The red lentils didn't turn out very well. They were slow-growing and the sprouts were pretty short, even after 4-5 days. And the larger size of the lentils seemed to retain water (like little clam shells), even when well-drained. There was more hull than sprout and they did not taste good. I threw them out. It could be that they did not germinate well, since they were meant for soup and not for sprouting. Regarding the fenugreek...after I drained them on paper towels, I thought I'd dry them further by putting them in my dehydrator for a short period of time. The minimum temp is 115°...there is no "Air Only" option. I only left them in briefly, but it made them a little "weird," as though they did not tolerate the heat very well, as brief as the exposure was. After only a week in the fridge, they turned funky and no longer tasted fresh. Prior batches have lasted longer. From now on I'll just lay them on paper towels and pat them dry, as I've done in the past. Slightly damp is better than exposed to heat. Lesson learned.
I usually eat the lentils just after they have sprouted, and the fenugreek, I leave longer and let it develop pretty green leaves. The lentil are more like a mung bean sprout, and just need a little tail on them. I add them into salads, but you can also put them in soup or a stir fry, just like you would do with a mung bean sprout. I get mine from the store, and they sprout just fine.
Thanks, Yvonne. I'll give them another shot. I got a batch of fenugreek and mixed greens going now. To me they looked like open little clams with a sprout coming out. I guess I expected to wash away some of the "hull." Then after I let them sit too long waiting for the sprout to get longer, they became unappetizing. The rate of sprouting was just fine.
Some of my reading indicated that chia and flax seeds don't really sprout, they form a gelatinous mass. I found a couple of videos on how to sprout them. I've transcribed the instructions for my own files and attached pdfs here. I really want to try the flax seeds. I just ran a batch through a spice grinder (a small food processor didn't put a dent in the tough little buggers) because I read that whole seeds themselves often pass undigested and that ground seeds are more readily absorbed. These are a good source of the Alpha-linolenic acid @Don Alaska had posted about in another thread. How To Sprout Flax Seeds How To Sprout Chia Seeds
Alpha linoleic acid is a good thing, but I posted about alpha lipoic acid, and both are referred to as ALA
I grew mung bean sprouts to make Filipino Shrimp & Vegetable Fritters (ukoy) for dinner tonight. This is what one cup of beans yields (that's a one gallon bag): Those are from small green mung beans. One video said that the large brown mung beans grow larger sprouts and have a higher germination rate. I did not have a single bean that failed to sprout. The bag of beans was picked at random off the shelf at my Asian market. It's tougher to get the hulls off of bean sprouts than it is seed sprouts because the seed hulls seem to fall off easier (they are more like dry hard casings than soft sticky skins), they float so you can skim them, and they're small enough to more easily fall through the holes of the salad spinner insert. Cleaning the mung bean sprouts was time-consuming pick-them-off work, versus just rinsing & draining. I noticed that some retail folks harvest the sprouts before the green hulls shed: That's actually pretty smart from a labor (and growing cycle) standpoint, although I've never seen them for sale at this earlier stage. I'll try a batch like this next time. I imagine they're good, just "different." This is the first time I've used my sprout tray, and I read that sprouts grow fatter when they are weighed down (this is done even if they're on their way to being micro-greens.) I made my own custom-fit weight out of spare foam-core tile backer that I sealed in a vacuum bag to keep it sanitary: It fits snug enough to not need a weight, but I've since read that this should be loose-fitting, so I may trim it back a little. My sprouts turned out all right, but I think they need more air circulation than I gave them. Now I gotta go find some mung bean sprout recipes and clean out my wok! I know what I'll be eating this week...
I gotta get another plug in for buying seeds & beans at ethnic grocery stores. I bought a 7 oz. bag of fenugreek seeds at an Indian market today for $1.99. The same size bag ranges from $5-$8 on Amazon. This is slightly more per-ounce than Amazon charges for a 5# bag (28¢ vs 25¢). I love those places. The problem is I always walk out with more than I went in for (like a bag of basmati rice and some mega-hot snack mix.)
