I like to do things that can be deemed “hardcore”.
Like sprouting wheat berries.
And dehydrating it.
And grinding it up for homemade flour.
So what if I’m a little crazy overly ambitious? It keeps things interesting? I can’t really grow and harvest my own wheat from the ground up, but I figure this gets me a little closer to the source. Sure, I could order sprouted wheat flour online, but where’s the fun in that?
I started with some soft white wheat berries from Bob’s Red Mill.
I soaked them over night then put them in my sprouter to give them the time to do their thing. It took about 2.5 days. This is not a project to embark on when seeking instant gratification.
Once it was sprouted then I had to dry the berries again before grinding them. That was a cinch thanks to one of my great new Christmas presents this year, my Excalibur 3900 dehydrator. A couple of hours in there and we went from moist sprouts to:
Grind-ready in my handy-dandy friend, Edgar the Vita-Mix.
Bam! 30-45 seconds later my flour was fragrant, ground and ready to go.
Now the question is, what should I use my first batch on? I’ve got about 2 cups worth of flour. What do you think?
[polldaddy poll=4404941]
21 Responses to adventures in sprouted wheat- part 1
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If I were to tell you “Kris, that’s hardcore”, you would hear undertones of encouragement and admiration! I love that you’re doing this, and am looking forward to seeing what this first batch of flour becomes.
On an unrelated note, the Chocolate Stout Bread was smelling awesomely good while it was baking. I can’t wait to taste it!
Yum! I think I will have to make that one again soon, too. We’ve been loving us some stout lately.
Pancakes!
I only say this because I’ve been seriously craving them the past few days and since I don’t have time I want to live vicariously.
Mmmm… I think pancakes have got my own bias, too.
Haha, aww, that sounds like some really sweet doubtful encouragement to me. The undertaking does sound quite serious but the final product looks amazing! Fresh flour, hot damn!
Thank you!
Making your own sprouted wheat flour IS hardcore! Question… is that the regular VitaMix container, or the dry one?
Erica- it’s just the regular one. When I bought my machine I asked the guy about it and he told me that there wasn’t an actual need to buy the dry container if you don’t plan to grind that often, it’s more of on up-sell.
Woah, that is hardcore! But the end result look awesome!
Thanks!
Wow! It’s like magic! You are very impressive!!
Aw, thanks Amanda!
You’re amazing! What a great thing to do. Definitely hardcore in a good way.
Thanks, Fanny!
I have always wanted to sprout and then grind my own flours in the vita mix! BUT, I don’t have a dehydrator…can you think of any other way to dry out the sprouted grains/beans/etc? I worry about not getting them dry enough and mold or clumping etc…
Courtney
@cmb0096: I sprout my sprouts near my wood burning stove. One time I couldn’t get to them to rinse them and by the time I got back they were totally dried out. It was under a day near the hot stove.
Ooh, good idea! Thanks!
Good question. chefJOSEPH has a good idea. I was also thinking you could put them in a warm oven (on the lowest setting possible, with the oven door cracked ajar with a ball of tin foil) for a short period of time, but you want to make sure they don’t get too warm and toasted!
Great–both good tips–thanks! I don’t have a wood burning stove, but I do have an oven. I might give it a try this weekend
Courtney
Awesome!!! By the way, I voted for cookies because I don’t think I have every seen sprouted grain cookies before!
Great blog post about sprouted wheat! In case you haven’t heard, Essential Eating Sprouted Foods has a delicious line of organic, sprouted & kosher whole grain food products such as cereals, pastas and pretzels that digest as vegetables. Check us out at http://www.essentialeating.com!