Do you think such a product would sell?

[raweater]

I've been growing sprouts successfully for weeks now for the first time since getting my sprouting jars.

I was wondering of a way to automate the process and I've always liked building machines and got an idea.

I could make an automatic sprouter with a conveyor belt that would move perhaps 1-2 inches every 24 hours while letting seeds from a seed bin cover the belt as it turns, further down over the conveyor belt would be spray nozzles to water the sprouts a few times per day. Further down would be a dry area to allow the sprouts to air dry a few hours and then they would be dumped into a sprout container.

This way it would automatically grow sprouts from start to finish and you would only need to change the water.

Would it be worth doing? It's not that hard and I could try selling some.

[Eva]

I wouldn't buy it. That's just me! Sprouting is not that hard as it is -- adding a conveyor belt would be overkill in my opinion. Cool idea! Maybe others will say something different...

[sport]

I have a couple of sprouters that automatically water the sprouts but I never use them. I prefer the basic dunking method. I think that it gives you more control. I also feel that it wastes less water and I hate to waste water.

[DebB]

I'm wondering about the step to rinse the hulls from the sprouts.

I've been juicing my sprouts lately, so I'm able to skip that step - but for regular uses (non-juicing), I always give them a 'bath' to remove as many hulls as possible. *Ü*

[raweater]

Thanks for the replies. I also had an automatic sprouter, the EasyGreen, and it was much more trouble than the simple jar method so I resold it on ebay. That's why I wanted to make a better one and one that's truly automatic from start to finish.

I don't really bother with rinsing the hulls but you would do it after taking them out. I prefer not to juice my sprouts, I'd feel like I'm wasting a good part of their nutrition. I just fill a bowl with them and put dressing to make a sprout salad. I also always make mixes like clover, radish, broccoli, mustard, fenugreek, etc. so they have tons of taste.

[Mary Kay]

Eva took the words right out of my mouth.....But I sure do love and appreciate your inventiveness!! And I admire tha fact, that you probably could put it into action!

Mary Kay

[proteus]

I wouldn't buy it. That's just me! Sprouting is not that hard as it is -- adding a conveyor belt would be overkill in my opinion. Cool idea! Maybe others will say something different...

raweater needs to grasp the following principle of good engineering:

"everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" ~ Albert Einstein

and to drive home the point:

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction" ~ Albert Einstein

complexity does not equal sophistication and is the opposite of elegance

a cheap car has a lot of buttons, a BMW just has an iDrive knob. a cheap phone has a lot of buttons, an IPhone has just one home button. a blendtec has a lot of buttons, Vitamix just has one knob.

HAHAHAHA ! ! !

but seriously, i hope you're seeing the pattern. it is actually universal, i just gave you a few examples.

young kids tend to be impressed with complexity. i was the same way myself. i eventually learned to appreciate elegance in design though. and i consider it a total ripoff that they didn't teach me none of that stuff in college.

[raweater]

I kind of thought of the idea since I have a 100% automatic coffee/espresso machine. You just fill it with whole coffee beans and water, and whenever you want a coffee you press a button and it freshly grinds the beans, puts them into a filter, tamps them, brews the coffee, then empties the used coffee from the filter into a built in waste coffee bin that you empty every 14 brews. I almost never drink coffee but use it a lot to make tea, herbal tea, iced tea, and herbal coffee (www.teeccino.com), it has a door on top that reveals a funnel where I can dump in a spoonful of whatever I want to brew, then I choose the "brew from bypass" and it will brew what I put in the bypass door instead of coffee from the coffee bean container. This allows me to make tea in seconds with no tea filters to clean.

And don't tell me the machine doesn't look elegant lol



And here's a video of it making 2 double espressos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ORJ0U6RjBQ

[I_am_there]

I think it's a fun idea! I live a 24/7 lifestyle as a midwife and never know when I'll get called out. To have it do it from start to finish would be nice.. and I do think people would buy it.

Btw, proteus - my VM has a knob and 2 switches.

raweater: he would say it looks flawed in some way because that follows the tone of his numerous posts.

Go for what you think will work and then see what comes of it. I think people on here are not the average food types, y'know? :) I meet LOTS of very busy moms and people that do NOT like spending a lot of time in the kitchen. That is who I think this would appeal to. But keep in mind countertop space. That's a huge thing for lots of moms when they're deciding on an appliance.

[raweater]

If I do make it I need to figure out how to make it legal/approved as an electrical device. It's possible if I make it run on low voltage like 12 volts that it would not need to be approved, but then that prevents me from using those handy 120 volt timers what would be ideal to control the conveyor belt, water pump, and lighting if I decided to put lights on it.

I would also try to find a way to not need to add/change water daily, I'd want it to last at least 2 days. That would mean it should have both a clean and used water tank. I was thinking perhaps a drawer that pulls from under with both water tanks in it for easy access.

[proteus]

If I do make it I need to figure out how to make it legal/approved as an electrical device. It's possible if I make it run on low voltage like 12 volts that it would not need to be approved, but then that prevents me from using those handy 120 volt timers what would be ideal to control the conveyor belt, water pump, and lighting if I decided to put lights on it.

I would also try to find a way to not need to add/change water daily, I'd want it to last at least 2 days. That would mean it should have both a clean and used water tank. I was thinking perhaps a drawer that pulls from under with both water tanks in it for easy access.

just what are the requirements for sprouting seeds anyway ? what do seeds need biologically ? you're getting ahead of yourself by worrying about the details of implementation when you haven't even considered if there are any other ways to accomplish the goal than a conveyor.