Sprouting - where to begin?

I have eaten sprouts once before. I sprouted sunflower seeds and added them to smoothies. I don't think I was doing it right, though. I think I remember having layers of cheesecloth on a cookie sheet...

At first, I am finding a lot of different information on sprouting. It doesn't seem to be something people do as a major source of food. What kind of setup would you recommend for sprouting pulses and other seeds? Would simply putting cheesecloth over the top of a mason jar and tightening down the ring work? I like to avoid plastic in the kitchen.

Thanks for any advice.

I do the majority of my sprouting in a glass mason jar :) I've never tried the cheesecloth as I use a plastic sprouting lid - but I love sprouting in the jars! *Ü*

You need to chat with Mr Raw on here. Hopefully he'll be along soon.

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Originally Posted by ambidestrian

At first, I am finding a lot of different information on sprouting. It doesn't seem to be something people do as a major source of food.

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I ended up buying a hemp bag sprouter and will probably get more if it works well for my needs.

I did make do with a mason jar and strainer to get started until the hemp bag sprouter arrives, and just had some lentil sprouts, at the early stage where they are just beginning to grow a root - AMAZING! They were much easier to eat than cooked lentils; the flavor and texture were far superior, and I feel much better as they are digesting than I would if I ate the same amount cooked. I understand they are nutritionally superior as well. I can imagine many delicious lentil-sprout salad recipes. I will visit the farmer's market and grocery store tomorrow and see what I come up with for the rest of the batch.

check out sproutpeople.org. They have everything you need to know about sprouting pretty much anything you'd want to sprout. They also have a yahoo group where all the talk is about sprouts and sprouting ... amazing information.

I have sprouted tiny seeds to mung beans in jars, bags, bowls, & trays. My all time favorite way is using the easysprout container (see sproutpeople for a description) -- great airflow, easy to use, very little space needed. The sprouts grow fast and are wonderful.


I'm trying my hand at sunflower greens ... sprouted the seed and planted it today. Will see how that goes. I'm hoping it works because they are so expensive to buy ... and taste so good on salads or just for munching.

I bought some onions, basil, garlic, peppers, and olive oil and am going to make a lentil sprout salad. This is a seriously palatable source of protein (and carbs and fat)- I think I may be one of the few people experimenting with a raw diet to gain weight, not to lose it.

Ambidestrian, me too! I am so skinny and I figure if eating 3000 calories of meat and junk food doesn't work, maybe raw might reboot my system or something. Let me know how that goes for you and I will let you know for me.

I was about to mention the sproutpeople website but than levamssg said it first. I was soexcited when I found those videos, it shows it step for step. So now I have an experimental jar going for the past day.

On a side note, do raw foodists have something against peanuts? I never see those mentioned, everybodys always on about almonds and I HATE almonds lol. And walnuts we already eat raw right, so I can just soak the walnut for a bit to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors or whatever I assume. I feel like they only focus on like, four nuts and leave out all the best ones (pistachio, peanuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds)

I think there are some health concerns related to peanuts potentially harboring a species of fungus which produces aflatoxin, which can cause liver cancer. Cooking destroys the aflatoxin, which is why you always see roasted peanut butter and never raw peanut butter. I've never seen raw peanut butter anyway. I know you can get raw peanuts, but the aflatoxin is a concern.

Raw pumpkin seeds seem to give me digestive problems, but they don't cause problems when cooked. I don't know why that is.

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Originally Posted by ambidestrian

At first, I am finding a lot of different information on sprouting. It doesn't seem to be something people do as a major source of food.

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lt is a major source of food and the best source of food by far. l live on the sprouts. l will get back to you when l have more time.

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Originally Posted by ambidestrian

It doesn't seem to be something people do as a major source of food.

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lt is a great way to live as a major food source because they supply everything needed for great health. They not only provide fantastic greens, but they also supply calories in the form of semi-concentrated foods like sesame seed sprouts, lentil sprouts, bean sprouts, grain sprouts and much much more. And just as important is that they are always fresh upon serving, you can't always say that with fruit and vegie unless you grow tham at home.

l have sprouts as my major source of food and l think it's unbeatable. l've never been able to understand why others don't do it as well.

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What kind of setup would you recommend for sprouting pulses and other seeds? Would simply putting cheesecloth over the top of a mason jar and tightening down the ring work? I like to avoid plastic in the kitchen.

Thanks for any advice.

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For beans many folks can get away with jars.

For sesame seeds, sprouting trays are better. But for gel seeds (chia/flax) sprouting on material hemp bags is the only way. For sprouted sunflower seeds without the shell a sprouting tray is best also. For sun flower with the shell a jar is sufficient if you plan to plant on soil, but if you don't a tray might be better (l am doing a current experiment on growing soiless sunflower greens in trays to see how they go...l'll let you know another day about that one).

Nuts only need a jar also.

Thanks for the info, Mr. Raw. I am interested to know about the fatty acid content of sprouted flax seeds. I add flax oil to my post-training "shakes" and might consider sprouted flax.

Apparently, the juicer I own can press flax oil, but I haven't tried it yet.

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Originally Posted by ambidestrian

Thanks for the info, Mr. Raw. I am interested to know about the fatty acid content of sprouted flax seeds. I add flax oil to my post-training "shakes" and might consider sprouted flax.

Apparently, the juicer I own can press flax oil, but I haven't tried it yet.

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Hi ambidestrian ~ If the juicer you have is the Samson, yes it can cold press flax oil, but you need a separate attachment for it. I just wanted to post as that's the juicer I have and I didn't want you to try it using the juicing attachment. By the way - the oil attachment works very well! I've been pressing our flax oil ever since we bought it. *Ü*

Deb,

The juicer I have is the Angel; I believe extracting oil with it involves simply putting the seeds into the feed hopper. I will double check the manual before attempting it, though.

I have made hemp milk using soaked hemp seeds. Due to the lack of an emulsifier, a thin layer of hemp oil formed on top of the hemp milk after it was in the refrigerator overnight, but I'm sure that it was not the most efficient way to get the oil. I think a lot of it was still suspended in the mixture. Putting unsoaked hemp seeds straight into the feed chute would probably have yielded better results, but I just eat the hemp seeds.

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Originally Posted by ambidestrian

Deb,

The juicer I have is the Angel; I believe extracting oil with it involves simply putting the seeds into the feed hopper. I will double check the manual before attempting it, though.

I have made hemp milk using soaked hemp seeds. Due to the lack of an emulsifier, a thin layer of hemp oil formed on top of the hemp milk after it was in the refrigerator overnight, but I'm sure that it was not the most efficient way to get the oil. I think a lot of it was still suspended in the mixture. Putting unsoaked hemp seeds straight into the feed chute would probably have yielded better results, but I just eat the hemp seeds.

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It sounds like you're on top of things :) I told a friend of mine about the Samson and how it could cold press oil, so she put flax in her Omega VRT juicer and broke it... I didn't want that to happen with your juicer. *Ü*