Mom of nine saves time and money sprouting own flour and baking bread!
Kimarie of Cardamom’s Pod joins us today with an amazing sprouted flour tutorial. My grandmother was a mother of nine who baked all her own bread (white flour, certainly, but made with love). I truly honor women like Kimarie and my Busia who are open to life and joyfully raise large families while nourishing their bodies with real food.
Plus, I’m really thankful for this guest post because I was supposed to soak some whole grains yesterday for sprouted flour, but I forgot. I won’t have photos in time for Excalibur giveaway week (Don’t miss 6 a.m. Thursday, hint, hint!) Here’s Kimarie:
First of all, I’d like to heartily thank Katie for this knee-knocking opportunity to guest post on Kitchen Stewardship! I’ve really enjoyed the topics she posts here on her extensive website, especially the delicious recipes. It’s been delightful to find like-minded people as interested in the nitty-gritty details of real food as I am!
So, why am I here? It all started a few weeks ago when I commented on her post that explored the debate about soaking grains. I made a friendly comment that although our family enjoys soaking some of our grains/flour – that I had decided to make my own sprouted flour to reduce the phytic acid in whole grains. To give a little history, and in the style of one of Katie’s posts 
I thought I’d include a portion of our conversation that took place in the comments. Katie asked me a few questions, and I’m sure she had no way of knowing what she had started. A post that had been milling around in my head for a while about how I sprout large amounts of grain came to the forefront. I replied with what is probably my longest comment ever!
I can dry 3 gallons worth of sprouted grain in my 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator in about 12 hours or less. According to my dehydrator book, which is 10 years old, it costs 3 cents per hour to operate. Let’s just double that for today’s costs – at 6 cents per hour, that’s 72 cents for 3 gallons of dried sprouted grain. (I won’t even get into how I can either grind that into flour, OR roll it to make a very yummy cereal that my children like better than soaked rolled oats…)
I also make my own buttermilk, kefir, and yogurt from raw milk, so I’m already saving money on that as well. I even drain yogurt regularly to make yogurt cheese, and get the whey to use for soaking – so I get double the value for that.
For me, there’s also the “mental savings” of not always having to think 24 hours ahead of time. When I want to bake with my children, we don’t want to wait 24 hours – we want to mix, bake and eat right away!
We still soak a good many things, and enjoy some things soaked and others made with sprouted flour. I’ve recently acquired the Sue Gregg cookbook set, and am enjoying learning about using the blender to grind grain directly into the liquid ingredients and letting things soak in the blender.
Does this make sense? As I understand it, we have a choice between sprouting the grain or soaking the freshly ground flour for better assimilation. For me, it’s not about whether or not the soaking works, it’s about what works best for my family the majority of the time. No matter what method I use, I am no longer feeding my family unsoaked or unsprouted grain – we don’t like the results.
I was completely stunned by her response:
Kimarie,
Oh, my goodness, you should definitely do a tutorial on all that! I could learn a lot – and I really connect with you on the “mental savings” – baking when you want to bake. I am sometimes frustrated by the wait period with soaking.I’d love to use your sprouting grains post as a guest post here, so be in touch (seriously!) when it’s finished!
Thank you!!
Katie
Obviously, we’ve been in touch…
I would like to show you how I soak, sprout, and dry a batch of soft wheat berries – enough to fill a 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator. (Ahem, Katie here, taking notes. This is exactly what I’m going to do this week!) It’s really easy! I began doing such a large batch using gallon jars because it took me a lot of time to rinse 6-8 quart jars a couple times a day.
Supplies needed:
- Approximately 18 cups of soft wheat berries
- 3 one gallon glass jars
- 3 strong rubber bands large enough to fit over the jar rim
- Plastic screen mesh
- A 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator
Method:
Measure 6 cups of soft wheat berries into each 1 gallon glass jar. You’ll want to fill the jar about 1/4 or 1/3 of the way with grains, depending on what grain you are using. My goal is to have the jar completely full of sprouts, because I know that’s the maximum amount my dehydrator can handle – 3 gallons of sprouts. In these pictures I’m using old one-gallon pickle jars. You can use a canning funnel if you want to pour the grains in, but I usually just make a “funnel” with my hands to get the grain into the jar.
Fill each jar with cool water and let the grains soak for 8-12 hours. You can do this overnight, but I start my grains soaking in the morning, and I’ll explain why later. The picture below shows the grains after they were soaking for a few hours – they’ve already begun to increase in size.
Here are the grains after about 10 hours of soaking. I’ve accidentally soaked them for as long as 18 hours and everything has still turned out ok. Remember, soak times for different grains vary. Time to get ready for draining and rinsing them.
