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Sprouting?

I’ve been interested in sprouting, but I’m not really sure how to do it. I heard that you need to sprout things in the fridge because that keeps bacteria out of the sprouts, which could be really harmful if consumed, is this really true?

Also is there any place where I can find a chart for how often to rinse and how long to soak different seeds/legumes?

I appreciate any responses… thanks!

Comments

  • Hi nessie! I have been sprouting lots of things, from quinoa to chick peas. I ordered from Sproutpeople.com and they sent a brochure along w/ my order. I use their methods and so I’ll pass along some of their info:

    How to Sprout (see specific sprout instructions for variations)

    1. Put seed into any clean container: a bowl, a glass or your sprouter. Rinse until water runs clear. Add 2-3 times as much cool water as seed. Mix seeds up to assure even water contact. Soak for 8-12 hours.

    2. Transfer seeds to sprouter. Rinse well with cool water and drain thoroughly. Set in room temperature location with good air circulation (we use our kitchen counter and our dish drainer). Avoid direct sunlight. Dark is good, but air is much more important – your counter will be just fine.

    3. This is most important of all: Rinse and drain thoroughly every 8-12 hours. Use a lot of cool water and then drain totally! Spin, shake and bounce your sprouter to get excess water out. Don’t skimp on the rinse.

    4. Greening sprouts is easy. Sprouts will begin greening up when their leaves shed the seed’s hull. Avoid direct sun as it can easily “cook” your sprouts and dry them out.

    5. (talks about de-hulling, gonna skip this b/c so far I haven’t had to worry about it)

    6. Refrigeration: Don’t refrigerate sprouts until they are dry. We usually wait 12 hours afer our last rinse and very thorough drain. Store in a sealed plastic bag.

    7. Clean your sprouter well between crops.

    Ok, here are some more specific instructions from the same brochure:

    Leafy: Alfalfa, etc. Alliums: Garlic, onion – Soak 2 TBSP leafy / 3 TBSP alliums per quart of sprouter. Leafy spourts will grow for about 6 days, when done they’ll have green leaves. Alliums will sprout for as much as 14 days and form straight shoots, like chives.

    Broccoli, radish, cabbage, mustard and fenugreek: Soak 2 TBSP of seed per quart of sprouter. They will look moldy when you go to rinse on day 2 or 3, these are roots, not mold. Will begin greening up on day 3 or 4.

    Oats, groats, almond, pumpkin, hulled sunnys: Soak up to 2 cups of seed per quart of sprouter. Soak groats for 30 min and rinse very well 2-3 times at 8 hour intervals. Soak oats, pumpkin and sunnys for 2-4 hours, rinse 2-3 times at 8 hour intervals. Soak almonds 4-12 hours. Rinse 2-3 times at 8-12 hour intervals. Don’t wait for them to sprout!

    Beans, grains, and others unlisted: Soak up to 2 cups of seeds per quart of sprouter. Soak Beans for 12 hours. Soak grains 8-12 hours. We consider these done after 2-3 days, you may grow them longer if you like, up to 6 days.

    Quinoa and amaranth: Use up to 2 cups of seeds per quart of sprouter. Soak quinoa for 20-30 min. Do not soak amaranth at all, just rinse well to get it going. Quinoa is done in 12-48 hours, amaranth in 2-3 days.

    Mung Beans: Soak 1 1/3 cups of mung beans per quart of sprouter, soak for 12 hours. They are done in 3-5 days.

    Their website is really helpful too. Sproutpeople.com

    ginger

  • jsorensens2jsorensens2 Raw Jr. Superstar

    www.sproutpeople.com. Their website tells you just about everything you need to know and you don’t have to buy a thing to get the info. I bought their starter kit which included a sprouter and have had terrific success! I sprout my buckwheat groats and lentils in a regular bowl covered with a piece of cheesecloth, inverter over a baking rack for draining and they come out great. Kitchen counter for sprouting out of the sun. Put in frig when their done to slow down the growth.

  • thanks, but I can’t really buy a sprouter, is there any ways to do it without one

  • I use mason jars, cheesecloth and a hair band.

    ginger

  • I sprout in ceramic soup bowls and glass jars with paper plate covering them. I sprout Fenugreek, Wheat, Sesame, Mung beans regularly.

    I’m not sure about sprouting in fridge and bacteria but I sprout on counter-top in kitchen.

  • I have some sprouted wheat that I want to try to grow grass with. Does the type of dirt matter? Also, does it grow back after you cut it off to juice the grass? Can you just eat the grass?

  • anngoingrawanngoingraw Raw Newbie

    I have no idea about the dirt type, but it grows after you cut it, and you can eat it (chew well). There some videos in youtube: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=NOczBVR7vX4

  • AKAAuburnEyesAKAAuburnEyes Raw Newbie

    Tonight we’ll be having a salad with the first batch of mung brean sprouts I have ever done. I used the mason jar / plastic screen sprout cap combination. I’ve sprouted chick peas for hummus and that works out well also. Last night I set up sunflower seeds I soaked on a tray with potting soil and they are covered so they can sprout and then grow into greens. I am definitely enjoying the sprouting and my mung bean sprouts taste great. We have an EasyGreen sprouter on the way also, I am really excited about that little gadget.

