Sprouting - seeds turned moldy, what went wrong??

Eloisa

Three days ago I tried my first sprouting attemp. I followed the directions given in one of my raw books and tried sprouting buckwheat and oat groats (do those sprout??). I first soaked the seeds for the given time, and then drained them and the instructions said to leave draining over night. The next morning, I saw that the seeds had already sprouted, but not with tails the length of 1/4 of an inch, which the book recommended they have, so I rinsed them like the book said, and then left them to drain overnight again. The next day, white fuzz was growing on them and they had a strong "wet" odor, so I tossed them, because that fuzz sure looked like mold. All of these procedures took place on my kitchen counter (when left to drain over night and such) at room temperature, with sunlight coming into the room from a far off window. So what happened??? should I have left them in the fridge overnight? did the room temp of about 80-85 F affect the sprouting process??? I would really like to try and sprout again, as I would love to make my own breads, crackers, and granola, but I need to know first what went wrong. Any advice or help is much appreciated - thanks!

silystarrfish

One of my raw books says that buckwheat has to be rinsed at least three times a day to prevent it from getting mildewy. When I tried sprouting buckwheat, I rinsed it three times a day for two or three days, and it got a little smelly, so I rinsed it really well, and by the time they had finished dehydrating, the smell was gone and they tasted fine.

oh, and I left them at room temperature away from my kitchen window

Good luck!

pixx

Below 80 degrees would be better (and above 65. Preferably 70 to 80). Buckwheat needs to be rinsed often! Actually, all sprouts should be rinsed 2 to 3 (or even more, depending on temperatures and humidity) times a day. But you need to be religious about it with buckwheat.

There is a great site online that gives lots of sprouting info. They sell seeds, but all the info is free. They have this to say on their buckwheat groat page:

"Note: Groats create the starchiest water on Earth - it is amazingly thick! They won't sprout too well unless you get rid of it - so Rinse and Rinse and Rinse until the water runs clear. It can take a little while - but don't skimp.

Every Rinse is the same with Groats: Rinse and Rinse and Rinse until the water runs clear.

Drain thoroughly."

You can read the full instructions here:

http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/bwgroats.html

And if by chance you have buckwheat with the hull still on them, go here:

http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/bwlettuce.html

Oat groats will only sprout if you get ones that have not been steamed. They will likely be steamed if not labeled "for sprouting". Oat groats don't have a long shelf life, so most companies steam them to extend the shelf life. So, um, nope, they are not really raw most of the time.

Happy Sprouting!!

:~)

rawganic

Hello Eloisa,

Here is the link to sproutpeople"s help page. Love that site!

http://www.sproutpeople.com/help.html#Anchor-My-23240

When I first started sprouting, I didn't realize how much the little seeds would grow, and i needed to use bigger jars so they would have good air circulation

pixx

Oh my goodness! I've known about that site for a few years, and have not noticed that page yet!! Thanks so much, rawganic, for sharing it.

:~)

Eloisa

Thanks so much everyone for the comments and helpful advice!! MUCH APPRECIATED! So, I guess with so much rinsing this will have to be a weekend project for me as I'm at work and school pretty much all week. I will give it another try with the advice you all have given me this saturday, and see how it goes from there! Thanks again!!