Should barley be soaked before cooking pickle and porridge?

Mistresses know that barley is cooked well and without preliminary soaking. However, this procedure will make barley grains even more delicious and healthy. How much soak barley before cooking dishes such as porridge and pickle? Depending on the dish, you need from 2 to 15 hours. We present an overview of the methods of preparation and preparation of pearl barley.

Should barley be soaked before cooking

Soaking before cooking allows you to get even softer and more tender grains. Not all housewives have time for this procedure, especially when dinner needs to be cooked right now. Therefore, they simply immerse the washed barley in the pan and cook it for about an hour. Meanwhile, soaking reduces the process by about half. It’s enough to just plan a dish with this grits, and immersion in water will take no more than 5 minutes.

There is another important reason why barley and other cereals need to be soaked. Cereals, nuts and beans contain inhibitor substances that ensure their safety, but harm the human body. It is easiest to get rid of such substances by soaking. Water neutralizes the inhibitor, and the grain becomes more edible.

If barley is not soaked, it will be more difficult for the body to digest food and absorb valuable minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc.

Also, the water will remove excess starch from the cereal, which makes the grains slimy and cloudy. The friable consistency of dishes is the third reason for soaking barley.

How to soak barley before cooking

You have seen the importance of preparing cereals before cooking. It remains to figure out how to properly soak the pearl barley. For different dishes there will be differences in the time of the procedure.

Important
Do not forget to thoroughly rinse the grains even before soaking, and even more so before cooking. Barley is considered one of the dirtiest cereals. After soaking, rinse the groats again, remove the mucus and any remaining debris.

Choose a deep glass container. The grain swells and becomes twice as large, keep this in mind.

For pickle

For cooking pickle you need the most crumbly grits. It is soaked for 5 to 12 hours, whichever is more convenient. 1 liter of cereal will take 1 liter of water.

Advice from purity.bigbadmole.com/en/: for soup, it is better to boil the grain in a separate container. A little trick: when the water boils, drain it, rinse everything with cold water and refill the pan with boiling water. Groats will become friable, the dish will become transparent.

For porridge

Enough 2-3 hours to barley became suitable for cooking porridge, but if the grains stand for longer, nothing bad will happen. The grains have a porous structure, they are quickly absorbed by water.

What water to soak in

In which water is it better to soak barley: cold or hot? Experiments have shown that cold water is better, although the procedure increases in time.

How to soak barley quickly

Soak the grits quickly and get a clear and crumbly dish? This task is doable. Add something sour to the water: lemon juice, table vinegar, kefir.

Is it possible to soak overnight

Leaving barley in the water overnight is very convenient. Just put the container in the refrigerator.

How to cook barley soaked in water

Cooking time after soaking is significantly reduced - this is another advantage of preparing grains.

How much soaked barley is cooked? After boiling water in a pan, 20-30 minutes are enough.It all depends on the size of the grains and the duration of soaking. If you managed to throw the cereal into the water for just an hour, then you have to cook it for about 45 minutes.

Barley can be prepared in a slow cooker. It will take 30 to 50 minutes.

For pickle, it is better to cook the soaked cereal separately and add it 5 minutes before the dish is ready.

These are the most relevant secrets of cooking pearl barley, use them and please your home with nutritious and delicious dishes.