Touting Sprouting

Last week, I interviewed not only real-food guru Sally Fallon (author of Nourishing Traditions) but also Janie Quinn, author of several other books that are worth reading for those who want to dig deep into nutrition ideas that are both old and new. Quinn’s book Sprouted Baking, released in 2008, offers a fascinating look at the benefits of sprouting grains before they are milled into flour and used to make everything from sandwich bread to birthday cake. Sprouting grains, she says, fulfills their destiny and converts them into living plants, which are more easily digested and offer increased nutrient absorption.

Because I spoke to her primarily for an article I’m working on for Living Without magazine (a publication for people with food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities), we spent a lot of time talking about how her work fits into what she calls “gluten-free land.” (More on that in the article to come.) But we ventured off that topic a bit to discuss sprouting methods, and I must say that that part of the conversation left me a little discouraged about my own recent efforts in the area of sprouting. Quinn, a self-proclaimed former “home sprouter” of grains, says she is convinced now that she has overseen operations at the small mill that produces her line of sprouted flours (spring wheat and spelt) that there is just no way to achieve the desired quality of both flour and finished baked goods by sprouting, dehydrating and grinding grains in our own homes. Here are her reasons:

• Improper or infrequent soaking and rinsing equipment and techniques lead to grain that might look sprouted but not truly be sprouted, she says. “Grain may appear to the naked eye to be sprouted when it has actually been drowned, resulting in the swollen endosperm pushing through the bran coat,” she writes in Sprouted Baking. “In short, drowned grain does not possess the benefits derived from sprouting. Sprouted products made from a mash are much coarser in texture and can have a distinctive fermented taste.”
• A home sprouter has no way of conducting a “falling number test,” which is used to determine peak levels of sprouting action and enzyme activity.
• While home sprouters can grind sprouted, dehydrated grains into flour, they have no way to sift out the foreign matter that inevitably finds its way into any grain.

All of which has left me with some uncertainties: Am I truly sprouting my grain, or drowning it? I have noticed a hint of a fermented taste and smell—though not unpleasant—to my sprouted spelt, but I just figured that was the way it was supposed to be. I admit that I’m not equipped to conduct a falling number test—nor do I particularly want to be. And I’m sure some foreign matter has made it’s way into the flour I’ve ground. How unsafe might that be?

I also have noticed a few other things about working with sprouted spelt, in particular. For one thing, it is very thirsty flour, soaking up way more liquid than most recipes I’ve used it in even call for. I almost always end up having to add more liquid just to incorporate all of the ingredients and create a dough or batter than can be properly mixed. And baking times or temperatures seem off when I’m working with sprouted spelt in a recipe that calls for regular flour. The two breads I’ve made with it were slightly burned on the crust, or exterior, while the crumb, or interior was OK.

Now I realize that it is in Quinn’s interest to steer consumers toward her own products—the Essential Eating Sprouted Flours her mill produces. But I have to say that despite the flours’ high price (they’re available at health-food stores and online at www.shilohfarms.com), I’m tempted to try some just to compare them to the fledgling flour I’ve made on my own. Then again, I also know that sprouting, as a traditional food-preparation method, has been around a long time, and people have somehow managed—without owning their own grain mill—to reap at least some benefit from their own home-sprouting/dehydrating/grinding efforts. If you’re a more experienced sprouter, I’d love it if you would weigh in on this topic and offer some wisdom for newbies like me!

Because I’ve been reading about and writing about food, I haven’t been doing anything really new with food in the kitchen this past week. I am sprouting more pinto beans this week to use in chili, and I’m pondering some things I want to try soon (sourdough bread and water kefir, to name a few).

This post is part of the Tuesday Twister blog carnival hosted by www.gnowfglins.com. To link to today’s Tuesday Twister on that site, click here.

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