Barley grits are chopped barley. It is equally useful, but much smaller. This makes barley porridge more delicate and pleasant to the taste compared to barley. If you cook it with milk, then by its qualities it will resemble oatmeal. It takes a lot of time to cook barley cereals, and not every housewife can stand at the stove for an hour, making sure that the milk does not run away, the dish does not burn. The use of kitchen gadgets can solve this problem. Barley porridge on milk in a slow cooker will also cook for a long time, but the cook will not have to follow the process - the smart unit will take care that no excesses take place. Having this multifunctional device in the kitchen, the hostess can cook barley cereal as often as she wants.
Cooking Features
Despite the fact that the multicooker greatly facilitates the process of cooking porridges and helps to avoid various troubles, it is impossible to get the expected result if you do not know some of the technological features of cooking dishes of this category.
- Barley grits are hard and cooked for a long time. If you want to speed up the process, you can soak it for a few hours in cool water or even boil it until half ready. Then the amount of liquid necessary for cooking porridge in milk, too, will need to be adjusted to the smaller side.
- Barley grits contain significant amounts of husks and small litter. Before combining with other ingredients, rinse it with clean water. Usually for this cereal is placed in a bowl and pour clean water. Husk floats to the surface, it is removed. Then the water is drained, and barley grits are used to make porridges.
- Barley porridge can be cooked not only on the same milk, but also on its mixture with water. Usually they are combined in a ratio of 1: 1.
- It takes quite a lot of liquid to make barley porridge. Wanting to make barley porridge for garnish, take 3-4 glasses of water or milk for a glass of cereal. The more fluid you add, the more viscous the porridge will be. In a 200-milliliter glass contains about 150 g of barley cereal.
- Cooking time of barley porridge on milk in a slow cooker is usually 50-60 minutes. If the milk is preheated, the cooking time will be reduced by about a quarter of an hour. Some devices independently determine the readiness of porridge by its weight and other indicators. If your multicooker does not have such a function, you will have to set the cooking time manually, based on the above data.
- Barley porridge cooked in milk is often supplemented with fresh or dried fruit. Dried fruits are recommended to be steamed before putting into the dish, filling with hot water for 15 minutes.
- Porridge will taste better if it is flavored with butter. It is usually put in porridge when the main program of the multicooker is completed. After that, the porridge is stirred and left for half an hour in the heating mode.
When serving, barley porridge can be decorated with slices of fresh or canned fruit, sprinkled with honey, sprinkled with nuts. It will have a positive effect on her taste. Porridge looks more appetizing at such a serve.
The classic recipe of barley porridge on milk in a slow cooker
Composition:
- barley grits - 150 g;
- milk - 0, 6 l;
- butter - 50 g;
- sugar - 20 g;
- salt - 1 g.
Preparation Method:
- Rinse the barley grits well, drain the water.
- Put the washed cereal in the multicooker bowl.
- Smear the walls of the multicooker with a piece of butter, drawing a circle approximately in the center or slightly higher. This will be the limit that milk cannot overcome when boiling and trying to “escape”.
- Place the remaining butter on top of the barley grits.
- Pour milk into the multicooker bowl, pre-mixing it with salt and sugar. Salt is added even to sweet cereals in order to make their taste more expressive.
- Lower the multicooker lid. Choose a program suitable for cooking milk porridges. Most often, these programs are called “Milk porridge” or “Porridge with milk”. If there is no such program in your device, choose the mode “Porridge”, “Cereals” or “Rice”, “Pilaf” - they will be the most suitable.
- Having started the unit in the selected mode, set the timer if necessary. Time for cooking porridge will take 50-60 minutes.
After completing the main program, leave the porridge afterwards for half an hour in the heating mode, then invite the household to the table.
Savory barley porridge on milk and water in a slow cooker
Composition:
- barley grits - 150 g;
- milk - 0, 4 l;
- water - 0, 4 l;
- salt - 2-3 g;
- butter (optional) - to taste.
Preparation Method:
- Rinse the barley grits to clean water, put them in a multicooker container.
- Mix water with milk and salt. Pour the cereal with this mixture.
- Close the multicooker and start by selecting the program that is most suitable for cooking milk porridges. If your machine does not automatically detect the porridge readiness, set the timer to 1 hour.
- When the main program finishes its work, add butter to the porridge, mix it and leave for 30-60 minutes in the heating mode.
Porridge cooked according to this recipe can be served as a separate dish or as a side dish. If you serve it separately, you can give it a sweetish taste by mixing it with pieces of canned fruit or watering it with melted honey.
Barley porridge on milk with pumpkin in a slow cooker
Composition:
- barley grits - 150 g;
- milk - 0, 4 l;
- water - 0, 2 l;
- pumpkin pulp - 150 g;
- sugar, salt, butter - to taste.
Preparation Method:
- Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds from it. Pumpkin pulp coarsely grate, put in a multicooker container.
- Top with the previously washed barley grits.
- Boil water, dilute milk with boiling water. Add a pinch of salt and sugar to the milk, mix.
- Pour warm milk into the food in the bowl of the slow cooker.
- Run the porridge program or similar. Set the timer for 40-50 minutes, if your unit does not know how to determine the readiness of the dish.
- After completing the program, oil the porridge with oil and leave in the heating mode for 20-30 minutes.
With pumpkin, barley porridge becomes even healthier and acquires a unique taste.
Barley porridge on milk turns out to be tender and tasty, with pleasant creamy notes. If it is cooked without sugar, it can be used as a side dish. Sweet barley porridge goes well with pumpkin, dried and fresh fruit. The slow cooker can significantly simplify the process of cooking this dish.
