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Barley Flour: How to Use It

Are you wondering what you can prepare with barley flour in the kitchen? We give you ideas and also show you the properties of barley flour.

When it comes to grain cultivation, wheat in particular is at the forefront in Germany. But there are also other types of grain that can be used in many ways – such as barley.

Barley products such as beer, malt coffee or whiskey are particularly common in the trade. But barley can do much more than just be processed into malt – there is also barley flour, for example. We will show you what is special about barley flour and how you can use it in the kitchen.

Properties of barley flour

Barley probably originated in South Asia and has also been cultivated in Europe since the fifth millennium BC. There are two varieties of barley, spring barley and winter barley. The barley that is grown in winter is used in agriculture for animal feed. The barley grown in summer is suitable for food.

In addition to malt production, spring barley can also be ground into barley flour. This special grain flour is characterized by an aromatic, nutty taste.

Nutritional values of barley flour

Barley flour is one of the whole grain flours. This means it still has all the valuable nutrients in it as it is made from the whole barley grain.

Barley flour is also characterized by the fact that it provides a lot of carbohydrates, but at the same time has a low fat content. Barley flour also contains a lot of fiber. In detail, 100 grams of barley have the following nutritional values:

Energy: 320 kcal
Carbohydrates: 64 g
Water: 11g
Dietary fiber: 10 g
Egg White: 10g
Fat: 2g
also traces of vitamins such as B vitamins and minerals such as calcium and potassium

More facts about barley flour

In addition, barley flour has some other interesting properties:

Barley is the grain with the highest content of the dietary fiber beta-glucan. A study involving scientists from the University of Gothenburg, among others, has shown that barley can lower blood sugar. This means that barley is a good type of flour for diabetics. In addition, barley flour supports the intestinal bacteria, which promote digestion.
But the cholesterol level can also be reduced by the beta-glucan, according to a report by the ARD.
Like other cereal flours, barley flour also contains gluten, reports the Apotheken-Umschau. According to the ARD, however, barley flour contains significantly less adhesive and binding proteins than other types of grain. For this reason, barley was not considered suitable for baking for a long time. When baking with barley flour, other types of flour usually have to be added so that the bread dough succeeds and does not fall apart.

Barley flour is suitable for these dishes

Barley flour can be used in different ways in the kitchen. We give you some suggestions here. If you want to bake, you can basically replace about a fifth of the specified amount of flour with barley flour in the recipe. You benefit from the nutty, aromatic taste of the barley flour and its high proportion of B vitamins. The flour is particularly good in the following baking recipes:

For example, you can use barley flour to bake wholemeal bread.
You can also replace a fifth of the specified amount of flour with barley flour for flatbread. You can find simple instructions for a flatbread recipe here: Flatbread recipe: simple instructions for the classic.
You can also use barley flour by modifying our basic pancake recipe and replacing about 50 grams of wheat flour with 50 grams of barley flour.
According to Deutsche Welle (DW), Lithuanian barley rolls are a particular classic from the Baltic States.

But you can’t only eat barley with barley flour: For example, you can also mix the grain in the form of barley flakes with your muesli or use barley barley as an ingredient for barley soups and stews.

Buying tip: You can find barley flour mainly in health food stores or organic shops. If possible, buy barley flour and all other barley products from regional cultivation in order to support local suppliers and avoid long, climate-damaging transport routes. It is also best to look for an organic seal – this way you can be sure that the product does not contain any chemical-synthetic pesticides.

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Food

Barley Grass and Wheat Grass: Don’t Bring Much and Hardly Taste Good

Barley grass and wheat grass: Now the germs of the two types of grain are also supposed to be superfoods. The trend is once again coming from America, where Hollywood stars and top athletes want to improve their diet with smoothies made from the green powder.

The sprouts serve a lot of clichés: They are green, they are fresh, and as young seedlings they are particularly rich in nutrients. And they contain many plant growth factors that have a rejuvenating effect on cells. This raises great expectations: for example, barley grass is said to cure cancer, make muscles grow, alleviate gastrointestinal diseases and lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Wheatgrass, on the other hand, detoxifies, weakens the harmful effects of radioactive radiation, helps against diabetes and infections of all kinds. In addition, both types of sprouts are naturally perfect sources of nutrients.

