I’ve done a lot of poking into the subject of soaking grains, and through it all I’ve continued soaking, sprouting, and souring my baked goods.
The most common question when people first hear about the idea of “soaking grains” isn’t usually “why?” but “how?” People get this funny image in their heads – and I did too, at first – of drowning flour in water and then somehow, making a great mess but with some miraculous method, getting the flour back out of the water and proceeding with the recipe.
Luckily for all of us, that’s not how it goes.
The purpose of this post is to be a go-to resource for everything soaking grains: a basic how-to primer, links to resources for the “why?” science geeks among you, quick notes on sprouting and sourdough, and recipes.
Basic Soaking Techniques
Flour Based Recipes:
- Mix the flour with whatever liquid is called for in the recipe, preferably warmed to about 100-110 degrees F. I do often use room temperature water…you do what you can.
- Sometimes include the sweetener and fat if needed to get everything wet enough just to mix.
- If the liquid is water or milk, replace 1 Tbs per cup with an acidic medium:
- vinegar, lemon juice, whey
- If the liquid is something cultured already, you can just mix it up with the grain:
- yogurt, buttermilk, kefir
- Cover and allow to rest at room temperature or above for 12-24 hours.
- Add remaining ingredients and proceed with recipe.
Now that’s a bit of a simplistic explanation. If you’d like more details, including special considerations for yeast bread, please read How to Soak Flour in Whole Grain Recipes. You can also find a brief explanation for the “why?” question at Why Soak Whole Grains?
Whole Grains: Quinoa, Millet, Oat Groats, Barley, Spelt Berries
To cook whole grains in their whole form, you can simply soak in warm water with 1 Tbs acidic medium per cup (same as above).
- Allow to rest 12-24 hours at room temperature.
- With whole grains like quinoa, millet, and spelt berries, you can drain off the water and proceed with cooking as you normally would.
- I recommend measuring the water you soak with and the water you drain off the first couple times to see how much liquid was absorbed. You’ll have to adjust your cooking water accordingly if volume is important to recipe success.
- For example, a cup of brown rice absorbs 1/2 cup of water. When I add new water for cooking, instead of the usual 2 cups, I only add 1 1/2 cups. However, when I cook spelt berries for a cold salad, I’m only looking for “done” and I don’t measure the water. I drain it off the berries after cooking anyway, so this wouldn’t be important.
Rolled Oats/Oatmeal
Because oatmeal soaks up almost all the water, it’s nearly impossible to drain the soaking water. Follow the directions for how to soak oatmeal, and please take note of the extra wheat flour needed. Use that information any time you’re soaking a recipe using oats.
For oatmeal cookies or granola bars, you may need to soak and dehydrate oats before you begin. (My soaked granola bars)
Brown Rice
There’s a special and really nifty, well-researched method for soaking brown rice that knocks out 96% of phytic acid. Accelerated fermentation feels a little bit like keeping a sourdough starter, but much easier. Check out the directions for soaking brown rice – I promise, it’s just as easy as the other ways.
Sprouting is Awesome Too
Yesterday’s post on soaking vs. sprouting surprised me when I saw how long the list of advantages to sprouting became. You can sprout whole grains like quinoa and rice, any legume, and wheat berries for flour as well.
Sprouted flour does take a special touch, which is why it’s nice to find recipes that call specifically for sprouted flour. I’m so pleased that the free eBook is sponsored by Shiloh Farms, maker of Essential Eating sprouted flours and some recipe books using the product. Also check out Kate’s tips for baking with sprouted grains.
For the frugal crowd, two DIY resources for you:
And for the science geeks, here’s the health benefits of sprouting.
Sourdough is my Favorite
Health-wise, sourdough preparation has the most research and the most historical tradition when it comes to nutritious preparation of wheat baked goods. You can make almost anything with sourdough, as I learned to my great surprise in the sourdough eCourse at GNOWFGLINS (enrollment ongoing).
To get you started, here are some more resources:
- How to Make a Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter
- The Health Benefits of Sourdough
- Sourdough Crackers
- Sourdough Pizza
- Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Why Bother?
I’ve written extensively on the subject of grains, and you can find the whole series at the exploration of soaking grains.
Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. 
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.
mindy says
Newbie soaker here…How does milk not go bad sitting at room temp all night? Does the acid medium keep that from occurring?? Just want to double check that I’m understanding this correctly 🙂 Thx! PS I’m *obsessed* with your blog 😀
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Hi Mindy!
This is best with raw milk, since raw doesn’t “go bad” it just “sours” which is exactly the action we’re looking for. I used to soak with pasteurized milk, though, and never had a problem. The acidic medium must keep good bacteria in and bad bacteria out. 🙂 Katie
Kaarin Puhala says
Eager to try soaking – going to try tortilla recipe and Kelly’s bread recipe in the Bosch. Question: does it matter what temperature the room is when you soak overnight? It’s winter, and our house got down to 62 degrees F last night. Will that be a problem?
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Kaarin,
sorry I missed your question for so long! Soaking is better at warmer temps, but my house is 62 at night, too. Technically, you could just soak for a longer time. 🙂 Katie
Charlotte says
I’ve been soaking our grains for a couple years now in the straightforward way that I’ve seen everywhere. But I have a couple cake and muffin recipes that require you to gradually add the flour mixture alternately with the liquid, and I keep wondering if that flour can be soaked. It seems like it needs to be dry in order to work. I’ve been making them as treats less often than other recipes, but I’d love to make them as healthy as the others! Is it worth trying to soak them, or would it ruin the whole batch for sure???
Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Charlotte,
I hear you on that one- I’ve made a few cakes that do the alternating thing, and I’ve never been bold enough to try soaking. I would think you’d lose a LOT of texture by mushing all the dry together at once instead of following the directions, which have to be there for a reason, right? 😉 You could always try to adapt for soaking and see what happens, but wasting ingredients on a fail is a big risk! Personally, I’d say just make, enjoy, and forget you know anything about soaking for the day. 😉
Katie
tommy1222 says
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Maxbet212 says
Nice infoo, Keep Share tyakk
Julie says
Are the recipes no longer up or am I missing something? I can see a few recipes linked through the comments section but that is all. I’m new to this whole reading blogs thing so I could just be doing something wrong. Thanks!
Katie says
Julie, I broke my own site. (smacks forehead) I fixed it now, so come on back! 🙂 Katie
Alissa says
What about wheat bran? I know you have to soak it in hot water anyway, to soften it before adding it to a recipe, but should you do the 24 hour soak for it as well? I haven’t been able to find any information on it.
Katie says
Alissa,
It’s the bran that causes all the phytic acid problems anyway (that we’re combating with soaking), so honestly, I wouldn’t add bran to anything. Eat the whole grain or take out the bran, but don’t take it apart and put it back together in different proportions. I hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
Katie says
We can squeeze you in! Could you please email me the link(s) to your recipe(s)? I’ll reply with the link for the form where you can enter the other info we need.
Katie says
is it to late to add?
Jacquelyn says
Fun idea! It is nice to have a collection of soaked recipes all in one place : )
LeAnne says
I’m in with my delicious Soaked Peppery Cheese Bread! Thanks for doing this Katie – it’s going to be such a great resource!
[email protected] says
I’ m in and sharing my recipe for Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole. Thanks Katie!
lisa says
Hi, I linked up a recipe for soaked snickerdoodle cake and sourdough chocolate peanut butter cookies. I’m wondering if it’s OK to share these recipes on other carnivals or should this be exclusive? thanks for the opportunity to be a part! 🙂
Katie says
Lisa,
Sorry I’m so late to reply – your recipes are yours, and of course do with them what you please! 🙂 Katie
Joanna says
I’m in 🙂 These breakfast brownies are outta this world.
Nicole says
Thanks for all these great resources! Does anyone have a soaked whole wheat bread recipe that doesn’t use a mixer?
Alaina says
Nicole, I use this sourdough recipe when I want to make something without the mixer:
http://insidethepeanutgallery.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/no-knead-whole-grain-sourdough-bread/
Christy says
Fun! I just added my link for baked oatmeal. 🙂
Shu Han says
Thanks Katie for hosting this! I’m sharing a few of my favourite soaked recipes (I wish I could share more, but I haven’t gotten down to blogging about them ><), a couple of which I find very special to me, because they're soaked recipes for Chinese favourites/ comfort food!
AmandaonMaui says
Might need to do some link cleanup. Some people have multiple posts of the same link. Ooops. I’ve totally done that before.
Melissa at Dyno-mom says
I think this will be a great resource for everyone, particularly since it is free. It can be an easy introduction for the commitment-phobic.
Ashley Barrett says
Thanks for the great resource all in one post! I really get a lot out of this blog, thanks for all your hard work!
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama says
I left you my favorite sprouted recipe — waffles. They are SO good. 🙂
Kelly says
P.S. I posted a link to this page (your carnival post) on my FB page, so my readers will come visit your blog. Thanks again! 🙂 kel
Kelly says
Oops, should read from my FB page … typing too fast! 🙂
Kelly says
Thank you so very much for the opportunity to share some recipes. I am eagerly trying to get my blog up, but hope you will accept these recipes that are posted on my B page for the time being. I would LOVE to be included in your e-book, and appreciate you considering my recipes. It sounds like you would like us to email you with a bio? I will do that as well. Blessings, Kelly from The Nourishing Home (www.facebook.com/TheNourishingHome)
Adrienne @ Whole New Mom.com says
Katie,
Well, looks like others have had similar issues w/ the carnival. I also thought I’d already commented, but somehow it didn’t take. So much for technology 🙂
Anyhow, here is my email. I’ll look forward to all of this moving forward .
Kara says
This is going to be great! I’m really looking forward to the book…I’d love to expand my soaked recipe collection! Thanks for doing this, Katie. 🙂
KerryAnn says
I am so sorry everything is showing up twice. I have no clue why that is happening.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hey I didn’t know there was a character limit on my summary! Ooops…..
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Hey Katie,
One more question: when are you going to start compiling the e-book? I need to go take a look to see if my post needs some tweaking before then!
Kelly
Katie says
Potentially within a week, hoping to be finished in 4-5 weeks. ???
Katie says
Ug, I know, I forgot to put that in the instructions. shucks.
Jill says
Whew! After making my Soaked Buttermilk Biscuits 3 times this week, I think I finally have all the kinks figured out!! Thanks for this opportunity, I look forward to seeing everyone’s contributions!
Joanna says
Hi Katie, maybe I missed this -but I’m wondering what the deadline is for the soaked grain recipes? Thanks!
Katie says
Joanna,
You’ve got time – at least a week before we email folks to get bios and such. 🙂 Katie