I like to use plastic window screen to cover the jars – it allows for air circulation and fast draining. You could use an open-weave cloth but I have found that doesn’t let enough air get into the jar. (Note from Katie: tulle or even small-weave onion bags are great repurposed for this!) I used a medium dinner plate as a template to make a circle of screen – this one measures about 10 inches across. It’s a little large for these particular jars, but I have other jars with wider openings, so this size is multi-purpose for me. Get some strong rubber bands – I save the ones from broccoli or other veggies and try to hide them from the children! Place the screen on the jar and secure it with the rubber band. If you are using smaller canning jars (quart or half-gallon sizes, regular or wide-mouth) you can use just the canning ring to hold the screen securely on the jar.
To drain the grains after they have been soaked, I like to rinse and drain them again before sprouting. To rinse, I nearly fill the container with water, and then place my hand over the screen, turn the jar on its side, and swish the grains gently back and forth a bit to rinse them well. You’ll come up with your own technique that works.
To drain, I get the grains “leveled out” while the jar is sideways, then remove my hand from the screen and let the water gently flow out of the jar. I prefer not to put the jar all the way upside down, because I want the grains to have air circulation around them while they are sprouting. This prevents them souring.
Now you want to put the jars somewhere where they can continue to drain as they begin to sprout. For these jars, a 9×13 glass pan works perfectly. Be creative, and find what works for you. You’ll want to rinse the grains thoroughly about 2-4 times a day. Usually I will remember to rinse after each meal, and before bed.
These particular berries I’ve been using start to show sprouts pretty quickly. When I drain the grains and set them sprouting before I go to bed, this is what I see in the morning, and it moves pretty quickly from there. This is why you don’t want it to be at this stage before you go to bed. You can wake up to pretty long sprouts!
According to Nourishing Traditions, you should sprout wheat berries until the sprout is as long as the grain – so that’s no more than 1/4 inch or so. Then I read in Sue Gregg’s Whole Grain Baking that for making sprouted flour, you can dry the grains when the sprouts are just showing at 1/8 inch or so. I’ve dried longer-sprouted grains before, and I just prefer my grains here. Recently I did a batch of Kamut and the sprouts got about 1/4 -1/2 inch long. I still dried them and they were delicious – actually almost sweet. There was just a lot of dried “tails” and fuzz all over the dehydrator and counters when it was done.
Here are the sprouts when I like to dry them – just when you start to see a little three-pronged sprout. This is nearly 24 hours since I drained them the previous night – I told you this soft wheat is fast! Remember that with different grains the time to sprout will be different. You can see the sprouts have nearly filled the jar, they expand a little bit more while they are sprouting. Sometimes I rinse them one last time, other times I don’t. Put them in a colander, or turn the jar upside down to get them drained really well.
(Of course, if you want, you can simply put the grains in the fridge at this point, and use them in bread or cook them in a casserole. My children like to snack a bit at this point and have “wheat chewing gum” – they’ll take a spoonful of grains and chew them until they get a teeny tiny bit of rubbery gluten. But that is for a different post…)
Prepare the dehydrator trays for drying the grain by cutting more screen mesh to fit over the larger-holed plastic mesh (use the white dehydrator mesh as your template). I’ve dried grain without using the window screen, but some grains do fall through as they shrink. By using the window screen, you’re prepared for any size grain you’ll be sprouting.
Here are all nine trays with their piles of grain ready to be spread out. One gallon of sprouts is divided to fill 3 trays.
I think it’s neat that I have as many children as I have dehydrator trays! So when the time comes to spread out the grain, it goes really quickly for me with all the helpers – a few are below. Just make sure it’s spread out as evenly as possible.
Here the sprouts are all ready to go into the dehydrator!
Here is a “before” picture that shows the sprouted grain in its “plump” state:
Load the trays into the dehydrator, and set the temp to 145º F. I dry the grain for 12-24 hours, depending on the type of grain and the humidity level in my house. With my method, I usually start the grain drying at night before I go to bed, setting the timer for 24 hours. (In my comment earlier, when I said 12 hours or less, I realized it seemed less because the bulk of the drying is going on while I am sleeping.) In the morning I check the sprouts and adjust the timer based on how they are doing. Sprouted buckwheat dries very quickly, while sprouted Kamut takes longer than the soft wheat. Another thing to think of is to put your dehydrator in a room that you don’t mind getting a little warm, and you’ll want to consider the noise. The Excalibur is very quiet in my opinion, but everyone has different tolerances of “white” noise. I keep my dehydrator on top of my dryer in the laundry room, where it blends in with the other noises.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can try drying the grains in your oven, but the temperature should not go about 150º F to avoid killing all the enzymes you helped to develop! I’ve used my propane oven with the door slightly ajar, but that heats up the kitchen. Of course, if you have a convection oven, check to see if it has a dehydrator setting. A friend of mine uses her car as a dehydrator – she puts things in there on the sunny dash and cracks the windows open. I think this could even be improved by putting a small fan in there to circulate more air. Be sure to do this if the air outside is not too humid, otherwise the car method won’t work!
