Exact Answer: Up to 45 minutes
Popular food grain and the main ingredient for alcoholic beverages, Barley is one of the most versatile ingredients in the Indian kitchen. This cereal would take around 30 to 45 minutes for getting cooked. The cooking time would be different for barley depending on its cooking method, type, and quality.
There are some culinary tricks that people should follow for cooking the barley perfectly in less time. Most people use, pearled barley in their kitchen which is a processed form of barley. The carbohydrates percentage of barley is extremely high. People can cook the barley in a slow cooker for around 45 to 50 minutes.
How Long Does Barley Take To Cook?
| Barley | Time |
| In minutes | 45 minutes |
| In seconds | 2700 seconds |
There are many factors and conditions that would affect the cooking time of barley. If someone is trying to cook the barley on the stove, then they can go for the below-mentioned techniques:
Stovetop absorption method- The process starts with cleaning or rinsing the barley with chilled water or normal cold water. Now, add the combination of barley with water. Add the ingredients to the saucepan, and put the required amount of salt in it. The size of the saucepan should be medium. T
he flame should be high in the beginning, and then people can lower the flame after the first boil comes. People can add the required amount of water to the saucepan whenever required. The cooking time of barley in this method would be 30 to 45 minutes depending on the type and quality of barley.
Stovetop pasta method- In this method, everyone needs a large stockpot. Add some water in a stockpot and wait till the water comes to a boil, then add barley to it. Wait for 20 to 45 minutes depending on the type of barley used. After some minutes, the barley would start becoming tender and chewy.
Both the cooking method is good for cooking barley faster, but the stovetop pasta method is easier or less complicated. People should avoid adding extra ingredients to the barley during the cooking process as some ingredients may not allow proper cooking of the barley.
Why Does Barley Take This Long To Cook?
The barley would take some time to get cooked as barley is a grain. The barley may take more time to get cooked as compared to rice. The composition of water and barley needs to be perfect for the proper cooking of barley. The basic rule is to take 2 cups of barley for 6 cups of water.
There are many types of barley available in the market, and the cooking time may get affected by the type of barley one is trying to cook. Everyone can use barley in different forms such as barley flour, barley water, and barley paste. Barley pilaf and grits can also be used by people in their kitchens.
The cooking time of all the forms of the barley would not be more than 45 to 60 minutes. If someone is trying to cook a small amount of barley, then it would not take more than 30 to 35 minutes. For cooking a large amount of barley, the cooking time would be more than 35 minutes.
The quality of the barley should be of top quality for proper cooking. Some barley may not get cooked properly if they are of low quality or expired. People should try to purchase barley from top brands to get perfectly cooked barley. The barley can easily expire if they are stored in wet and hot places.
Therefore, people should store the barley in air-tight containers inside the fridge or freezer to avoid spoilage symptoms. As the fresh barley would get cooked in 30 to 45 minutes. The cooking time of the barley may increase if they are stored for a long time.
Conclusion
The barley needs to get cooked for 30 to 45 minutes for getting tender and chewy. The barley may require a huge amount of water, and people should never compromise on adding the required amount of water to it. Once the barley would start softening, then everyone should leave it for 10 to 20 minutes.
The barley would absorb almost all the water present in the pan or pot as a sign that it is cooked. The barley would not be hard if it is cooked perfectly. People should remove the barley from the pan or cooker if they are cooked as overcooking would not help in maintaining the structure of the barley.
