Sprouting Wheat~~~a tutorial

I was asked yesterday, by a friend, to do a post on sprouting wheat. I sprout wheat sometimes weekly, but mostly every other week. I will do a #10 can of white wheat in three 1/2 gallon jars. In the end this gives you quite a bit of wheat to use for all kinds of things.

Below is a picture of the first day. I have bought sprouting jars from the health food store you do not need these, but I prefer them and for $6.95 a jar plus lid with screen I don't think I am going to break the bank. The lids only fit these jars though.

You can use a clothe rubberbanded over a jar, but for me this works great, and I love the ease of this, its quick to fill and strain as needed.

I filled this jar a little less than 3/4 of the way with wheat and then topped with water. I usually do this at night right before bed and in the morning pour off the water, rinse, loosen up the wheat since it will compact together and let sit on the counter not in direct light. I will rinse twice a day unless I feel I need to do it a time or two more. The wheat will expand as you can see, this is after 8 hours of soaking.

The lid with the screen, I really like these and use them for many things. I haven't with kefir, but now that I think of it, it would probably work really well. I also use these jars to make sprouts for salads, sandwiches, or baked goods. I have added them to meatloaf, salmon patties.... They are sprouting jars

Here are the jars after I rinsed them the first time. You want to drain off the excess water, I will drain all I can and then tilt them on a towel so that they can drain more. I will lossen all the wheat up so air can flow.

This is a day and a half later, I have rinsed them day and night and they are doing very well. I will most of the time let them sprout for three full days this lets the sprouts grow longer. Sometimes three days are needed like during cold weather...

I have dried the wheat in the oven, but I dislike this method since the heat is to much and doesn't dry the wheat consistently. The oven will burn the wheat as well. You don't want the heat to be above 115, I can set the temp on my dehydrator to what I want, which I love. 

I have 10 shelves, and each shelf I line with parchment paper, I do reuse this paper otherwise it gets expensive. I will save the sheets in a container between uses.

Spread out the wheat on the sheets of parchment, spread as thin as you can, but if it is overlapping that is fine I will fun my fingers thru it during the drying to break clumps up. I do not have to rotate the shelves on this dehydrator like I did on my old Ronco. The Ronco was 20 years old but still did a great job. If this is what you have the trays can still be lined with parchment and used wonderfully.

Filling the dehydrator see the rubbermaid containers underneath? There are four, one for the foodsaver bags, extra 5 gallon bucket mylar bags, cheese making supplies(tome mold, cheese clothe etc, and soap making items, the parchment sheets for this are kept in one of these containers.

The dehydrator full. Now this part of the process will take 2 to 3 days depending on our humidity etc. Like I said earlier I will run my finger thru the wheat to break up clumps as it is drying. To test dryness chew on a couple, pinch one or two, you will feel and taste moisture if there is any.

Now the jars are rinsed and back on the counter soaking alfalfa and mung beans to sprout. The process is the same, but these will be sprouted longer, and on the last day be put on the window ledge to soak up the sun the get the chorophyll running to add those extra vitamins.

Now I buy my sprouting seeds from the health food store, the wheat I have lots and it is bought through our church.

I did find this wonderful place while looking around..

The Sprout People

I have not bought anything from them, but I do see myself doing it soon. They have seeds of all kinds, sprouters, and tools and answers for all kinds of things to do with sprouts.

And here is a great post on why soaking is best.

And here an excerpt from Nourished Kitchen on why sprouted grain is best:

Sprouted grain differs from whole grain in three fundamental aspects: 1) sprouting activates food enzymes; 2) sprouting increases vitamin content, and 3) sprouting neutralizes antinutrients like phytic acid which bind up minerals preventing your ability to fully absorb them. When examining the nutrient density of sprouted wheat to unsprouted wheat on a calorie-per-calorie basis, you’ll find that sprouted wheat contains four times the amount of niacin and nearly twice the amount of vitamin B6 and folate as unsprouted wheat; moreover, it contains more protein and fewer starches than non-sprouted grain and as a further boon, it is lower on the glycemic index making it more suitable for those suffering from blood sugar issues.

Furthermore, sprouted grain and sprouted flours – having been effectively “pre-soaked” do not need to undergo further soaking or souring and are therefore suitable for quick breads, cookies and cakes in a way that sourdoughs and soaked flours are not. (Learn more about soaking grains, beans and legumes.) For those who do not wish to take the time or effort to sprout grain or mill flour at home, you can always purchase sprouted grain flour online

Since we don't use white flour and I want my family to get all the benefits of the wheat we either use sprouted wheat flour, soak it, or sour dough it. I do keep a jar of sprouted wheat flour for white sauces or for gravys etc. It works great and the taste is so much better. I rotate the contents, so its fresh, everytime I grind sprouted wheat.

I do want to try sprouted bread like Ezekiel and even wheat juicing. If anyone has tired this or is doing either one please email me.

I hope all have a wonderful weekend...

Love,

Erika