How to Make Sprouted Wheat Flour

This is a post for Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade. Real Food is a passion of mine and I love to help others learn about Real Food, too. This is my first post to Fight Back Friday so I hope I'm doing everything right.  (I'm a little nervous.)

To me, real food means old food, traditional food. Food that my Great Grandmothers would have made to feed their families. Kinda connects me to the past while at the same time with the future. By feeding my children good food, their young bodies are gaining a great foundation to build the future on.

After borrowing (hee hee) my Mothers grain mill and finding an organic wheat supplier I started to grind wheat for all our cooking and baking needs. Then I heard the benefits of sprouted wheat but couldn't find any information on the web as to how to "do it." Wouldn't it clog up my grinder? I had heard that the Vita Mix blender could grind grain but with that price tag, it just wasn't an option. (Not to mention I'm also wanting to be frugal so I didn't want to buy anything.)

Then I had a huge "TA DA" moment.

Why couldn't I sprout then dehydrate  wheat berries?

(Long pause...light bulb...on!)

I could...I could sprout then dehydrate wheat berries! When dry, it would still grind in my flour mill. So now, I sprout my wheat and grind it in my mill...and I want you to do it too!

With all the tasks we do everyday, why would we spend the time and effort to sprout grain?

1. Sally Fallon in her book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats has a few pages about the reasons to sprout grains and seeds. She has done a much better job than I could ever do, so if you haven't read it, borrow it from your library. (It's really awesome.) The short of it is because it's sooo much better for you and your body is able to absorb more of the nutrition from the grain.

2. Sprouted Wheat flour is really expensive.

3. Products made from sprouted wheat are really expensive. Here a loaf of sprouted wheat bread is $5.00. I am not going to spend $5.00 on a loaf of bread! I don't care how good it is for me.

This is how I do it.

You will need:

-One large glass container.
-One large, strainer with a fine mesh (mine has expendable arms that reach to either side and sits flush with my counter top.)
-A long handled spoon
-One dehydrator with small screen so the wheat won't fall through as it dries and shrinks. (I read that tulle from the fabric store can be cut to fit and works just fine.)
-Water, spring is best, but I'm "frugal" and use tap water.
-Organic Wheat berries

First, take a berry and bite it. You need to know what a dry berry feels like for later.

Fill your glass jar about 5/8 to 2/3 full with the wheat. Rise and clean the wheat the best you can/feel like.

Fill the the rest of the way with water. When sprouting, you usually add some whey, lemon juice or some other acid. Somewhere I read that it isn't needed with wheat berries. I've never used any and it has always sprouted.

Sit it on the counter and stir it every few hours to help separate the grains. It's not really necessary but I feel better about it if I do.

When the grains are very plump, (12-18 hours) drain through your strainer. (I'm sure this water would be wonderful for your garden.)

Rinse the wheat well and leave it alone to drain...and sprout.

Rinse and stir/move things around every 12 hours until your sprouts are about 1/4 inch long.

Spread the sprouted wheat berries on your dehydrator trays about 1/4-1/2 inch thick and turn it on. The little "sprouts" will dry, so just ignore them. They will grind up just fine later. If your dehydrator has a heat setting go ahead and use the setting for seeds OR you could crank it up, because your going to cook with it anyway and kill the enzymes then, so why not dry it quick.

Check them frequently and stir them up or change tray positions if drying is uneven. You will know when they are done when you bite into one and it is just has hard and dry as before you did anything with it. Could take 4 hours or 36, it depends on how much you are drying per rack and how high your heat is.

Let the berries cool then use as you would un-sprouted wheat berries.

Look to see if there are little bits of the dried "sprout" laying on the bottom of your dehydrator. Brush them out into your compost before putting your machine away.

It only takes a few minutes here and there to sprout than dry wheat, so give it a try. The ground sprouted wheat works just like regular ground wheat and it only takes a few minutes here, a few minutes there to make. Nutritionally, it packs a much bigger punch so the effort is well worth it. Please, let me know if you try to sprout your own wheat berries. That would make my day.

I've also linked up to The Health Home Economist's Monday Mania. Go have a look at the wonderful and informative post over there.