A GUIDE TO


The Sprouter & Its PartsGetting Started- Seed Chart Seed & Sprout TipsSuggestions: Alfalfa, Etc.Recipes

SPROUTING NOTES & SUGGESTIONS

"To live effectively is to live with adequate information."- Norbert Weiner

Most seed types require little more than 1-12 hours of soaking followed by varying periods of unattended sprouting time (and no rinsing.) Some seeds have special handling needs. For example:

SPROUTING SALAD VARIETIES
 

1)   With the Alfalfa Insert pushed into the bottom of the Inner Container and the Inner Container within the Outer Container, pour in ¼ cup of salad type seeds, then fill the sprouter with warm water (bathing temperature) and soak 8 hours.

2)  Drain seed mass thoroughly and loosen.  At this critical stage, for best result, use centrifugal force to achieve optimal drainage of the seed mass.  A mesh tube bag (often used to package 4 lbs. of oranges) can be used to hold the sprouter as you swing it creating a “salad spinner” effect.  A knee-high nylon stocking could also be used.  After 10-15 revolutions, empty the Outer Container, and loosen the compacted seed mass by slapping around the sides of the sprouter.  The sprouter should be covered with either the Dome or the snap-on Vented Lid.

3)   About 24 hours after draining the soak water, fill the sprouter with room temp. water and use a fork to loosen and stir the sprouts.  (It works well to leave them in the water for 5-10 minutes, especially if you rinse just once per day.)  Always drain thoroughly.  Repeat the process once or twice per day until the sprouter is full – usually by the fourth day when doing ¼ cup batches of salad varieties.

NOTE – Once salad sprouts reach leaf stage they begin to shed hulls.  Some hulls float to the top and can be skimmed with the fingertips, many drop to the bottom along with any hard or non-viable seeds.  Once the sprouter is full, after rinsing & draining, we can transfer the “good” sprouts (using a fork) to a second sprouter (no alfalfa insert), leaving the hulls, dead seeds etc. in the bottom of the first sprouter for disposal.  If only one Sprouter is available, temporarily transfer the “good” sprouts to any container until the “cleanout” is done.

When salad sprouts have been soaked and sprouted 24 hours we can begin eating them, even as we utilize the above techniques to achieve full leaf stage, uniform greening, dehulling and growth to more advanced stages.  What is unique about Easy-Sprout is that the more seeds used per batch the more efficient it becomes, provided they don’t become a waterlogged, root-bound mass in the bottom of the sprouter.  Once at a stage you like, refrigerate any uneaten portion with the Vented Lid, but wait at least 12 hours after last rinse.

 

BEANS, ETC.

Sprouted beans taste better, cook faster, are less gas forming, more nutritious & versatile than unsprouted beans. Most will find only garbanzo, lentil, mung & pea sprouts palatable fresh. (A few lentils & mung may remain hard - be aware.)

Garbanzos love cool (50-60 F.) temp., no rinsing & even sprout in the refrigerator in 7-10 days.

Mung beans like warmth. (8 oz. soaked 8 hrs. grew pound of sweet 1/2" sprouts in 8 hrs. at 107°F.) For long fat mung use 3/4 cup beans. After soaking, invert Dome & put in 8 oz. weight. (Don't block vents.) Rinse 2+ times/day. Grow in dark until full. (If desired use the above pan method for dehulling.)

Without raw foods, we fall into a kind of twilight zone of ill health. You don't feel sick, but neither do you feel well." (Henning Karstrom, Swedish Medical Researcher)


BUCKWHEAT & SUNFLOWER

The quickest & easiest way to use these two delicious varieties is in the hulled form. Buckwheat is the most reliable, quality-wise.

Buckwheat makes thick soak water. If the seeds are "dusty" from hulling, get rid of the dust by swirling the seeds in the sprouter before adding soak water. Some extra seed washing before and after soaking helps. And thorough drainage & loosening is a must. Ready to use in 24 hours.

Sunflower's biggest concern is freshness, and rancid seeds are often found in the marketplace. Look for light grey seeds. Use within 48 hours of soaking. (Unhulled sunflower is used for growing greens, as is unhulled buckwheat.)

SESAME

Sesame acquires a bitter taste if overgrown. It's most palatable with no root showing to just budded out. As with all tiny seeds, drain thoroughly and loosen. Sprout 12 hrs., cool & freeze in plastic bag.




STORAGE TIPS



No Rinse sprouts store better/longer than rinsed sprouts. (Wetness blocks oxygen.) Best storage is in the sprouter. Leave in sprouting mode til cool.

If stored sprouts ferment (lack of oxygen) put back in sprouting mode, with dome.

Freezing (No Rinse sprouts) puts sprouts on hold at peak vitality & facilitates grinding (without liquid) for convenient uses & better assimilation.


In his book ENZYME NUTRITION, Dr. Edward Howell presents compelling evidence of the importance of food enzymes to health, vitality and longevity. He calls cooking "The Fatal Process" because it depletes our limited enzyme capacity. To compensate for this loss, he recommends adding germinated, inhibitor-free, raw seeds, grains and nuts to our diet.

Over 50 years ago Dr. Robert E. McCarrison fed rats a heavilly cooked/processed diet. It resulted in all the diseases & miseries of civilized society -and it turned the rats into unhappy nervous wrecks that bit attendants and preyed upon the weaker ones amongst them.
(Sound familiar?) Sick rats put on a high-vitality diet (including sprouts!) were restored to health and happiness.

That's a very good reason to have wholesome, high-vitality meals & snacks, with sprouts, daily.