RE: Sprouting wheat berries

[Guest guest]

Sandy,

Sprouts that are “bad” will smell sour. It seems to me what you’ve done is

half-way between making sprouts and making Rejuvilac, a fermented wheat

drink, except you’ve thrown the liquid out which is the drinkable part. :-)

Fear not, this is all part of beginning to learn the process, getting a

sense for smells, techniques, etc. Here’s a guide to making Rejuvelac, a

fermented wheat liquid that is used in place of whey in some recipes.

http://www.rejoiceinlife.com/recipes/rejuvelac.php

It sounds to me that you may have used wheat that was possibly a bit old or

stale. It’s always good when buying a batch of wheat, to only make ½ cup or

so, to test it out. When making sprouts, as you’ve discovered, don’t soak

them longer than 24-hours (but do soak them longer than 14). Drain them,

rinse them often. If storing in the refrigerator, make sure they’re

completely dry, otherwise, the water encourages bacterial growth. I always

use hydrogen peroxide in the initial soak. The sprouts are cleaner and will

sprout more quickly because of being oxygenated. In fact, my grains sprout

in my initial soaking water when I use h202.

You can still use the wheat berries, as long as they’re sprouting, IF they

smell sweet, grass-like, and NOT sour. The ‘tail’ shouldn’t grow longer

than 1/3 of the length of the grain, or it will start to turn bitter. If

sour smelling, throw. If discolored, throw. You can either eat them in a

salad, toss them with a little dressing, add tomatoes, cukes, etc. OR,

dehydrate them and grind them into flour. My children eat them by the

handful as do all my pets – they’ve converted from wheat to miniature

vegetables as far as changes in starches, vitamins, minerals, amino acids,

etc. which become available to you. So…bottom line, as long as they’re not

spoiled, if you can’t think of other uses, just eat them raw. If it were

me, and I were in doubt, I’d start all over again with ¼-1/2 cup, soak it

for no longer than 20-hours, religiously rinse them in cool water every 2-3

hours (they build up heat in the center as they “sprout”, so they need to be

cooled down) for another 18-20 hours and you should have nice sprouts

(actually, at this stage, it is more accurate to say ‘germinated’ – sprouts

are the longer, green ones). By the way, only use a glass jar for soaking,

never for the drained/growing stage – there’s not enough air flow. After

the initial rinse, place them in a colander which has lots of nice air flow.

Cover lightly with a paper towel. Air flow is critical as is rinsing. HTH.

-Sharon, NH

Deut 11:14 He will put grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will

have plenty to eat.

>...now should I just throw my sprouts

>away cause maybe they are toxic anyway or does anyone know what I should do

>with an almost full quart jar full of wheat berries? (About 3 cups before

>soaking and sprouting.)

>A Newbie here just trying to get started with something simple but maybe

not

>so simple after all...

>Thanks, Sandy