Exactly what I ordered.

Great for soups & long term storage

This is a wonderful fresh barley. It comes in a large tub geared for emergency/prepper supply. My family eats a lot of barley and I opened the container and immediately made a big pot of barley beef soup which is a favorite, especially during the cold winter days. I am picky with my grains and usually purchase Bob's but I promise you that this Palouse is every bit as good and maybe better. Each pearl cooks up large and plump.The recipe for beef barley soup on their ad is the exact one that I use except I make mine in an IIP. It's fabulous. Family and neighbors who claim they are not fans of barley soup (they've only had the canned variety) are converts. I also make a knockoff of Chinese congee, the thick rich chicken & rice porridge but I use barley. It cooks up thick and creamy and perfect for young and old alike. Enjoy.

So my husband laughed at me when he saw this giant tub of barley and teased me saying, I must be ready for the next next zombie apocalypse. But let’s be honest, I have three kids, so in between them and other guests in our house we go through a phenomenal amount of food and barley is one of those things. I do have to say that the lid was very frustrating to work with and I ended up moving this barley into some smaller containers not because I really need smaller containers but because I don’t want to fight with the lid again. The quality of the barley is good, it cooked very well, tasted excellent and soup . Please, please change the lid because it’s enough of a struggle you could die in a zombie apocalypse sill trying to get it open.

This is an incredible container of pearled barley. I knew it would be big and heavy, but it's simply an amazing quantity of barley. The bucket comes tightly sealed and you have to break the seal in order to get in, which is perfect so that you know the contents are fresh and haven't been tampered with.When you open the bucket, it's full of the pearled barley. I wasn't sure whether it would be in a bag or not, but it's not. It's just an entire five-gallon bucket completely full of barley. The barley is gorgeous. I don't see any impurities in it even when I stir it and each grain is plump and healthy with no visible blemishes.It rinses easily under cold water that runs clean very quickly. As the label says, no soaking is necessary, which is an advantage for those times where you want dinner on the table soon. I did find that mine took longer than 20-25 minutes to cook, but I prefer it on the softer side and that can be influenced by the type of water you use and the temperature you cook it at. The beauty of barley seems to be that you can't really overcook it.Even when you cook it nice and soft, the way I did mine, each grain is plump and has a bit of chewiness to it, so you're not eating mush, and each piece bursts open inside your mouth to reveal its inner softness. Very nice. It's flavorful all on its own with no seasonings added, which was how I wanted to try it at first to get to know it. It has a nice, strong grainy taste. I've also made it by adding several seasonings to the pot along with a bit of sesame oil and it absorbed all of the flavors nicely.It's a very versatile grain and I look forward to experimenting with it. So far I've only had it as a savory side dish, but I saw a video in which a lady said you can cook your barley in orange juice instead of water and then serve it up with some cut-up tropical fruit in it (bananas, papaya, mango, pineapple, etc.) as a dessert or for breakfast. I haven't got any tropical fruit handy, but there are some berries in my freezer and some raising in the cupboard that will do nicely in place of the tropical fruits, so that will be my next barley dish.Once you're done fetching out the barley that you need (and it doesn't take much to make a whole lot), the bucket seals back up again nicely, which is a plus, because most of us don't have enough containers to put 25 pounds of barley into. I did use a rubber mallet to pound the lid solidly back down, but I suspect it could have been done with a bit of pressure instead. Each of he side flaps also locks into place again when you press it inward once the lid is back on. I do agree with some of the other folks who have reviewed this and suggested taking some of it out of the big bucket and keeping it in a smaller container so that you don't have to get into that big bucket every time you want to make some of this.I had never tried barley before, so it was a very pleasant surprise. I'll be enjoying finding all the ways in which it can be used and am considering this as a very welcome addition to the usual repertoire of rice, noodles, potatoes, quinoa, etc., and as a new way to jazz up pretty much any meal.

This is one hug container of barley pearls. My wife loves to eat beef and barley soup, and also lentil soup. However, she wanted to change things up so we added this to a variety of other soups. The barley itself is pearls so it needs no soaking. Although the directions on the bucket say to rinse first and directs you to how much water/liquid to use per cup of pearls and how long to cook. This is a very easy process and simple to add to soups since the soup will be boiled anyway.The pearls hold their shape very nicely and aren't very starchy at all. The flavor is mild and nutty which is pleasant. We've also used this a a rice replacement with meals and it tastes just fine. What we enjoy most is the pearl shapes and texture along with the slightly nutty flavor.Our next trial would be to add these to salads and see how they hold up and what they bring to the dish. The big complaint is getting the lid off. But we suppose once you get the lid back on, the tight fit will also help keep this long lasting and fresh in the bucket.

What to do with 25 pounds of barley? Well, I love barley - I use it in stews, soups, create a half-half mixture of rice and barley and I also toast my barley on a pan and then make barley tea - very good and healthy for you!This is a HUGE tub of barley and my only complaint is that it took me a few tries to remove the lid and even then, I couldn't get all of the lid off. That is on forever! What I will do is transfer the barley to one of my storage containers so I don't have mess with that tub - but if you are storing food for the zombie apocalypse, this is perfect as NOTHING gets in here..Love the taste of this pearled barley - warm, sweet and nutty. Since it is pearled barley, you don't need to soak it.

Packaging and description states the contents will last for years so this is now in our long term storage without opening. By the time I bought a bucket, Mylar and the barley this became cost effective.