April 11, 2023 - 7:05pm
Is sprouting necessary for sourdough
I have been hearing that if you ferment your bread using sourdough starter you don't have to soak and sprout your grains before grinding them. Is that true?
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I have been hearing that if you ferment your bread using sourdough starter you don't have to soak and sprout your grains before grinding them. Is that true?
..."have to". One doesn't have to do anything. Can you explain your question in more depth?
I want to get the best health benefits and so I thought that it would be beneficial to sprout the grains before I grind them into flour, but I've heard that if you ferment it using a sourdough starter there is no need to spout them because you get the same health benefits.
So does sprouting grains. Question is if the work that goes into sprouting, drying and grinding grains gives one enough health benefits to make all that work worthwhile when sourdough can be enough. Unless you wish to buy flour made from sprouted grains and use it in a recipe https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sprouted-grain-sourdough-bread/
Certainly people do incorporate sprouted grains into their sourdoughs. But I think it's more often as an add-in (unless one buys flour). Which might be an option to think about. It's quicker and easier. Here's a nice recipe with homemade sprouted buckwheat groats added to a sourdough https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sprouted-buckwheat-sourdough/
By all means if you wish to go that extra mile and do the whole process then it can only be good for you. It just depends on how much work you're prepared to do. If you go down that route of making your own sprouted grain flour then don't sprout them too much otherwise they become diastatic and will make your bread very gummy. Just enough till the shoots begin to peek through, then dry them and grind them.
Thank you so much.
You really should be wary of mould when doing this. Follow instructions and if you're unsure then better safe than sorry. I think buckwheat is a good way of adding in sprouted grains. They're very easy and quick to sprout. If you ask me then i'd follow the sourdough with sprouted buckwheat from The Perfect Loaf. A good recipe.
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sprouted-buckwheat-sourdough/
Best of luck.
No. As what Abe said you get plenty of health benefits from making sourdough with whole grains. It is supposed to be very healthy to use sprouted grains as well and they do add another flavor profile that is excellent. It is a lot of work but you should definitely give it a try and see if you like it. I wish I had more time to sprout grains myself. The easy part is the sprouting. Just put cover them in cold water in a colander and let them sit out until you see the "Chit" appear. The hard part or pain in the butt part is then drying them before milling. I have a pretty heavy duty dehydrator I bought for this but it's a pain for me to pull it out of it's home and find a place to set it up.
Keep in mind that if you use 100% sprouted grains the fermentation is a bit tricky and you can end up with a gummy loaf of bread. I like to use maybe 35-45% sprouted grains when I bake with them and I treat them like any other flour with out any issues. If it's higher you really have to watch the fermentation as it tends to go much quicker.
Good luck and let us know how you do.
Ian