When is barley "bad"?

[cc-rider]

I've never used barley before but bought some after reading the thread about the "sausage" made from barley. I cooked (and cooked and cooked) it and filled about a quart ziploc baggie with it and put in the refrigerator thinking I'd use it to make the "sausage". The rest was frozen or put in soup right away.

Well, that was maybe a month ago!!! I get it out and look at it, and sniff it, and think it might still be OK, but I'm afraid to use it! It doesn't LOOK or SMELL any different, but I've never ate barley, so don't know what it is SUPPOSED to taste like.

Is it too late to use it? Should I just pitch it? I hate throwing away something that might be good, but I don't want to risk it if it isn't. If it matters, my fridge is pretty cold. In fact, it sometimes freezes stuff. This isn't frozen...but is awfully cold.

So....pitch it, or "soup" it???

[mothernature]

I'd probably taste a little of it before I'd pitch it if it looks and smells OK. I'm not sure exactly how long it wil keep in the fridge. Hope someone else tells us! I'm also a "when in doubt toss it" person. Don't you hate when you don't do something you wanted to do especially after you already did some of the work!!?

[snoozy]

If it smells the least bit sour or alcoholic, you don't want to eat it. Tossing out a few cups of it is way cheaper than a trip to the emergency room or a day of lost work, don't you think?

Boil up some new stuff and try that sausage: it is really good!

[suzyhomemaker09]

If it's a cooked grain that has been in a zip lock bag in your fridge for a month I'd have to advise tossing it...if it had been frozen on the other hand I'd think thaw and use...

[nehimama]

Myself? I'd give it to the chickens or the pigs.

[luvrulz]

Originally Posted by nehimama

Myself? I'd give it to the chickens or the pigs.

Me too! Can you repost the sausage recipe?? We recently had some stuff in Cincinnati called goetta that was made with oats - was that similar?

[snoozy]

Barley cakes - or barley sausage is how I think of them - are really good. The texture is remarkably like sausage! You should be able to get pearled barley at regular supermarkets:

Barley Sausage

Boil 1.5 c barley in salted water till al dente. (You don't have to get the water just so - you can pour off any extra water.) Cool.

Mix in 1c minced onion, lots of black pepper, salt and whatever spices and herbs you like in your sausage (sage, thyme, marjoram.) I also put in lemon zest. When well mixed, add also 1/2c flour, and then 2 beaten eggs. Let it rest for awhile (overnight even) so the flour and eggs bind.

Pan fry in your oil of choice, spooning it into the pan like hush puppies/patties.

Excellent in the morning with eggs and ketchup or chilli sauce! Meat sausage tends to be salty, so if you want it to approximate sausage, make them on the salty side. For those of you who need to cut down on your cholesterol or meat consumption, give this a try. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Also if you need to make a pound of regular bulk sausage stretch - mix in as much cooked barley as you want - nobody will be able to tell the difference.

Barley rocks! :banana02:

[bugstabber]

My first thought to "When is Barley bad?" was "when you have Celiac disease."

I'd throw it, I don't think cooked rice lasts in the fridge 2 weeks.