  • I don’t have any of those trays, so I am starting my winter wheat in a flower pot! I don’t have the right kind of juicer any way. Mine just spins, so I don’t think it will work very well.

    I was kind of surprised at how good the sprouted winter wheat berry was! They have about 4 or so roots a peice, now, and are starting a grass blade about 1/8 inch long. I ate some with currants, and had to laugh at myself! Other than tasting like an extremely sweet treat, it looked kind of like I was eating little white spiders and little black flies! LOL!

  • I find using sprout bags to be the easiest way to sprout just about any seeds (except for flax seeds). Just put them in the bag to soak then hang them up to drain. Follow the usual timings. Once the seeds have tails I put them in a covered container in the fridge where they keep for a week easily so long as they are well drained and dry when I put them in.

  • After my last post on this subject, I feel compelled to say that the sprouted wheat did not sit well with me, nor my kids! So much for the fun snack idea! Hopefully the juice will work better! Maybe winter wheat is not the right kind, though. I do not know! Too much info to sort through in such a short time! I just read an article about how that barley juice is great for you, and is related to wheat. However we don’t have the right digestion for it, so I am really confused! :/

  • anngoingrawanngoingraw Raw Newbie

    Did wheat have a long or shot sprout? I eat mine white short sprouts. Anyway I do better with Kamut than with winter wheat. You may try buckwheat too.

  • anngoingrawanngoingraw Raw Newbie

    Did wheat have a long or shot sprout? I eat mine white short sprouts. Anyway I do better with Kamut than with winter wheat. You may try buckwheat too.

  • They have about 3 – 4 roots, and a shoot about 1/8 inch.

  • I want to try sprouting quinoa. I just need a glass jar, cheesecloth and a rubber band? I assume you fasten the cloth on with theband around the mouth of the jar? Yes, no? I just want to make sure I do it right although it seems quite simple, I am very new to this and don’t want to waste food:)

  • anngoingrawanngoingraw Raw Newbie

    gorawmom- mines have only a little white shoot. I sprout them for 24-36 hours (more or less)...

    mmmorgans- quinoa sprouts very easy, i have done it with a jar (as you have explained).

  • Here’s a quick video on how to sprout Garbanzo beans.that may be helpful:

    http://www.happy2beme.com/video/view-video.acti…

  • suzyqsuzyq Raw Newbie

    For anyone who owns a magic bullet, that miraculous gadget, I just realized that the lids with holes (I think they’re for microwave steaming or maybe for sprinkling a dry spice mix???) easily convert the magic bullet jars into sprouting jars! No need to invest in (admittedly inexpensive) sprouting lids or cheesecloth. Seriously I had never used those lids before, but I was moving into a new apartment and as I was packing them up I realized they’d be perfect for sprouting! Yay!

    But otherwise, mmmorgans, you’re right. Just rubberband the cloth over the lid of the jar so that when you rinse the sprouts you can drain them without losing the seeds. And remember to set the jar upside down at an angle in between rinses so the sprouts can drain well!

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I bought several colanders at a dollar store & used those for sprouting until I could afford sprouting trays. I just soaked the seeds/wheat/lentils in a bowl of water and then dumped them into the colanders. I kept the colanders covered with damp kitchen towels so the sprouts wouldn’t dry out. Before the colanders, I sprouted lentils and used my hand over the opening of a jar to keep the lentils in & let the water out – neither of these methods work for tiny seeds like alfalfa, though.

    gorawmom – Ann Wigmore said that humans can’t chew the wheatgrass well enough to break down the fiber & really get the nutrition from it. The sprouts you ate were already grass, so it’s not digestible like the little sprouts are. I soak mine for 24 hours (rinse once halfway through) and then sprout it for 24 hours (rinse twice per day) – much more than that & I can’t digest it.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    nessie – Some of the raw food books have soaking/sprouting charts. I have “Hooked on Raw” by Rhio, & it has the info. in it.

  • Thanks for the good info on the wheat sprouts. I will know better next time. I am sprouting quinoa right now, but have no idea what I am going to do with it! I tried the garbanzo beans, but did not get many sprouts. Also tried mung, but the sprouts are not as good and full as store bought. Maybe they need to be rinsed more than what I was doing. I am going to click on the link for the garbanzo beans. Thanks in advance!

  • anngoingrawanngoingraw Raw Newbie

    I rinse twice (morning & evening), I have read (but not try) that mung beans grow stronger if you put weight on them (between rinses) http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/print/mung.html

    My garbanzos sprout so very well, too much endeed, because I don’t like too long, but they grow up in the fridge fron one day to another!! (they are supposed to be organic, perhaps they’re muntant garbazos…).

  • Thanks for the link. That was very interesting about weight on the mung sprouts!

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