Pearl barley-to soak or not to soak?

zippychick

Hi Jim:hello:

Some people rinse and pre cook pulses like this. Personally I would throw it in with the stew and let it cook long and slow:j:D

There are a couple of threads which also offer ideas

Pearl barley - to soak or not to soak?

Pearl barley in the slow cooker

You know, the more times I read the words "pearl barley" the less sense they make :rotfl:

I'll add your thread to the first link later

Let us know how you get on

Zip

angeltreats

I've never used it in a stew but I use it in soup all the time, I never soak or pre-cook it, I just throw it in with everything else.

adouglasmhor

zippychick wrote: »

Hi Jim:hello:

Some people rinse and pre cook pulses like this. Personally I would throw it in with the stew and let it cook long and slow:j:D

There are a couple of threads which also offer ideas

Pearl barley - to soak or not to soak?

Pearl barley in the slow cooker

You know, the more times I read the words "pearl barley" the less sense they make :rotfl:

I'll add your thread to the first link later

Let us know how you get on

Zip

Barley is a grain not a pulse

zippychick

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Barley is a grain not a pulse

You say poTAYYYYYto, I say poTAAAAAAto.....:rotfl:

mummy2jack

I just throw it in too.. Watch how much you do throw in though, has my DH made a stew once and added loads - The end result looked like Mashed potato :eek:

Hope you enjoy your stew

zippychick

That's true. Im eating soup right now with pearl barley in, and it has definitely thickened up overnight as well as how much it swells when it cooks. Yummy and filling though in a nice brothy type thing

thriftlady_2

angeltreats wrote: »

I've never used it in a stew but I use it in soup all the time, I never soak or pre-cook it, I just throw it in with everything else.

Yep, me too. Don't bother soaking it, I would think it will end up being very mushy.

missychrissy

I just throw it in at the start of cooking and don't pre soak. I just rinse it. I add a tablespoonful to a big pan as a little goes a long way. It is particularly good in lamb casseroles and Scotch Broth.

1jim

Thanks everyone, I took the plunge and threw in a handful, worked really well, made a huge pan of beef stew (was going to be an irish stew type of thing but didnt have any lamb so went for beef instead), have lots left over so will be taking for packed lunch over the weekend :-)
thanks again everyone

zippychick

Really glad it worked out.It sounds devine I made stew last week (with minced beef) so there are portions all frozen ready for future meals:j

Over here, we buy this a lot (not so sure if it's common outside NI/I - sorry if that's a stupid thing to say, I could be completely wrong!) so I am trying to get more adventurous with using it as i do add lentils to quite a few dishes. Worth a try if you see it out and about

Of course , if you have the ingredients, you could make a soup broth mix up yourself:money: