.
For this, in the same way, it is first necessary to have a good rinse the cereal for several times. Then it should be soaked, but this time you can get by with 3-4 hours. Then we put the grain in a saucepan, and pour water in a ratio of 1: 3 and put it on a strong fire. When the water boils, then drain it and put it back on the stove. Now we wait about an hour, and after that we wrap the pan with a towel and wait for a while, usually about 15 minutes. You can add more oil.

Option 3: cook barley without pre-soaking

How to cook barley without pre-soaking and can it be done? Culinary experts say it's possible. We repeat all the stages of preparing the cereal, and then put it to cook on a strong fire. How much to cook barley without soaking? From 40 minutes to an hour. Then the water is drained, butter is added here and the porridge is allowed to brew for about 15 minutes.

Cooking pearl barley in a slow cooker

How to cook pearl barley differently? Can be boiled in multicooker or in a rice cooker. We put the cereal ready for processing in a bowl and fill it with water in a ratio of 1: 3. Water should be salted in advance.

Try not to put a lot of grain so that the water does not boil from above. You need to cook porridge either in the “Buckwheat” mode or in the “Milk porridge” mode for about 2 hours. After let it brew.

In what and how to cook barley yet? You can also cook it in the microwave. In this case, the proportions of water and grain will be 1:1.5. We place the ingredients in a special dish and close it with a lid. Then we set the power to 400 watts, and the time to 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add oil and wrap with a towel for a while.

Pearl barley dishes

You can cook hundreds of dishes from pearl barley. This and delicious soups such as pickle, mushroom or just vegetable. Barley is good not only as a side dish, but also as a second dish. From it you can cook risotto, casserole, and even pilaf. And it turns out incredibly tasty. For example, in barley pilaf there will be the same standard when in ready dish you see grain to grain.

For pilaf, you need to cut onions and carrots. Carrots are best cut into strips so that they do not fall apart during cooking.

Then fry them in hot vegetable oil.

After the vegetables have acquired a golden color, put the chicken in the cauldron and also lightly fry.

I usually pre-wash barley, soak overnight, and then boil until half cooked for about an hour. Then I add it to the chicken and vegetables and add water or broth so that the cereal is completely covered. And I put it on a slow fire for another hour and a half. During this time, it is worth checking a couple of times whether the cereal is burning and whether there is a need to add water. Such pilaf will be different from rice pilaf, but nevertheless very tasty.

There are even barley desserts. And this is not only sweet porridge, but also unusual gozinaki.