So much for the full-bodied promises of grass fans. In this case, cows should be bursting with health on the pasture. And indoor cats should never get sick. Isn’t that right? That’s exactly why we researched the facts behind the grass hype to find out what the promise of salvation really is.

What exactly are barley grass and wheat grass?

Although barley grass and wheatgrass are marketed as new, great superfoods, they are well-known plants. In spring, the superfoods can even be found by the millions on the fields in Germany. Because barley grass is the young shoots of barley that emerge shortly after germination. In fact, it is the barley that is normally sold as grain in our country. Cat owners may also know barley grass in another context: from the small bowls that are sold as “cat grass”. Again, these are just barley sprouts in a nutrient concentrate.

The same applies to wheatgrass, except that the young shoots are only harvested after about three weeks. This is when the nutrient content of wheatgrass is said to be at its highest. The plant then uses this for its own growth and for the formation of stalks and seeds.

Wheatgrass or barley grass juice: ingredients and nutritional values

Like all real cereals, wheatgrass and barley grass belong to the grass family. As mature grains, barley and wheat therefore contain gluten. Since the grass variants are harvested as somewhat older seedlings, especially in industrial production, they have not yet developed ears. Barley grass and wheat grass are therefore gluten-free, but contain a lot of carbohydrates – when fresh, therefore, around 300 kcal per 100 grams. The high energy density also explains the main purpose of barley grass: as fattening feed for cattle.

However, fresh barley grass also contains many minerals and vitamins, for example 3.4 mg zinc, 37 mg iron, 179 mg magnesium or 832 mg calcium. Wheatgrass scores with its high iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium content. In addition, the wheat sprouts contain a lot of vitamins A, C, E and K. The roughage, which is present in large quantities in the raw green shoots, no longer plays a role in the juice from wheatgrass or barley grass due to the pressing. Incidentally, these are also largely lost in the powder. However, the chlorophyll, the green plant pigment, which is said to play a role in cell protection, is retained.

Buy wheatgrass and barley grass powder

Wheatgrass and barley grass are rarely available fresh or as juice. This is due to the composition of the sweet grasses, which, like all grasses, spoil quickly once they are cut. However, since humans cannot consume wheatgrass hay or barley grass silage like cows can, the sprouts are (freeze) dried and processed into powder. The ingredients of barley grass and wheat grass are significantly reduced by the drying process, although it is very gentle.

You can then either buy pure barley grass and wheat grass powder, pressed into tablets or as capsules. But be careful: Since both grasses grow on normal fields, the pollution can be high even with supposedly organic products. Caution is advised, especially with products from the Internet, which often come from Asia.

So you can grow wheatgrass or barley grass yourself

On the other hand, it is safe to grow barley grass or wheatgrass on the windowsill at home without any harmful substances. Bowls or flower pots with soil or nutrient granules serve as a “field”. As seeds for barley grass and wheat grass you simply take normal, untreated and whole wheat or barley grains. These are available either in the health food store or, for example, in the country trade. But always ask for organic grain there, which is less polluted and healthier.

Then simply sprinkle a handful of grains on your bed, cover with a thin layer of soil or granules and moisten. At room temperature and moderately moist soil, wheat and barley germinate after a few days. You can harvest the shoots after about ten days to three weeks.

Barley grass: effects and side effects

Barley grass is said to have an almost unbelievable effect. The ingredients of barley grass are mostly antioxidants and plant growth factors. On the one hand, these should render the aggressive free radicals harmless and at the same time stimulate healthy cell renewal. The barley grass is said to support the body in dealing with radioactive radiation, fight cancer, heal gastrointestinal diseases and also have a positive effect on muscle building and mood.

In addition, fans of green sprouts say they lower cholesterol levels, boost the immune system due to their high nutrient density and speed up recovery from illness. Only fresh barley grass has side effects, as the long plant fibers are difficult for humans to digest. Therefore, the consumption of larger amounts is not advisable.

