How do I cook pearl barley, spelt and farro?

Whole grains are the slow half of the grain shelf. Unlike couscous or bulgur they are not pre-cooked, so they need real cooking time, and the open-pot method is far more forgiving than trying to hit an absorption ratio.

Step by step

1. Check whether it is pearled or whole.Pearled grains have the bran polished off and cook in 20 to 35 minutes. Whole or hulled grains keep the bran and take 45 to 60 minutes and benefit from soaking.
2. Rinse them.A sieve under cold water until it runs clear. It removes dust and surface starch that would otherwise make the pot gluey.
3. Soak the whole grains.Four hours or overnight for whole spelt, whole farro and wheat berries. Pearled versions do not need it.
4. Use the open-pot method.Three or four times as much well-salted water as grain, no lid, boiling steadily. Drain when tender. This removes the need to know the exact absorption ratio.
5. Salt the water properly.Like pasta water. Grains taste flat if they were cooked in unsalted water and salted afterwards.
6. Start tasting ten minutes early.Cooked means tender with a distinct chew still present. These grains are meant to have bite — mushy barley is overcooked barley.
7. Drain and dress while hot.Olive oil, lemon, vinegar or dressing goes on immediately. Hot grains absorb dressing; cold ones do not.
8. Or cook them in a stew from the start.Pearl barley added to a soup or stew for the last 40 minutes thickens it beautifully and needs no separate pot. Allow for the liquid it drinks — roughly three times its volume.
9. Batch cook and refrigerate.Cooked grains keep three to four days in the fridge and freeze well. They are one of the most useful things to have ready.

Tips

• Open pot, plenty of salted water, drain when tender. Ratios are for rice, not for these.
• Pearl barley in a soup thickens it — allow for the extra liquid it takes up.
• Dress them hot. It is the difference between a good grain salad and a dull one.

Common mistakes

• Treating them like couscous — Couscous and bulgur are pre-steamed and only need soaking. Barley, spelt and farro are raw grains that need genuine boiling, and pouring hot water over them does nothing.
• Cooking them in a measured amount of water — Absorption varies with the grain, its age and how hard the boil is, so you end up with either a dry pan or wet grains. Boiling in excess water and draining removes the problem.

If it doesn't work

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