Peggy asked:
Can you tell me more about sprouting the seeds? I am going to get a dehydrator for my bday – do you just sprout then eat that way for a snack – or do you add them to things? Do you sprout more than sunflower seeds?
Unfortunately, I am still in the learning process as far as sprouting goes. When it comes to grains, I am a soaking girl rather than a sprouting one! (Learn about soaking here).
Sprouting takes up to a week of time, multiple rinsing, the purchase of a dehydrator (although some have used the oven at the lowest setting successfully), etc. whereas soaking is just combining some of the ingredients in advance and letting it sit for 12-24 hours. My research has led me to conclude that sprouting and soaking produce much the same benefit of breaking down the phytates in the grain, although sprouting does produce vitamin C, which as I understand is the only benefit above soaking.
I have only been sprouting seeds so far, and that has been limited to sunflower seeds. They only take two days, and are such a good nutritional booster to our food, that I love using them. I add them to everything including: ground in oatmeal, tossed with salad, ground in bread, and other baked goods, etc. I will continue to be exploring with other seeds in the future, including pumpkin, and sesame seeds.
Further Reading/Resources:
Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home wrote a post on sprouting recently. Check it out here. She recommends Rejuvenate Your Life and Living on Live Foods as books that gave her info on sprouting.
Sue Gregg on Sprouted Grains -This is an excellent article/overview on sprouting grains. I love Sue Gregg’s easy explanation and providing you with a bread recipe to get you started
Sprouting: A Brief Overview – not brief at all, but very thorough explanation. This would be the place that addresses this topic most clearly!
Related Posts
- More Q & A on Soaking
- When You Can’t Soak…Choose Sprouted Flour!
- Phytic Acid E-Course & Soaking Necessities
- Q & A: Soaking Pasta
I have been sprouting wheat for several months. Really it has been very easy. I also soak flour as you have discussed. I like having some dehydrated spouted wheat berries around for when I want instant gratification. Like when my husband wants cookies, I don’t want to tell him that they will be ready tomorrow. So, I soak the wheat berries (Kamut is my favorite) over night. In the morning before I leave for work I drain them into a colinder lined with a tea towel/cheese cloth and set the colinder in a bowel to drain. I do cover the top of the grain with the cloth too. When I get home I check them. Some times they are ready then and others it takes a little longer. If I remember corectly it depends on the temperature of the house. I don’t let them sprout very long, just until you see the little tip. Then to the dehydrator for 12 hours or more until completely dry, keeping the temperature under 110. At that point I store in an air tight container until I need them.
As a side note I have to say I have really enjoyed reading your blog. It is nice to know others are out there doing the same things. Most of my friends can’t comprehend cooking from scratch every day let alone milling my own flour. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Megan
Thanks for sharing your process Megan. That is very interesting. Have you tried it without a dehydrator? Glad you are finding the information on my blog useful.
I did try to dry them in the oven, but my oven is too hot. It doesn’t go below 180.
Do you have a toaster oven? Toaster ovens typically have a lower temp choice.
I sprout lentils, mung beans, quinoa and garbanzo beans for my salads, and just throw them in raw. I hope that’s okay to eat them raw! They’re so tasty.
I also soak and sprout my almonds, pumpkin seeds, etc. I don’t bother dehydrated them, since they don’t last that long. Once they’re sprouted, I keep them in the mason jars in the refrigerator and rinse them daily. My family love sprouted nuts and seeds with a sprinkle of good sea salt.
Oh, thanks for the Sue Gregg link, I didn’t know about that article. I just love her recipes.
Have you purchased any of her books? I would like to, but they are kind of pricy and I haven’t found them used. Thanks.
Candace, I love Sue Gregg. I only own the Main Dishes and Breakfast cookbooks, as I find them to be the most useful.
I don’t own a dehydrator. I tried to dry sprouted wheat berries in my oven, only to find it did not go below 180, as well. I tried just letting the sprouts air dry and that was a no go.
I’ll have to purchase a dehydrator if I want to use sprouted flour.
Lindsay, do you ever just use sprouts as is, in casseroles or other dishes?
Sorry if you’ve addressed that question before.
It’s my understand that there is no benefit to sprouting wheat, dehydrating and then grinding into flour -b/c then you just bake it and kill all the enzymes with heat, so the end product does not contain that nutrition – so the extra step is not necessary. You will still get some nutrients and of course fiber, but not the live enzymes you worked so hard to get via sprouting.
Hi!
I love using the blender batter recipes for making muffins and pancakes, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to make cookies by soaking the flour overnight, even though there are usually not any liquid ingredients in cookie recipes. Do you know anything about this? I love your website!!
Jennifer
I have not experienced soaking cookies. It would be difficult to do. Some of the sweets I don’t worry about. A little bit won’t kill us.