Water absorption by barley for shochu and rice for sake in steeping with restricted amount of water (RW method) was studied. In the RW method, the relation between water absorption rate (Y) and integrated temperature (X) at steeping was similar to the custom method, and expressed as Y=aXb. The error from the objective moisture of steeped barley was less than 0.5%, and the coefficient of variation was below 0.5%. This method was applied to rice steeping, and good results were obtained. From these results, the RW method was found to be effective for the material treatment and the prevention of intense expansion of barley.