What is the effect of wheatgrass?

Wheatgrass is also full of antioxidants and rich in nutrients. Similar to barley sprouts, the effect of wheatgrass is based on these ingredients. A 2015 meta-study summarized the possible effects of wheatgrass. The green shoots are said to help fight tumor cells and help you lose weight by boosting your metabolism.

Clinical trials on humans show a possible support of chemotherapies and maybe also reduce their side effects. And stomach ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes can also be treated with it. The same applies to wheatgrass: Only the fresh plants have side effects due to the high content of plant fibers. No problems were observed with wheatgrass powder or juice.

What do the powder products bring?

Granted, it sounds tempting. A bit of wheatgrass powder mixed with water and drunk daily and cancer, diabetes, obesity or stomach problems are history. Or maybe a little barley grass powder in the green smoothie and the flu season won’t bother me anymore.

It would be too good to be true. After all, both barley grass and wheatgrass only have one “effect”: they fill the coffers of the manufacturers. Nothing has been scientifically proven. The healing promises of barley grass are usually only based on experience or experiments in the test tube. There is only one small study on the effect on cholesterol levels, which, however, could not find any effect. The same applies to wheatgrass. The meta-study already mentioned says that although effects were observed, the studies were only carried out with small samples, were not methodologically flawless or were carried out on animals.

What remains is the high nutrient density of barley grass and wheat grass. Basically positive, but if you put the values ​​in relation to the daily consumed amount as powder, capsules or tablets, this effect is also lost again. The bottom line is that there is no advantage left by the two green sprouts.

Conclusion: How useful are barley grass and wheat grass really?

Barley grass and wheat grass are green. They also grow at home on the windowsill. The nutrient density is relatively high. And they are marketed as superfoods. But that was it in terms of advantages. What is not mentioned is the risk of ingesting harmful substances such as mineral oils, pesticides or environmental toxins with wheatgrass juice or barley grass powder. Or that the dietary fibers in the stalks are hardly digestible for humans, but are absent in juice and powder anyway.

It is also often swept under the rug that when processed into barley grass or wheatgrass powder, many of the nutrients are lost and the daily amount consumed is only small. As is the fact that none of the claimed medicinal effects have been scientifically proven. So overall, the green grasses are nice but useless, they don’t even taste good. It is much better to switch to other green vegetables.

Broccoli, kale, spinach or chard also contain a lot of chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals. These types of vegetables can be bought regionally, seasonally and, of course, organically, and they are certainly tastier than barley grass or wheat grass.

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Food

Barley Grass

Admittedly, the term superfood is a bit overused in the media. But if ONE plant deserves this label, it’s barley grass. The inconspicuous green stalks of barley are so densely packed with minerals, vitamins and other phytochemicals that they are incredibly valuable in your kitchen. Strictly speaking, barley grass is not a herb, but a sweet grass, like wheat and rye, whose grasses are also edible. However, because the young green is so brimming with healthy ingredients and easy to grow, it didn’t take long for my harvesting team members to try it at home. With the result: Fresh barley grass should not be missing on any windowsill and definitely deserves a free spot on our herb page and in your herb bed from early summer

Three good reasons to grow barley grass yourself

  1. Barley grass contains three important B vitamins that are particularly beneficial for vegetarians and vegans – fresh barley grass also contains a large proportion of fiber
  2. Planting barley grass is child’s play and can also be done indoors, on balcony boxes and tubs
  3. You save a lot of money by dressing yourself because you don’t have to buy overpriced instant products

Location & soil

As diverse as the ingredients are, it is all the more surprising that barley grass is so easy to grow. It is content with any quality of loose, weed-free soil. This is also because you are harvesting the weed young, before it has matured and formed kernels. Indoors you can also grow it on substrate or in a germinator. Like most plants, barley likes a spot in the sun, but also germinates in partial shade and even tolerates shady locations. However, the nutrient density is highest in the sun.