When you think the grains are done, test them by simply chewing or chopping up a few to see if they are as crunchy as a regular unsprouted grain. Here is what the grains look like afterwards – much like the original grain and almost the same size, except a little shriveled with varying lengths of tiny dried “tails”. You want to make sure they are very dry, especially for the sake of your grain mill if you plan to grind these into flour.
When I take the trays out of the dehydrator, it’s very easy to just stack them on top of each other while they’re full of grain. It saves time going back and forth to the dehydrator and emptying the trays one by one.
I usually have my children help me store the grain, but in this picture I show you how one person can do this. To get the grain off the dehydrator trays, gently move it into a pile in the center. Lift up both sides of the mesh, making a handy chute to pour it into whatever storage container you are using. In these pictures, I’m using a 2-gallon ziploc bag – it’s much easier with a rigid container! It takes only a little bit of practice to not spill grains while you’re doing this.
In my house, 18 cups of wheat berries is “only” enough to make one 5-6 loaf batch of bread, which doesn’t last long! So I usually just store the sprouted dried grain in ziploc bags on my pantry shelf. It’s usually not there longer than a week! For longer storage, you can put them in a refrigerator or freezer in appropriate containers. A friend has offered me the use of her vacuum sealer, so I may try that and see how long the whole dried sprouted grain lasts unrefrigerated. You can also roll/flake/crack the grain, or simply grind it into flour.
Voila! You now have sprouted flour readily available to use in any of your recipes without soaking for 24 hours. It is absolutely delicious. Thanks to my gallon jars and my Excalibur dehydrator, I think I may actually be able to get to the point where I never run out of sprouted whole grain flour!
If there is anything that was not clear, please do not hesitate to ask. If you have a particular sprouted grain that you love, or a favorite recipe, I’m all ears. Once again, thank you, Katie, for inviting me to be a part of your excellent website!
This is Katie, in awe. That’s good stuff. Please visit Cardamom’s Pod for more teaching tutorials, including how to roast your own coffee beans.
By the way, dear readers, here are some related thoughts:
- Why Sprout Grains?
- How to Sprout other Things
- Sprouting is nifty for breads, but even MORE nifty for things that can’t be soaked, like cookies and some bars, and even muffins are better not soaked.
- You can win an Excalibur dehydrator HERE on Thursday!!
- AND you’ll get a chance to win a Nutrimill grain mill this fall!
- Watch for more dehydrator how-to posts all week and into the next, including an update on crispy nuts with some almond pasteurization information
- Don’t miss the other post from today: a giveaway for The Nourishing Gourmet’s eCourse, A Peasant’s Feast!
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Sprouting Grains for a Large Family | Cardamom's Pod // Jun 15, 2010 at 12:17 am
[...] post is a guest post over at Kitchen Stewardship. I explain how to sprout and dry grains in bulk to make delicious homemade sprouted [...]
To make smaller batches of sprouted grain (say 6-8 cups), I use my colander set over a bowl for the sprouting. So easy to rinse.
I want to hear more about your rolled sprouted cereal! I’d rather not use rolled oats bc they are already steamed, but they come in darn handy for so many things!
And do you make a 100% sprouted loaf? I have, but have always had to use lots of gluten, and the center of mine can often be sticky. Bummer. However, I don’t have a flour mill, so I’m just “grinding” fresh sprouted wheat in my food processor….
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Terri,
The colander method is great! I’ve used it before for smaller amounts of grain.
When I referred to using the sprouts in bread, I meant adding some sprouts to a regular bread recipe. I don’t make a 100% sprouted loaf – yet…
Your question reminded me of how a LONG time ago I made some Essene bread using this recipe:
Place 2 cups wheatberries in a bowl, cover with water to about an inch above the berries, and sprout for about 2 days. After the berries have started to sprout, drain off excess water, put through a hand grinder and form into a ball. Bake about 45 minutes at 375.
I remember that it was a very dense, yet incredibly delicious bread. And, how much simpler can you get? I have another batch of wheatberries soaking right now, so I think I’m going to try it again.
I also did 2 brief searches – one using “Essene Bread” and another using “100% sprouted grain bread” and found there’s a lot of recipes out there that interest me.
