There is no need to rinse barley before using it. To enhance the flavour of barley, heat the kernels in a skillet for a few minutes or cook it in broth instead of water. Why do you need to wash barley before cooking? Hulled barley can take 20 to 25 minutes longer to cook than pearl and will absorb less liquid.
Should I soak barley before cooking?
R: hulled, or whole-grained barley. Image via The Delicious Truth Like farro (see below), the more unprocessed your barley, the more likely it is you should soak it for a few hours to overnight to cut down the cooking time .
Many lazy cooks skip rinsing off their grains before they cook ’em, but that’s a big mistake for a few reasons. Some grains have coatings on them that need to be rinsed off to cook properly and taste good.
What does it mean to rinse grains?
Rinsing grains means you remove debris and other kinds of unsavory residue . If you read our guide to properly cleaning produce, you know that you always need to take the proper steps to reduce bacteria and pesticides on your foods. Most grains, no matter what their color, need to be rinsed before cooking.
One query we ran across in our research was “Why do you have to rinse basmati rice after cooking?”.
Basically, that rice flour will create a thickish paste in the cooked result if you don’t rinse it off . Don’t try and rinse it until the water is perfectly clear, though: that’s an exercise in frustration and a waste of water. Long-grained basmati rice gets the rinse-and-repeat treatment.
What is barley and what does it taste like?
A nutty, chewy whole grain that has tons of fiber, barley is a great replacement for rice, tastes terrific in soup, and makes a stellar main ingredient in risotto. While barley is different from wheat, it does contain gluten , so keep that in mind if you’re looking for grains to cook for friends who have food allergies or celiac disease.
L: pearled, or refined barley. R: hulled, or whole-grained barley . Image via The Delicious Truth Like farro (see below), the more unprocessed your barley, the more likely it is you should soak it for a few hours to overnight to cut down the cooking time.