Indoors, you can grow barley grass anywhere there is space. Barley greens flat bowls, growing containers, casserole dishes, baking trays, window boxes, cookie jars, drawers…drawers? Well, everything has limits…

Sowing & Planting

Springs overnight for a fresh lawn of barley

For sowing in the garden, let the barley grass seeds soak in a bowl covered with a little water overnight, as it will germinate faster and you can harvest earlier. In the end, a nice dense barley lawn should grow, so don’t be afraid to scatter the swollen grains densely. It’s just that they shouldn’t lie on top of each other. Barley is a light germinator and should only be sprinkled with a little soil to weigh it down.

Grow fresh instead of buying processed

The green, which is rich in vital substances, is usually commercially available as barley grass powder or in tablet form. Then, of course, it is industrially processed in several steps, loses nutrients and is unnecessarily expensive. With a little space on the windowsill or in your mein ernte bed of choice, you always have your barley grass fresh and of organic quality at hand. Incidentally, when harvested juicy, it still contains dietary fibers that are missing in the processed form.

Sowing: On the windowsill or outdoors, it needs room temperature
Sowing depth: light germinator – put the seed directly on the soil and only sprinkle with a little bit of soil
Plant out in the bed: From mid-May, always frost-free
Row spacing: 20x20cm
Germination period: a few days
Duration of cultivation/ripe for harvest: 5-10 days after sowing

Care

Who is consumed quickly, needs little care

As quickly as it is grown, barley grass requires as little care – in fact, as good as none at all. Barley grass needs to be watered carefully, especially in closed containers, make sure that you don’t overwater and waterlogging forms.

If you plant it in your my harvest bed of choice, make sure that the bed is meticulously weed-free before sowing. This way you can be sure that only barley grass ends up on your plate.

Diseases and pests

Barley can contract a number of diseases including some powdery mildews and specific cereal diseases. But because you harvest the grass so early, it is usually not affected by diseases and pests.

Harvest & Storage

About 5-7 days (if you haven’t soaked it, it will take a little longer) after the first sprouts have appeared, your barley grass will be ready to harvest. You harvest it so early because the nutrient and vitamin content is at its highest at this time. The harvest is easy peasy. You can cut it off just above the ground with scissors or with a sharp knife as needed. You can use the weed fresh immediately or store it in small bundles between damp towels in the fridge.

Make your own barley grass powder

Enjoying barley grass fresh is definitely the healthiest way, but if you pay attention to a few things, you can also dry it in the oven at home and give it away to friends or take it with you when you travel. To do this, spread the grass out on the baking sheet and set the oven to no higher than 40 degrees. Pay close attention to this, because some of the vitamins in barley grass are not heat-resistant. Slightly open the oven door to allow moisture to escape. You can now process the dry barley grass or grind it into powder. UV light can destroy valuable ingredients – it is best to use dark glasses for storage or cover screw-top jars with paper.

Nutrients & Effect

Barley has been cultivated and used by humans for more than 6000 years. We use the grain to bake bread and brew beer, the pearl barley goes into hearty soups and stews, and the sprouts go into crunchy salads. The healing power of barley grass has been known since ancient times. The famous physician of ancient Greece Hippocrates crushed it and gave it to his patients to strengthen them. Barley grass water was recommended by Hildegard von Bingen to patients suffering from respiratory diseases and asthma.

More calcium than cow’s milk

In recent years, barley has experienced a renaissance as a medicinal plant. In the 1960s, Japanese scientists confirmed the high content of a complex combination of vital substances in barley grass. Barley grass scores with more vitamin B11 and calcium than cow’s milk, with more vitamin C than lemons, a high content of iron and amino acids, fiber, trace elements and folic acid, as well as a large portion of zinc. In addition, barley grass has a high bioavailability, which means that the nutrients in the young plant can also be reliably absorbed by the body – ideal for a strong immune system.

In the later stages of development, the plant then invests more in the development of flowers and grains. As a result, the chlorophyll, protein and vitamin content also decreases significantly. Incidentally, chlorophyll is similar to our red blood cells and can therefore have a beneficial effect on blood formation.

Competition for every vitamin pill – that’s in it:
vitamin C
B vitamins including B12
iron
zinc
calcium
folic acid
amino acids
fiber
chlorophyll

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