Sprouting Grains cont.

Ok, I don't have any pictures of this and it is 4am I've been up since 2 this whole can't sleep thing is a little bit of a pain. :0) But while I can't sleep I at least can update you on this little experiment.

As I posted not long ago we sprout grains for us to eat and now are doing it for the animals. For us I have sprouting jars and I sprout seeds like alfalfa to eat but also our wheat I will sprout and then dehydrate and grind for our flour. Usually I will sprout it for a couple of days this depends on the temps etc. I don't let them get as big as our alfalfa because I don't want long sprouts just enough to change the nutrition. Sometimes I will let them get sunlight the last day to build up the chlorophyll like I do the alfalfa.

 

This is the jar I use I have three of them and I like them, click on the picture to read more about the jar. There are several other ways you can do it and what works for me might not work for you. I like the ease of use on this with the wire mesh in the lid.

 

I will start in the the morning or at night fill the jar with the desired amount of grain with wheat usually 3 cups of grain is good this way the grain is loose still once it expands and none of it gets compacted. Alfalfa usually 1 tablespoon and that, once they sprout, will fill the jar.

 

I then fill the jar with water just over the grain swirl it around make sure all the wheat is loose and moving freely and then fill the jar the rest of the way, a few inches above the grain. Or just fill the jar up depending on how full it is and the grain. I let this sit for 8 to 12 hours, longer is better I have found.

 

At the end of the time I drain all the water and make all the grain is loose again. Then I set this on the counter for 8 to 12 hours sometimes like in the heat of the summer I will let the jar set upside down in the sink to let as much as possible grain out to prevent mold. At that time I fill the jar up with water to rinse the grains, drain the water off, and let sit on the counter again. I keep the jar out of direct sunlight at this point. You do this twice a day for however long you want depending again on the grain and what your using it for.

 

Wheat usually I will let it go till you barely see a sprout and then I do a final rinse and drain and put it in my dehydrator. I don't want to kill the goodness in the grain so I only set the temp at 145 and since we have so much humidty this time it takes depends on the season etc. But sometimes it takes 12 to 24 hours but no longer.

 

I prefer this over sour doughing it for things since I haven't figured out sour dough bread and my family only likes sour dough pancakes or crackers. Though my sour dough starter Herman is a very happy camper when he is awake, right now he's sleeping the fridge. the sprouted grain flour makes wonderful breads, biscuits, pizza dough, etc I use it just like any other flour.

 

Come back tomorrow for the sprouting for animals portion.