Sprouts are becoming very popular nowadays. With the general population becoming more aware of the connection between diet and health, sprouts are developing a reputation as nutritional powerhouses. They are full of enzymes, nutrients and many have high quality, complete proteins that are easily digested and used by the body. The marketing slogan for sprouts could be "sprouts do a body good."
If you enjoy eating sprouts, you may want to consider growing them in your own kitchen. By sprouting your own, you can have them to enjoy morning, noon and night. My favorite ways to enjoy sprouts are on whole grain living cereal, in green smoothies and of course on garden salads.
Sprouting is fun, rewarding and cost effective. Don’t let sprouting intimidate you. Successful sprouting is easy if you adhere to a few simple principles: soaking, rinsing and draining.
First, you must soak most seeds and grains for about 8 hours. I generally soak them overnight for convenience. Begin by putting 3-4 tablespoons of seeds into your sprouting/soaking container (when sprouting grain, I sprout 1 cup at a time) and cover generously with purified water. At the end of 8 hours, or when you get up in the morning, thoroughly drain the seeds/grain.
Next, rinse the seeds/grain for about 30 seconds under rushing tap water. This is a very important step. When I first started sprouting, I tried to rinse my seeds using water from my purification system. There was not enough volume and pressure to rinse the seeds thoroughly. I ruined several batches of seeds before I figured out what was going wrong.
After rinsing your seeds, make sure you drain or shake of any excess water. If your seeds are left to stand in excess water they will rot…Avoid the disappointment of ruined sprouts by rinsing and draining thoroughly.
Now that your seeds have been soaked, rinsed and drained once, they will begin sprouting. From this point you should continue rinsing and draining 3 times daily until they are finished, about 3 days: I have found that routinely rinsing and draining my sprouting seeds once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening before I go to bed results in successful crops every time.
Another principle which aids in successful sprouting is using an effective sprouting container. In the past I used a mason jar with a sprouting lid. I never had consistent success with this method and therefore grew quickly disillusioned with sprouting. The lids never fit properly and it was difficult to rinse and drain the seeds properly.
Since the old days of mason jars and mesh lids I have discovered the Easy Sprouter. This simple plastic sprouter has several parts that make all the sprouting steps easy and convenient. I have 2 Easy Sprouters. That way I can sprout seeds and grains at the same time. The Easy Sprouter is inexpensive, convenient, and portable. And most importantly they will yield a good harvest of sprouts every time…as long as you follow the three simple steps...soak, rinse and drain.
Find your Easy Sprouter sprouting equipment below:
