# Barley soup question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [January 24, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602 "2024-01-24T23:44:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/1 "2024-01-24T23:44:48Z")
How does one prevent the barley from continuing to absorb broth? Same question with noodle soups. I don’t want giant noodles or barleys in my soup.
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### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/2 "2024-01-24T23:49:18Z")
Add the noodles or barley shortly before serving. Only put them in long enough to cook them properly.
If you store or freeze the soup, the noodles will get squishy. When that is the intended purpose, I user orzo pasta, because it will hold together better than large noodles when over saturated.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/3 "2024-01-24T23:52:47Z")
Yeah, if you’re making a big batch with the intention of storing some for later, the pasta or barley WILL continue to absorb moisture.
When I was a novice, I unintentionally made some … interesting “glop” leftovers.
The only solution I’ve found is to portion off what you’re gonna serve, and cook/add the grain stuff _to that portion_ only. Leave the rest to cool and be stored, without pasta/barley.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/4 "2024-01-25T00:06:18Z")
Cook the barley separately then add to the rest of the soup shortly before serving.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/5 "2024-01-25T00:29:15Z")
Haven’t made barley soup in aeons, but with noodles, I always make the noodles separately and store leftovers separate from the soup. I would assume the same should apply for barley.
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### Author:  [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/6 "2024-01-25T02:00:18Z")
Thanks all. That was my expected answer. How do the canned soups do it? Does the pasta/barley stop absorbing after the canning process or are there frightening chemicals in that stuff?
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/7 "2024-01-25T05:13:48Z")
Huh. I put barley in my chicken soup and it doesn’t take over the entire soup, even when some of it sits around for days. It does get thicker to a point but then it stops.
Maybe the trick is to not put as much barley in the soup? I think I did wind up with gruel once by accident, come to think of it.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/8 "2024-01-25T14:53:59Z")
I was gonna say, just use less? I do that with rice soups that I don’t want turning into congee and that I don’t want to cook the rice separately. It always feels like I’m not adding nearly enough rice, but it’s enough.
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### Author:  [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/9 "2024-01-25T15:20:52Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#):
>
> How do the canned soups do it?
I don’t think they do anything special. The noodles in canned soups are mushy, which is exactly what I get when I make my own noodle soup and then freeze it or let it sit in the fridge a few days.
BTW, you can’t home can noodle soup, which is why I’ve been sticking to freezing. I want something I can heat up quickly for lunch, and not have to cook an extra serving of noodles to go with it. I tried canning fresh soup with beans, but it wasn’t as good.
For reasons, I recently had to freeze matzo ball soup, and that worked surprisingly well. I knew the soup itself would freeze fine, but I didn’t know if the matzo balls would disintegrate during reheating, but it worked out. Probably not even as good as day old matzo balls stored outside of the soup, but still edible. If I do it again I’ll probably try to individually freeze the matzo balls, and then add them to the soup after it’s been reheated.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/10 "2024-01-25T15:29:14Z")
I don’t cook things like rice or noodles in with the soup, as the texture isn’t pleasant on subsequent servings. Instead, cook them separately, put some in a bowl, and then ladle the soup over them. Repeat as needed for leftovers.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/11 "2024-01-25T19:22:20Z")
Because if too much of the broth gets soaked up, it’s barely soup?
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/12 "2024-01-26T00:43:50Z")
But I WANT the barley to continue absorbing broth – that’s what gives it the flavor!
Yes, it makes the leftovers into more of a stew than soup, but that’s fine, too.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/13 "2024-01-26T01:10:05Z")
Yeah, that was going to be my answer, too: Just accept the gross-looking but yummy-tasting goop.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/14 "2024-01-26T01:16:48Z")
I haven’t had this problem with barley. It gets softer, but not gooey. It’s easy to over-barley a soup though. You have to add so much less than you think is right.
W/R/T canned soups, I think this is why they are condensed. The condensed broth reaches a saturation equivalence with the noodles before they reach the point of breaking down into goop. I’m pretty sure that if you canned a noodle soup with a fully hydrated broth you would have glop when you opened it.
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/15 "2024-01-26T01:55:40Z")
Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Noodle doesn’t come out like that, and it’s not condensed, it’s ready-to-heat-and-eat.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/16 "2024-01-26T02:07:55Z")
> [@Seanette](#):
>
> it’s not condensed, it’s ready-to-heat-and-eat.
Huh. I have no idea then.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/17 "2024-01-26T02:36:31Z")
I think the main point with condensed soups was to not spend money shipping water across the country. But apparently people are willing to pay enough for the convenience of heat-and-eat that that’s not such a big thing any more.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/18 "2024-01-26T03:55:22Z")
Campbell’s Scotch Broth was condensed barley soup. It was pretty solid coming out of the can so it couldn’t really absorb any more broth while in the can, and it doesn’t need to cook for very long after water is added. Don’t know what would happen if you left it on the stove for a long time. I assume they used pearled barley which won’t absorb as much broth while cooking, and possibly it is preboiled and strained to remove excess starch before mixing with the soup.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barley-soup-question/996602/19 "2024-01-26T04:08:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I assume they used pearled barley which won’t absorb as much broth while cooking
Aha!
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> Huh. I put barley in my chicken soup and it doesn’t take over the entire soup, even when some of it sits around for days. It does get thicker to a point but then it stops.
>
> Maybe the trick is to not put as much barley in the soup? I think I did wind up with gruel once by accident, come to think of it.
Pearled barley is what I generally use.
Though I also think at least part of the trick is not to put too much of it in the soup.