I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?

djs0302 wrote:
> I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley
> to it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?

The smell is from the natural oils in the grain. If it doesn't smell really
rancid, rinse it off and then add it to the soup. Should be fine. I love
barley in soup

Jill

On 25 Feb 2006 11:04:08 -0800, "djs0302" > wrote:

>I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
>it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
>cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
>used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
>cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
>barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
>

Ask yourself: would you eat the soup if it smells like that? It's
not going to get any better. Why go through the trouble to make a
homemade soup and ruin it with an off-taste.

BTW, I am speaking with the voice of experience

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Curly Sue wrote:
> On 25 Feb 2006 11:04:08 -0800, "djs0302" > wrote:
>
> >I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
> >it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> >cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> >used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> >cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> >barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
> >
>
> Ask yourself: would you eat the soup if it smells like that? It's
> not going to get any better. Why go through the trouble to make a
> homemade soup and ruin it with an off-taste.
>
> BTW, I am speaking with the voice of experience

Yeah, if it stinks toss it. Especially when barley is like dirt
cheap... only rice costs less. Whenever it's a toss-up I'll choose
barley over rice... barley contains good nutrition, other than starch
rice contains none.

"djs0302" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I'm making a pot of vegetable soup today and want to add some barley to
> it. I found an old box of Quaker brand barley in the back of the
> cabinet. The box has been opened but it's been a few years since I've
> used it. It's picked up an odor that smells like old, not rancid,
> cooking oil. It's not very strong, actually quite faint. Is the
> barley still usable or should I throw it out and buy some fresh?
>
I'd throw it out and get a fresh pack. Then keep it in the freezer.
Actually I buy mine bulk in a bag so it's easy to do that.

MoM