Kimarie
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Terri – I realized I didn’t answer your question about the rolled cereal…
We roll or crack the grains in bulk and keep them in the refrigerator. My recipe is based on the Bulgur Casserole recipe in Nourishing Traditions. (We do 4-6 times the recipe, I’m giving you the 4-serving recipe):
1 cup bulgur (sprouted dried grain)
2 cups cold water
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil
1/4 cup raisins and/or crispy nuts
We toast the rolled grains in a cast iron skillet, then bring to a boil in a different pot with water, salt, and cinnamon. I stir it, then cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes on low heat without removing the lid. After removing from the heat, I add the butter/coconut oil and a handful of raisins and/or nuts, then let it sit covered for 5 minutes. My husband and children LOVE this and say it’s WAY better than soaked oatmeal! It is remarkably filling. I’ve made it with sprouted & dried wheat, spelt, and buckwheat.
[Reply to this comment]
This is great! I have wanted to do this forever. And you’ve given me another reason to put an Excalibur dehydrator on my Christmas list
.-= Stacy @ Delighting in the Days´s last blog ..Healthy Body = Happier Home =-.
[Reply to this comment]
I loved the step by step; just what i need. Now if only i can get the excalibur dehydrator
Could you share your bread recipe? mine has to use gluten to seem to work but having said that; i have not ever sprouted my grains before.
thanks!
sherrie
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Thanks, Sherrie. To answer your bread recipe question, please see my reply to Terri’s comment above.
Kimarie
[Reply to this comment]
elaine Reply:
October 5th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Sherrie~ I have done this without the dehydrator just using my oven set on the lowest temp possible. My oven only goes to 170* so I would prop it open with a spoon or something ( felt great on a cold winter day!) to keep it from being so warm.
[Reply to this comment]
Wow, this is great. Thanks for communicating with her to help your readers! Katie, did I miss your final conclusion on the whole to debate whether to soak, sprout or not? I’m guessing I did by your response above. I’ll go search for it. I honestly quit reading the debate after the one about white flour possibly being better (because I thought I was going to go crazy at that point!) so obviously didn’t read your final conclusions.
Thanks again for this tutorial!
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Shannon,
I didn’t get to the “conclusion” yet, sorry! This post just fit so well with the Excalibur week…
I feel like that soaking grains series is the (crazy) relative that never leaves…
For now, I do all the soaking because I *think* it goes better in the ol’ pipes!
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Great tutorial! I love the photos, it sounds and looks easier than I expected
.-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrumchy´s last blog ..How To Line A Round Cake Pan =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Okay so I am new at this, but when and for what foods do you soak or sprout the grains rather than use as is?
I sure hope I win the nutrimill. I want one, but couldn’t afford one, so I had to buy a hand crank mill “for now.”
Wow, you have two ovens, Kimarie. That must make cooking for your large family so much easier. My mother-in-law had 9 kiddies too and I am sure that was hard to feed them with more limited means (they are from mexico). Of course, I got the best of her kiddies…lol
Thanks for the great posts and guest posts. I appreciate sites and blogs like this to help me along as I learn my way through this new eating style.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Erin,
We are moving to not using anything but soaked or sprouted grain in all our baked goods, so I don’t pick or choose. Honestly, if I’m in a pinch, I’ve been using white flour, because our tummies don’t like unprocessed grains anymore! :-/ That’s another reason I’ve begun making sprouted grains/flour in bulk – it’s ready to use right away and as a last resort, I can have a batch of biscuits ready in under 20 minutes.
[Reply to this comment]
I love God! I have been wondering how to do this and He brings it all together here. I too, would love your bread recipe. Thank you for sharing with us your process in such detail!!
[Reply to this comment]
Erin Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
what parts of washington? I am in snohomish county.
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michelle p. from wa Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I live in Spokane.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Michelle,
I, too, am so amazed at how God works all things together for His people!
You know, I need to ask if you are asking for a sprouted bread recipe, or a plain whole wheat flour recipe for bread? If it’s the 100% sprouted one, please see my comment to Terri above. Let me know if it’s a “regular” bread recipe you are looking for.
[Reply to this comment]
michelle p. from wa Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Quick question…You said you make a traditional loaf with regular flour and sprouted flour? How much sprouted flour do you add to conventional flour? Yes, I would love your “regular” bread recipe. Many thanks to you!
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Sorry to be confusing. When I mentioned sprouts in bread, I meant just adding in a portion of the soaked and sprouted (but not dried) grains into a traditional bread recipe, like adding flax seed or oatmeal for texture. I do not mix sprouted flour and conventional flour.
When I used to use just freshly ground flour (no soaking or sprouting) I had excellent results using Wheat Montana’s Prairie Gold Hard White Spring Wheat and Marilyn’s Famous Whole Wheat Bread recipe. I never added the gluten or dough enhancers and was able to use 100% whole wheat flour. I actually sold quite a few of these loaves for a while to friends! I have not used this recipe with sprouted flour yet, but plan to.
