Barley

Barley is thought by some to be the first grain ever grown by man. It has short, stubby kernels with a hull that is difficult to remove. Excluding barley intended for malting or animal feed, most of this grain is consumed by humans in two forms. The most common is the white, highly processed "pearl" barley that has had most of its bran and germ milled off along with its hull. It is the least nutritious form of barley. The second form it's found in is called "pot" or "hulled" barley and it has been subjected to the same milling process as pearled, but with fewer trips through the polisher. Because of this, it retains more of the nutritious germ and bran. Unless you are prepared to try to get the hulls off I don't recommend buying barley still in the hull. Barley can be milled into flour, but its low gluten content will not make a good loaf of raised bread. It can be combined with other flours that have sufficient gluten to make good raised bread or used in flat breads. Barley flour and flakes have a light nutty flavor that is enhanced by toasting. Whole barley is commonly used to add thickness to soups and stews.

Recently, a hull-less form of barley has become available on the market through a few suppliers. This is whole grain barley with all of its bran and germ intact and should have the most nutrients of any form of this grain available.

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