Should I delay adding barley when making vegetable barley soup?

Question

When adding barley to a soup (usually with some combination of vegetables), should I add the barley later than the rest of the ingredients?

Asked by clueless

Answer

It depends on how long the soup cooks for and whether you soak the barley or not. If the soup is going to cook for a couple of hours, you can just add unsoaked barley with everything else. Or you can soak the barley and add it towards the end of cooking.

If the soup is going to be cooked relatively quickly, you should soak the barley and add it with everything else. Soaked barley (soaked for a couple of hours) needs to be cooked for about 30 minutes.

It also depends on how soft you like the barley to be. Some people like it to near-disintegrate, some prefer it a little al dente.

Answered by ElendilTheTall

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What can I do to add more flavor into my beef barley soup?

Question

This time around my beef barley soup is tasting a bit on the plain side. It has the right amount of saltiness but is lacking in the flavorful department. The ingredients used thus far have been:

Beef Stock, Water, Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Seasoned Pepper, Rosemary, Onions, Carrots, Barley, and Cubed Beef.

What can I do to help boost its flavor?

Answer

• If you use self-made beef stock, try boiling a bit longer, so that the flavour of the beef is a bit more concentrated.
• Boil your soup a bit longer.
• Use more beef stock and/or cubed beef.
• I don't know how much herbs you put in. Maybe a bit more pepper or rosemary can make a difference.

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Barley vs. oats?

Question

What is the difference between barley and oats? In the US grocery stores (EDIT: in one grocery store) they seem to be considered to be the same thing, are they?

Answer

Oats

Oats are among the many cereal grains consumed. Oats are very popular in the health food movement because of their high nutritional value, and they have been used in breakfast porridge for centuries for much the same reason. Oats have a nutty flavour that is an excellent supplement to bread and other foods. Oats are high in protein, calcium, fiber, and vitamin E, among many other nutritional needs, and are an excellent dietary supplement for this reason. Today, oats are eaten in the form of oatmeal and granola bars.

Barley

Part of the grass family, barley grows in over 100 countries and is one of the most popular cereal crops, surpassed only by wheat, corn and rice. Because barley is a whole-grain food, consumption provides several health benefits. It is high is soluble fiber and can reduce blood cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Barley is also low in fat. Pearled barley is widely available in supermarkets near the rice, dry beans and pulses. Barley flour is available in health food markets. It is used as a thickener for soups and stews, and also in baked goods. In some recipes, you can combine barley flour with wheat flour. Barley flakes are used in baked goods. Barley is also used in the malted form. To form barley malt, the barley kernels are soaked and dried. The kernels sprout in a controlled environment. Along with beer, uses for barley malt include extracts, syrups and flavourings. Cooked pearled barley added to a salad provides extra fiber. Main dishes, soups and stews, baked goods and breakfast foods also include barley as an ingredient.

source:http://doctor.ndtv.com/faq/ndtv/fid/0014146/Is_having_tender_coconut_water_good_for_health.html

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Dark barley water

Question

I happened across the wikipedia article on barley water today, and it features a photo of some very dark barley water:

As far as I know, barley water is normally much lighter than that. Where does the dark color come from? Is that perhaps not just barley water?

Answer

It is unlikely that pure barley, however strong the malting, will produce such a dark color. I think it is safe to assume that it is colored.

In Germany, this (or a very similar) beverage is called Malzbier (See the English Wikipedia article on Malzbier) It is an alcohol free drink made with malted barley, and commonly colored with the food coloring E 150 (Look at the site of this popular drink, third FAQ item from the end). This is a coloring created by letting different types of sugar undergo a Maillard reaction, and can be considered a type of caramel. So it can be used in a malt drink in relatively high amounts without introducing an unusual taste or presenting a health risk.

If you have seen lighter barley water until now, this is probably because different producers use different amounts of coloring. It is probably a regional thing, the drink in the picture is produced in Spain, maybe they like their malted drinks darker.

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