Now when I make yeast bread, I use the Yeasted Buttermilk Bread from Nourishing Traditions, which you can find at the awesome sprouted flour recipe page at To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co.. It’s the 6th recipe on the page.
I just found a link that I could have put in my post! It’s an excerpt of four pages from Sue Gregg’s Whole Grain Baking cookbook. Explains everything much better than I can.
Happy baking!
[Reply to this comment]
I hope I’m not stupid for asking, but what’s the difference between soft and hard wheat berries? I’ve only ever used hard white and hard red wheat.
.-= Starving Student Survivor´s last blog ..Make Your Own Sour Cream =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Hello! That is a great question!
Basically, soft wheat berries are lower in protein and gluten, and are most often used to make pastry flour to be used in muffins, biscuits, cakes, etc.
Hard wheat berries are higher in gluten and are best used for bread – they develop the elasticity that is wonderful for yeast breads, pizza dough, and I think even tortillas.
[Reply to this comment]
Starving Student Survivor Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Okay. Thanks! So could I use the same process to sprout hard wheat berries to dry and grind into flour for bread?
.-= Starving Student Survivor´s last blog ..Make Your Own Sour Cream =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
That is correct, and the results are wonderful!
[Reply to this comment]
Starving Student Survivor Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Yay! Now all I need to do is win the dehydrator.
.-= Starving Student Survivor´s last blog ..Make Your Own Sour Cream =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Thank you! This is my next weekend project!
I would also like your recipes for using sprouted grains in baking without the dehydrating step. It seems like we should be able to take the wet, sprouted grain, stick it in a food processor and have the equivalent of sprouted flour with the liquid already added.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Hi, Chris, and you are right. It’s just that it makes a different type of loaf. To save space, please see my reply to Terri’s comment above.
Kimarie
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Like you, Kimarie, I do big batches of sprouted berries. My favorite is sprouted spelt, which is lovely in bread and much like whole wheat pastry flour in baked goods (muffins, cookies, cakes). It is wonderful in the no-soaking-necessary Take-Along Spelt Biscuits that Katie included in her ebook.
I store my berries in a big cotton pillowcase – saves the plastic and gives a nice big opening to collect the grains off the trays.
Thanks, Kimarie for a wonderful post! I love seeing how other families accomplish similar tasks.
.-= Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS´s last blog ..Tuesday Twister – Pizza! =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
A pillowcase! Brilliant!!! Do the sprouted and dried berries need any cool storage?
Katie
[Reply to this comment]
Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I’m hypothesizing a bit, but no, I don’t think they need cool storage – as long as they’re not milled. According to Janie Quinn of “Sprouted Baking,” the germ is normally what is susceptible to rancidity in grains. But during sprouting, the germ is transformed and becomes less susceptible to spoiling.
So I conclude that dry, sprouted grain berries are more shelf stable than unsprouted berries (which can be kept dry and dark even at room temperature for many months). I never store my sprouted grains that long – we use a big batch within a month or two.
Milled, sprouted flour is best stored in the freezer or fridge and consumed within 6 months, though the cool storage may extend the shelf life even longer. This, again, is from Janie Quinn’s “Sprouted Baking.”
However, she also says that oxidation does not cause nutrient loss, so I think we need to apply our own logic to any conclusions.
.-= Wardeh @ GNOWFGLINS´s last blog ..Tuesday Twister – Pizza! =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Hi, Wardeh! I agree with Katie – a pillowcase is brilliant! The trading of ideas on these blogs is so enjoyable! You know, I could even reuse the grain bags – some of mine are made of 3 layers of paper, with a moisture barrier in the middle layer. I live in Florida, which is known for humidity and bugs, so I need to take extra caution to keep grains dry and secure. The ziploc bags (which I reuse until they break) have worked well for me, and I’ve also reused 5 gallon buckets.
I love the spelt, too – and we recently tried Kamut, however it is definitely pricier than wheat or spelt. Sounds like I need to get that book you mentioned…
Kimarie
[Reply to this comment]
Thanks you two so much!
Would love to hear if anyone has done spelt berries this way.
Also would love to know where one gets gallon sized glass jars.
I just got my excalibur off of craigslist and am now looking into a grain mill. Would love to hear reviews on that. I’m tempted to get the kitchen aid attachment at this point.
Thanks again!
.-= melanie´s last blog ..A little accountability… =-.
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Hi, Melanie,
I have done the same thing with spelt – this works with just about any grain.
My one gallon glass jars are repurposed pickle jars, washed well. I think warehouse clubs like Sam’s Club or BJ’s still carry pickles in gallon jars. You could also ask around – I had several given to me by friends.
That is so neat that you got your Excalibur off of craigslist! I borrow a friend’s Nutrimill to grind brown rice and popcorn, and use my Country Living Grain Mill for everything else.
