Sprouting 101

Bean sprouts are probably the easiest and cheapest way to get more nutrient rich food in your diet. The benefits of bean sprouts are numerous and include:

Vitamins A, B, C and E
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus
Amino Acids
Protein: 20% - 25%

Not only are bean sprouts nutritious but consider if you replace bean sprouts in your diet with some nutrient deficient food(s) the benefits are a multiplier of unmeasurable values.

There are several methods for sprouting but I will demonstrate the most common and easiest to get started.

Things you will need:

mason jars with lids (quart size with wide mouth lids work the best)
scissors or utility knife
marker
scrap piece of screen
water
beans

We are going to sprout the beans in jars. The jars will need a lid fitted with a screen for draining water. You can buy pre-made lids with screens online but they can be costly and of course don't come with the jar. It will be worth a visit to your local hardware store and ask if they have any scrap pieces of screen you can purchase. I got a nice size piece for $2.

Simply trace around the outside of the lid and cut out the piece and place it into the inside of the lid. Depending on the type of material the screen is made of you might be need scissors or a utility knife to cut out the piece.The material I picked up was a fiberglass screen so scissors worked fine but if you buy aluminum screen you might need to use a utility knife.

That was the hardest part now comes the fun part and if you don't think you can do it bring me your jars and screen and I'd be happy to help you.

Choosing beans to sprout is a matter of preference. We could go into a long explanation of organic and non GMO but for now just get to sprouting. In this demonstration I will be sprouting Garbanzo beans, Lentils and Mung beans. Garbanzo beans and Lentils are great because you can probably easily find them at your local grocery store. I would recommend starting with those since you can pick up a 1 pound bag for less than $1.50. My mung beans came from the bulk section of a co-op grocery store. They are a little more expensive, about $3.00 a pound, but are delicious. A quick google search and you will see sprouting beans can go for a lot more so finding them locally I think is a huge cost benefit and something that will make it much easier to do on a regular basis.

To begin the sprouting process simply add the desired amount of beans you want to sprout. We will need to add at least twice as much water as beans so consider that when deciding how many beans you want to sprout. For this blog I will demonstrate the beans sprouted separately but you can and I usually do sprout them together.  So place the beans in a jar, fasten the lid and fill the jar with at least twice as much water as beans. The beans will only soak up as much water as they need so more water will not hurt but not enough will result in sprouting problems.

Now just set the jars to the side out of direct sunlight for 8-12 hours.

It's been 12 hours now and it's time to rinse the beans. What we have done so far is what is referred to as the 'soak'. In Sprouting 201 we will get into everything going on during the soak as well as soaking nuts. Nuts typically don't sprout so you just soak them but we don't have nuts now we have beans so lets get to it.

You will notice that the beans have absorbed quite a bit of water are are about twice the size now than when they started. You could eat them now, there would be noting wrong or harmful in doing so but we want our beans to be the most flavorful and nutrient rich as possible so we will continue a rinse process every 8-12 hours until we have reached the desired sprout. I would highly suggest trying the beans at this stage and every stage so you know how they taste and you can decide how you will like them the best.

We want to drain the soak water out of each jar. The water may be a little discolored, that is normal so don't worry about that. Next we will rinse the beans and drain them a couple times to be sure they are rinsed very well.

Once each jar is drained, rinsed, drained, rinsed and drained very well the sprouting can begin. It's important that the beans are rinsed well. Be sure you don't break the screen out of the jar lid while rinsing or you will have quite a mess of beans. (I've never broken a screen away from the lid but I'm sure if you apply enough pressure it will pop out).

As long as you have rinsed them well you can leave the jars sitting as before, out of direct sunlight for another 8-12 hours. Alternatively you can use some sort of rack and let the jars sit upside down to be sure you get every last drop of rinse water. I've done it both ways and have never noticed any difference in the sprouted bean.

It's been another 12 hours now so time to rinse, drain, rinse and drain.

It's only been 24 hours but you should notice the beginnings of little 'tails' growing from the sprout. Pat yourself on the back because you have officially 'sprouted'!

8-12 hours later

Rinse, drain, rinse, drain, do you see a pattern repeating here?

 

8-12 hours later

Rinse and drain and rinse and drain. 

This is where I like my sprouts. You could continue to sprout them if you wanted. Store you sprouts in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. 

The End