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How To Cook Barley In A Rice Cooker:
Barley is a species of the grass family that is domesticated for the grain yields from ancient times. It was firstly reported to originate from the Levant region of the middle east and some parts of eastern Africa.
Over time, this grass was domesticated by Mesopotamians, Greeks, and Tibetans for the first time.
It is a very adaptable plant and can grow in a variety of different temperature zones. In some parts of the world, it is considered as the summer crop while in others it is known as the winter crop depending upon the climate and time of the year when it is harvested.
Types of Barley:
There are 4 main types of barley grains depending on the processing they go through.
Whole Grain: This is the most common and raw form of the grain, the hull or outer cover of the grain is removed and the fiber-rich grain is super rich in healthy ingredients.
Barley Flakes: By steaming the whole grain barley and rolling it and drying afterward, it is converted into flakes that are also very tasty and often consumed as a breakfast item.
Scotch Barley: This is the polished grain barley type that has been through a milling process.
Pearl Barley: This is the finest form of processed grains that are the final and most milled form of grain and has less fiber than the whole grain barley.
Checkout The Following 3 Best Barley Brands:
Health Benefits Of Barley:
Barley is a healthy diet and is considered a fiber-rich food. It has some of the best nutrients that are essential for the body’s growth and provided the energy for daily routine tasks.
It is the best food for breakfast as 100 grams of grain contains about 350 calories that gives the essential boost to move the needle from the start of the day.
1 serving of barley has about 17 grams of fiber that is vital for bones and hairs. About 73 % of carbs are present that are a good source of energy.
Essential metals like iron, magnesium, calcium, and sodium are also present that are helpful in various body functions and boost the enzymes.
The vitamin B helps to improve the metabolism and a person feels fulfilled the hunger after the barley meal.
Improved Heart:
The regular use of barley improves your heart rate and prevents you from several cardiovascular complications.
The fiber content reduces the cholesterol in the blood that results in the better flow of the blood in the body and the body receives adequate amounts of oxygen which is good for growth.
Lower Chances of Cancer:
The selenium in the barley reduces the chances of cancer in the body. The antioxidant property of the selenium allows it to save the mutation in DNA that otherwise may result in the uncontrollable multiplication of the cells.
How To Cook Barley?
Barley is an energy-rich grain and can be easily be prepared on the stovetop, instant pot and rice cooker.
How To Cook Barley On Stove Top?
For 1 cup of barley, there are 2 cups of water required to make a chewy and creamy meal.
- First, soak the grains in water for 3 hours before cooking and then rinse them with water so the starch gets removed. I am assuming the pearl barley for this method.
- Now take 1 cup of barley with water (measured ratio) in then place it on the stove in a cooking pot.
- Simmering makes them cook from inside at a slow pace. You can also use broth as the liquid instead of water so it will be kind of a barley soup.
- To add more flavors you can add shredded veggies and spices and some cinnamon will be cherry on top.
- Cook the mixture for 20 minutes on the low flame so the broth is absorbed in the grain and now put the meal in the bowl and enjoy it with sauces.
Checkout The Following 3 Best Stove:
Can You Cook Barley In A Rice Cooker?
Rice cookers are amazing as they can cook rice at a quick pace and virtually without any manual monitoring.
Over the past few decades, these are improved and many additional features are added to them and now they can cook several foods besides the rice.
The barley is one of the grains that can easily be cooked into rice cookers, thanks to the advancements made by the brands.
How To Cook Barley In A Rice Cooker?
Please note that different types of barley took different time duration in the cooking.
Here we will talk about the whole grain barley which is the healthiest form of it.
Ingredients:
1 cup of whole-grain Barley
1.5 cup of water or broth
A little butter or oil
A little salt
Recipes:
- Soak the grains for about 2 hours in water before cooking, then pour out the water and rinse the grain to remove any impurities.
- Put the grains in the cooking pot and add the water (1.5 or 2 cups) and oil/butter with a little salt and now if you have a rice cooker with barley option close the lid and press the barley option button.
- If your rice cooker doesn’t have barley setting then simply chooses the brown rice option. It normally takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get the best texture.
Now enjoy the delicious barley meal with your loved ones.
Some Of The Best Rice Cooker For Barley:
Checkout The Following 3 Best Rice Cooker For Barley:
Benefits Of Using Rice Cooker:
The old traditional way of cooking rice, lentils, or any type of grains was challenging, time taking and required manual monitoring throughout the process.
This was demanding work, and people faced many difficulties cooking evenly cooked, perfect meals. When rice cookers came into the market in the last century, they changed the game of cooking.
With the passage of time, more and more features were added to them with the development of the technology.
Today the rice cookers are full-fledged cooking machines with a lot of additional options and cooking modes.
Some of the best advantages to using them in cooking are:
- Sometimes different temperature levels are needed to cook a particular food (rice and Kamut etc.); you can control the temperature range in advanced rice cookers.
- Time is money, and the rice cookers save a lot of your time; you just need to follow the instructions and place the ingredients, and the cooker starts the cooking. You just need to collect the food at a given time.
- You can use rice cookers with the steaming option to steam cook the veggies and meat while cooking the rice; at the same time, this saves both energy and time for cooking the meal, which is super healthy.
- Accuracy in sensing the cooking is done a golden feature of rice cookers that auto switches them to keep warm mode, so your meal remains hot for several hours for you.
- Multiple cooking options like sauté, simmering, and slow cooking allow you to cook various types of meals for your kids, parents, and other family members or friends.
Conclusion:
The rice cooker seems like it would be the perfect place to cook barley, and from what I’ve read, recipes for cooking grains in a rice cooker seem to work pretty well. I’ve even done it myself. But reading all the other posts about cooking barley in a rice cooker, it looks like that method is fickle at best.
It’s better to cook barley In a rice cooker than on the stovetop (i.e., no steaming for 50 minutes and hardly cooking the barley at all). So, I recommend doing this.
Hopefully, this article provided all of the information you needed to know about cooking barley in a rice cooker. If I missed anything or if there is something that you think should be added, please let me know.