.-= Kimarie´s last blog ..Sprouting Grains For a Large Family =-.
[Reply to this comment]
so in the innitial soaking, do you use any acid medium? or just plain water? thanks
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Jen,
Katie
Good question – just plain water will do it, b/c you’re actually growing seeds.
[Reply to this comment]
Wow, I would really love to try this! We have been tossing the grain mill idea around for a while, especially since we have one child with a wheat allergy and I’m a little sensitive. (You wouldn’t believe all the interesting flours I have in my freezer…but expensive). To that end, I’m searching for a good, inexpensive source for bulk wheat berries here in WV. Anyone live in the east and know of a good place to get them? Our local bulk foods has them, but their $.99/lb and I was hoping for something a little less, or is that a standard price?
[Reply to this comment]
Erin Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
have you checked into azure standard’s prices? They seem reasonable.
[Reply to this comment]
Cheryl Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
The super WalMart stores in SW Ohio have started selling 25 lb. bags of Wheat Montana hard white wheat berries and hard red wheat berries for $12-13 each.
[Reply to this comment]
Thanks for this awesome post. I’ve sprouted a little bit of wheat before but I’m so grateful for the fill the dehydrator proportions! Now to find some gallon jars!
.-= marcella´s last blog ..Fair Report 2010 =-.
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so how do you roll the grain? very curious
[Reply to this comment]
Kimarie Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Well, you give rolling pins to your children, and…. just kidding!
For the grain roller, I have a Marga Roller Grain Mill that we crank by hand. It gets the job done, but for volume, I’m dreaming of getting a roller/flaker attachment for my bread mixer.
[Reply to this comment]
Could you mention what type of mill you use to grind your flour?
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Kimarie Reply:
June 20th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I use a Country Living Grain Mill that we motorized for everything except brown rice and popcorn. For those I borrow a friend’s Nutrimill – the same mill Katie has.
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Kimarie, I am SOOOOOO impressed with this tutorial. You did an excellent job with both the explanation and the photos. I hope it is okay if I download and print it out so I can follow it step by step in my kitchen.
I have one question. Does it matter what temp I use in my Excal to dry the sprouted gains, since I’ll be baking the breads, cookies, cakes, etc at 350 degrees? In the end, the enzymes will all be destroyed anyway.
Thanks again for these instructions. Hugs to you and your nine little blessings.
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Kimarie Reply:
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:08 am
Marly, you are so kind – thank you! It’s fine with me if you print it out to use in your kitchen – although probably Katie would prefer you browse her blog every time you need it…LOL.
Your question sent me into research mode, and I came away even more confused. Looks like enzymes get killed at 118 F and above, so if you’re baking at 350 F, I agree with you – why does it matter? I dry my sprouted grain at 145 F – the highest temp on the Excalibur.
Then I remembered something about diastatic malt – it’s an ingredient used as an alternative sweetener in bread baking. It’s made by sprouting the grain to the point where the sprouts are the length of the kernels, then drying the sprouts slowly, keeping the temperature well under 130 F. You grind the sprouts into a powder, and use no more than 1 teaspoon per loaf of yeast bread. If you use more, the malt will cause the yeast in the bread to go into “hyperdrive” and it will die, resulting in fallen loaves. (In fact, I think this happened to me a long time ago when I dried a small amount of wheat berries just on the counter next to my oven, then tried to use the flour for biscuits. The dough was very sticky, and the biscuits did not rise.) So that fact right there seems to indicate one should dry sprouted grains ABOVE 130 F so you actually end up with a usable flour.
Thanks for the hugs!
Kimarie
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Katie, I hate to say it, but this post and the soaking oats post *might* have replaced the “what’s under my sink post” as my favorites! :>) (And I thought it couldn’t be done…)
I just dug my gallon jar out of storage, and made a mental note to ask my MIL because I *know* she has some in the basement. She has everything down there, I swear.
The comments on this are so awesome, too – what a wonderful discussion!
I linked to this on my weekly roundup, and I’ll likely post once I try it, too. Thanks again, Katie and Kimarie!
.-= Lenetta @ Nettacow´s last blog ..Daybook for June 25, 2010 =-.
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Katie Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 12:14 am
Woo hoo! I just sprouted and dried grains this week, too!
Katie
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Kimarie Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Yay! I’ve been doing batches, too!
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Lenetta @ Nettacow Reply:
August 10th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I have a question on this… How do you know the grains are done soaking and ready to start sprouting? (i.e. what are you looking for as the signal to drain and let them sit?) I used hard white wheat fresh from our field and they never did expand more than about 2/3 of the jar. I saw some sprouts forming while I was soaking – I don’t remember how long they were swimming – and that’s when I drained. Regardless, I was pleased with the results and have been enjoying the heck out of sprouted flour in Katie’s tortillas.
