The best way is to cook barley packaged in cooking bags – it will take only 30-40 minutes of time. Even if such barley is not the most useful, it will save time and will definitely turn out crumbly. So if you are in a hurry – choose this option.
The second way is with express steam treatment . The grains remain slightly grainy, so the method is not suitable for cereals.
1. Rinse barley until clear water, put in a sieve.
2. Place the sieve over the pan into which water is poured, cover with a lid on top so that the barley is tightly closed. Water should not reach the barley level.
3. Put the pan on a strong fire, reduce after boiling.
4. Keep it like this for 1 hour, stirring regularly.
5. Put barley in a saucepan, pour 1 cup of boiling water (you can use the same water, just keep the proportions).
7. Put the pan with barley on the fire, cook over low heat from the moment of boiling for 1 hour, covered with a lid.
8. Drain the water, put a piece of butter (30 grams cube per 1 glass of pearl barley), salt, mix and leave the barley for 40 minutes under the lid, covering it with a towel on top.
The pressure cooker method will also help to prepare barley without soaking: literally 20 minutes under pressure will soften the grain, but then you need to release the pressure for 40 minutes. To avoid porridge, it is also recommended to use express soaking with steam.
Just in case, we recall that the easiest way to cook soft and crumbly pearl barley is still the classic soaking method – this method is the most economical in terms of effort, water, electricity and the cost of cereals.