I just placed an order with Sprout People I've used their website extensively for ideas and instruction, so it was time to give them some business. They have over 100 sprouting seeds, beans, nuts and blends for sale (there are some dupes where they list the sprouts and the microgreens as separate products when they are the same seed.) It's worth browsing the Seeds page to get ideas on blends. They have one named "Hot and Sweet Sprout Mix." It has Wheat, Green Peas, Yellow Peas, Green Lentils, Orange Lentils, and Daikon Radish. It's a 2 step process because the radishes take 2-3 days longer to sprout than the rest of the ingredients, so you start them going then begin the rest a couple of days later...you toss them all together when done. There are all sorts of ideas on doing different blends like this. They also sell almonds to sprout!!! I ordered: -Italian Blend (clover, garlic, cress) -Kohlrabi -Nick's Hot Sprout Salad Mix (Clover, Radish, Fenugreek, Mustard, Dill, Cress, and Celery) -Radish (4 different types of radishes, apparently the selection varies) -Sesame -Amber Waves of Grain (Wheat, Rye, Triticale, Oats, Spelt, Kamut, Quinoa, Sesame, Millet and Amaranth) I can't wait to make a stir fry with mung bean and sesame sprouts!!! Between my vacuum sealer and my oxygen absorbers, I'm sure these will keep for an extended period of time. As it is, I'm going through 2-3 canning jar batches a week. The only thing I worry about storing long-term are the grains (they contain oils)...the seeds will keep until the pharaohs return.
I would worry about the oxygen absorbers, too. I deal a lot with garden seeds, and it is expressly recommended NOT to use oxygen absorbers when storing seeds, as it reduces the viability of the seeds. All seeds require at least a small amount of seeds to remain viable. I don't think the vacuum sealer is an issue though, as it doesn't completely remove the oxygen. Stored seeds last longest when well dried, however, so silica gel or other moisture absorber would be fine. If you intend to eat the seeds themselves, or grind them into flour, the O2 absorbers would be fine.
Don, you always seem to have my back on this stuff. Thank you. I'll order some silica gel to put in there and check to see where I've already used the O2 absorbers...I think it might just have been with some pasta flour, since I'm using up these seeds I've got at a pretty rapid rate.
So I just finished sprouting my first batch of Amber Waves of Grain (Wheat, Rye, Triticale, Oats, Spelt, Kamut, Quinoa, Sesame, Millet and Amaranth) I bought from www.sproutpeople.org These sprout in 2-3 days, "when most of the grains have short roots." per their website. Here's their website photo: Here's what mine turned out like. I just laid out a few so it would not be a tangled undifferentiated mass: Maybe I let them go too long (soaked overnight Saturday, then sprouted Sunday, Monday, and harvested Tuesday AM.) They looked ready Monday night but I did not feel like messing with them. And I did not want a bowl of raw grains with little tails on them (although lots of reviewers on the site rave over them.) They are good, and way different than sprouted seeds. Obviously, there are no hulls to rinse off. These have a deep, sweet almost meaty flavor to them, and are chewy. They're way different than the grassy flavor (and texture) of seeds. I can see using these as a main ingredient in a meatless sandwich, they're so robust. This is one of their least expensive mixes at under $10/pound. Sproutpeople sells a "Hot & Sweet" mix that's Wheat, Green Peas, Yellow Peas, Green Lentils, Orange Lentils, Daikon Radish. You start the radish a couple of days before the rest of the stuff because the other stuff sprouts so quickly. Then you combine them. I have a 4 radish blend that should be finished in a day or two. Maybe I'll mix some of them together. I can see how the grains would cut the heat of the radishes. edit to add: As I go back through this thread, I see where @Yvonne Smith talked about lentils & non-seed items only sprouting little tails before being ready to eat. Sometimes I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer...
I rinsed my radish sprouts this morning and had to post a pic. They're so colorful... You can tell there are Daikon in there from the heat. That's the only constant radish in the mix. The rest are "whatever's available" the day they pack it.
I forgot to add in a previous post @John Brunner that after you seal you seeds for storage, they should be refrigerated or frozen to slow metabolism and reduce consumption of O2.