(Speaking of your tortillas, Katie – what’s the reason for refrigerating the dough? I haven’t been doing that *cough*poor planning*cough and they have been turning out pretty well! I even get lots of air bubbles when I cook them!)
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Katie Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Ummmm…refrigerate? The original recipe from More with Less calls for refrigeration, but when soaking I don’t do that part at all, either. Glad you’ve been liking them! I better go check and see if that post is unclear… Thanks as always!
Katie
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Kimarie @ The Cardamom's Pod Reply:
August 11th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Hi, Lenetta,
I go by time, more than a “signal” to stop soaking. Sounds like you’re doing fine – I, too, sometimes see the tiniest tips of sprouts starting, and drain then. I usually let my grains soak 8-18 hours, but they have gone 24 hours a few times! My soft wheat really plumps up a lot, but my hard white winter wheat doesn’t expand as much. It think it varies with each grain.
So neat that you have your OWN wheat!! I think the difference may simple be the “fresh from the field” wheat.
.-= Kimarie @ The Cardamom’s Pod´s last blog ..Wordless- Beam Me Up! =-.
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Lenetta Reply:
March 4th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Kimarie, do you have any trouble grinding your sprouted wheat? I don’t remember my last batch giving me any trouble, but this batch doesn’t want to go through my Nutrimill! I end up kind of stirring the grain in the hopper to get it to go down, and it still takes much longer than to grind unsprouted wheat.
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Kimarie @ The Cardamom's Pod Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Lenetta, I have never noticed any trouble grinding my sprouted wheat – I grind mine pretty finely, and have never timed it.
The troubleshooting page for my Country Living Grain Mill suggests the following solution if grinding goes slowly:
“Most often this problem occurs when soft, oily, or moist grains are being ground. These clog up the patterns of the grinding plates and make grinding a laborious and interminable job. Even hard grains like wheat, spelt, and corn can collect moisture during storage and gum up grinding plates. The best test to determine if your grains have collected moisture is to throw a pan of your grain into the oven at 150 degrees for 45 minutes, and then try grinding that grain. If there is a noticeable or miraculous improvement then you know that moisture is the problem.” (from http://countrylivinggrainmills.com/index.php?action=troubleshoot )
I did what they suggested a few times and it made a remarkable difference. Even though the CL mill and the Nutrimill have different grinding mechanisms, the concept is still the same, I think.
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Ok, I started a batch to sprout 2 days ago. (before i found your article…ugh) now, i just rinsed them again (hard wheat berries) and now i smell a slight sourness. Is this batch ruined? I am thinking i didnt let it have enough air.
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Katie Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 12:10 am
Betheny,
Katie
I hope I’m not too late to help, but I wouldn’t toss them out myself unless I saw mold. ?? I can pack them in a colander pretty deeply.
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Kimarie Reply:
June 28th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Hi, Betheny – I agree with Katie. Rinse them well, and I want to ask if you can see any sprouts at all? If you can’t the wheat may be very old. Last year I had some Y2K wheat that I tried and tried to sprout… After 3 days no sprouts were showing and I tossed the grains out; they soured even though I was rinsing them. When I sprouted my recently purchased wheat and the sprouts began to appear in under 24 hours, I knew the problem was the old wheat. After that, I began to sprout only a quart jar’s worth of grain to see if it was old or not. Yes, it took me 12 years to toss out some of our Y2K grain supplies :-/
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Heidi Reply:
September 30th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Sorry to add to the discussion so late, but in my experience if the wheat is “preserved” with anything, like an oxygen packet or packed in nitrogen I have a hard time getting it to sprout. I sprouted my grandmothers 30 year old what that had been stored in a bucket with no problems. So old is not the only issue, I think storage plays a bigger role.
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Kimarie @ The Cardamom's Pod Reply:
October 1st, 2010 at 5:30 am
Heidi – that’s an excellent, and very interesting, point! To store our Y2K wheat, we put a food-safe plastic liner in the 5 gallon buckets, and poured the wheat into the bag. We tossed in 2 oxygen absorber packets, sealed the bag, then put two dessicant packets in the bucket, and pounded the lid down. I didn’t know anything about sprouting wheat back then – we just ground it and used it in baking. Thanks!
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elaine Reply:
October 5th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I am loving this topic and all the comments! We still have some Y2K stuff around, too : / I have noticed that it doesn’t sprout very well — are there any other options besides throwing it out? What about drying it out and soaking it?? I know – sounds like a lot of work for old grain but I hate to throw it away if it can be salvaged.
