How long to steam hulled barley?

If it takes two hours to steam pot barley, how long to steam whole grain barley (hulls off)?

I soaked the barley for about 4 hours, then put it to steam in a two level steamer. I'm switching the top and bottom (so that the top is on the bottom, the bottom on the top) every hour or there abouts. It's been two hours so far... I'm guessing 4 to 5 hours total or is this way too much?

trampledbygeese
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3 Comments

trampledbygeese
trampledbygeese January 1, 2015
I stopped at 3 and a half hours, and about 80% were plump and cooked through and through. The rest had a slight rawness in the middle, but no matter.

Next time I'll go for four hours or more.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. December 31, 2014
I've only boiled barley, but it took less than an hour. Maybe 45 minutes? Does steaming change it that much? Yikes.
 
Susan W.
Susan W. December 31, 2014
According to thekitchn.com, hulled takes 25 minutes longer than pearled, so it seems like it should be ready in 3 hours if pearled takes 2 hours.

Jayna Fox's mom used to make THE best oxtail and barley soup when we were kids. :)
 
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