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Kimarie @ The Cardamom's Pod Reply:
October 6th, 2010 at 12:03 am
Elaine – I think you’re right – simply grind the grain and soak it and it should be fine to eat. If not, perhaps someone with chickens or pigs could use it. I’m also willing to go through extra effort so as not to waste food.
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The Cardamom's Pod » Blog Archive » Sprouting Grains For a Large Family // Jul 15, 2010 at 11:29 pm
[...] post is a guest post over at Kitchen Stewardship. I explain how to sprout and dry grains in bulk to make delicious homemade sprouted [...]
Not Me Monday - In Pictures | The Cardamom's Pod // Aug 9, 2010 at 11:27 pm
[...] days after I wrote this guest post at Kitchen Stewardship on sprouting grains, I did not ignore my own advice and let my sprouts look like [...]
Breakfast Recipes and Tips | The Cardamom's Pod // Oct 14, 2010 at 6:48 am
[...] this from our homemade sprouted, cracked grain. I wrote a sprouted grain/flour tutorial for a guest post at Kitchen Stewardship. Until I post the cereal recipe on my blog – you can find it in the 3rd comment on that [...]
I LOVED this post. Some of the sprouted flour companies are very scientific about their soaking/sprouting techniques. I started soaking/sprouting for my own family using these SAME processes and now continue with very few minor adjustments (thanks to licensing)! Simple really can be best, IMHO!
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Michaeleen Hinca from JoshEWEa's Garden Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Thought I should include our name…just in case you don’t have time to soak/sprout on your own this week
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Awesome and informative post! And I love the pictures…I am a “visual” learner, so it really helps to see what you do too. Also, it’s great to see your kids helping!
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Hello! I just got a new Nutrimill, and was reading the directions. It says specifically in it NOT to grind sprouted grains in it. Is this referring to un-dried sprouted grains? If I’ve dried them in my dehydrator, are they ok?
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Lenetta Reply:
July 2nd, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Funny you mention this-I asked about my nutrimill above as the grain was grinding sloooowly. I put it back in the dehydrator, but now it won’t go through at all! I need to dump it & send some regular wheat through and see what happens… PS congrats on your new mill! Welcome to the club.
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Katie Reply:
July 5th, 2011 at 1:01 am
Lenetta,
Katie
I was grinding some sprouted grain this weekend and holy cow – I thought my Nutrimill had died. It took for. ev. er. Whoa. Luckily I remembered your plight, and I tried regular grain too. I think it works normally (relief!) so I guess sprouted grain is just a bear. Maybe a manual mill would do differently…
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Katie Reply:
July 5th, 2011 at 1:02 am
Oh. Hmmmm….I should probably read those directions! I’ve done it, but it’s SLOW. ??? Can the shop you bought it from give you direction?
Katie
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Meggan Reply:
July 5th, 2011 at 8:11 am
Unfortunately, I doubt Amazon.com will be able to help
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hi dear katie
I prepared some sprout for making sprout flour but i do not how height of sprout is better and how you make it flour.blender is ok?what we use for dring them?
thanks
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Katie Reply:
November 26th, 2011 at 1:30 am
Hamideh,
Katie
You really need a dehydrator and grain mill (a regular blender just won’t do it) for sprouted flour. Good luck!
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The sprouting process (UPDATED) « Sprout Out Loud // Dec 13, 2011 at 11:38 pm
[...] Kitchen Stewardship [...]
I have been making bread sense 1972, been growing and grinding my own wheat for the last several years too, but I am new to the sprouting idea. I have just put the sprouted hard red wheat berries in my food dryer, and the soft white wheat berries are taking a little longer to sprout but will follow shortly. I am planning on mixing the two flours and making bread with the same recipes I have been enjoying up to now, please let me know if I am making a mistake here. I’ve read all the posts above, but am a little confused about when you can, and can not use which flours.
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Katie Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Charlotte,
Katie
Oh, my, so sorry that your comment got buried for a week! Many recipes work with sprouted or regular grains, but it’s just a trial and error. I hope your favorites all work out! I think GNOWFGLINS.com might have some commentary on translating recipes – you may add or subtract 1/4 cup sprouted flour, but I can’t remember which direction!
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Charlotte Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Thank you for your reply. I went ahead and made bread using the two sprouted wheat flours I mentioned above, using about 50% this flour mixture with 50% all purpose flour, and the bread came out wonderful, so I will be making bread again in a few days with a higher percentage of the sprouted wheat flour. I will let you know later how it comes out and share the wonderful honey whole wheat bread recipe I’ve been using, it is the best recipe I’ve found.
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Top 10 Reasons to Eat Grains | The Liberated Kitchen, LLC // Feb 9, 2012 at 10:23 pm
[...] the case that many people can enjoy grains if they are “properly prepared.” Soaking or sprouting grains before using them reduces phytic acid and boosts the ability of the body to absorb the [...]