I use grain flours two ways – I leaven them through lacto fermentation when making breads, and sprout them for recipes where fermentation is not applicable, or if I need to make something fast. Why bother, you may ask? Well, because sprouting does a whole lot to take wheat to a new level of nutrition. It increases content of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, and beta carotine (source); it increases the amount of folate and total dietary fiber, while decreasing the amount of gluten proteins (source); it increases content of essential amino acid lysine, which our bodies cannot manufacture but is important for many internal functions (source). Sprouting also greatly increases the amount of phytase, an enzyme that acts on phytate (or phytic acid) to break it down to release phosphorus in a form that we can absorb (source).
Unlike Paleo followers, I believe that unless a person has compromised immune system or celiac disease – old world wheat varieties like einkorn, spelt or kamut, are very beneficial, especially when properly prepared – fermented or sprouted.
Sprouting is extremely easy, but I was never able to sprout Jovial wheat berries so I use Breadtopia grains and they work very well. Jovial wheat is my go-to flour for sourdoughs.
HOW TO SPROUT EINKORN WHEAT BERRIES
Ingredients
1 cup einkorn berries
2 quarts water
Instructions
Put a cup of einkorn berries in a quart mason jar. Fill the jar with filtered water and cover with a mesh lid. Update: I picked up this sprouting jar at Whole Foods, and it became my favorite, although those tiny kitchen flies are able to get inside. If you have them, stick with the green lid.
Keep it on the counter for 8 hours or overnight. You won’t see any activity at the end of 8 hours. Drain the water (that’s why a mesh lid is so convenient!), rinse it the grains in fresh filtered water. Discard the water again, tilt the jar to the side taking care to leave half the screen exposed, for air to circulate. Leave it in a warm place for 1 to 3 days, changing the water twice a day. The grains should stay moist but not submerged into water. The sprouting will start in 12 to 24 hours after the end of your first soak.
Once tiny tails start showing – the grains are done. You don’t want to let the sprouts to get too long. Rinse the grains again and drain well. I started using this flour sifter to drain them, it works really well; I leave them to drain for about an hour. Then spread them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. If the layer of sprouted einkorn is thick, mix it a few times while it’s drying.
Put it in the oven at the lowest temperature for about three hours, or until the grains are dry like they were before you started soaking. I dry mine at 175-200F; the real sprouting and raw food purists say the perfect temperature is 150F. I don’t think it matters since I will be cooking the flour I make from the grains anyway – I’m not worried about keeping the temperature that low. Plus you can probably only get to that temperature in a dehydrator, which I am not ready to invest in yet because of how bulky they are. Here are my grains after drying:
Can you see the dried up little tails? Now these guys are ready for milling. This is the mill I’ve been using for years, I love it, the motor is sold separately.
Sprouting any other grains follows exact same technique.
SPROUTED PURPLE BARLEY
SPROUTED OATS
HOW TO SPROUT EINKORN WHEAT BERRIES
Ingredients
- 1 cup einkorn wheat berries
- 2 quarts water
Instructions
- Put a cup of einkorn berries in a quart mason jar. Fill the jar with filtered water and cover with a mesh lid.
- Keep it on the counter for 8 hours or overnight. You won't see any activity at the end of 8 hours. Drain the water (that's why a mesh lid is so convenient), rinse the grains with fresh water.
- Discard the water again, tilt the jar to the side taking care to leave half the screen exposed, for air to circulate. Leave it in a warm place for 1 to 3 days, changing the water twice a day. The grains should stay moist but not submerged in water.
- The sprouting will start in 12 to 24 hours after the end of your first soak. Once tiny tails start showing – the grains are done. You don't want to let the sprouts to get too long.
- Rinse the grains again and drain well. Then dry them in a dehydrator, or spread them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at the lowest oven temperature until dry, about 3 hours.
34 comments
Thanks for the heads up about the Jovial Einkorn berries not sprouting. I am going to attempt my first sprout soon and that would have been very frustrating experience.
So glad it’s helpful, Melissa! It is so frustrating, especially just starting out. I actually kept trying with tiny batches every time I got a shipment from Jovial after a backorder, hoping that maybe they changed their hulling technique :). One time I got weak sprouts on maybe 1/16 of the grains but the rest were a mess. I gave up completely after that.
I just picked up some Jovial berries specifically for sprouting. Same issue. Wish I’d seen this first.
Thanks for letting me know though. I’ll try the berries you suggested.
I have been writing back and forth with Jovial. They say that the berries should still sprout even though they remove the husks. They say that the husks are not the same as removing the wheat germ or bran. I can’t get them to sprout, either and they continue to say that the removal of the husks shouldn’t matter when it comes to sprouting. However, I did see a tiny bit of sprouting after 2 days. If you say it takes you almost 4 days, then maybe I can wait longer. I bought 5 pounds and it’s irritating to spend the money and not be able to sprout.
I completely agree with you, Sandy. Jovial is by far the best deal, and I love the free shipping and loyalty points, but it is frustrating not to be able to sprout their grains. I tried sprouting multiple batches, because I order it very often, thinking that maybe different lots would perform differently. I was able to get a small portion of the grains to sprout but the rest just became ‘fluffy’, almost dough like with particles that wash away in the rinse. I thought maybe just the fact of soaking some/sprouting some is still a good thing but after trying to dry the ‘fluffy’ berries, the amount of total grain I get is significantly less.
If you do a pound of berries in 1 container, add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
I am so glad I read the comments above. I recently bough 10 lbs. of Jovial Einkorn Wheat, and I have now tried twice to get the berries to sprout, and they haven’t! We’re on try #2 and Day 3, and I”m smelling a yeast smell. This is exactly what happened with try #1. Are the berries bad or should I go ahead and try to make bread out of them anyway? Any ideas are welcome.
Hi Ann, I’m glad you found this helpful! I’m sure the grains are perfectly fine. I also get 10 pounds bags from Jovial and mill them to make sourdoughs and other baked goodies. The only thing I found about difficulty of sprouting is the fact that some varieties of einkorn (Triticum monococcum) are resistant to sprouting because they need a certain amount of time after harvest to stay dormant (here are a couple of sources: 1, 2). Maybe the grains are genetically programmed to stay dormant to reflect seasonal changes? That’s just a guess.. 🙂
I’m new to the forum. After reading the problems people have been having trying to sprout Einkorn, I can offer the following comments:
Several years ago, I also used to purchase Jovial Einkorn. The maximum sprouting rate was never more than 50% or less. After doing a little research, I learned the probable cause is the type of de-hulling machine Jovial uses. Jovial (and most farmers) use a conventional de-hulling machine with metal parts which scratches and nicks the kernels (particularly the germ). This greatly reduces the sprouting rate (in some cases to zero%). I found one farmer (Bluebird Grain Farms) located in Winthrop Washington, who (if I understand correctly)
uses a de-hulling machine with hard rubber parts. This causes much less damage to the Einkorn kernels. For the last three years, I’ve been getting about 100% of this Einkorn to sprout. In my opinion, Jovial has a first class farm in Tuscany and grows very high quality Einkorn. However, their focus is on growing Einkorn to be ground into flour to be used in bake goods. So sprouting is not a priority.
I am now 71 years old. I’ve been on an exclusively raw diet for several years because it seems to be doing a very good job of reversing arthritis and other aches and pains (to an amazing degree) Einkorn sprouts are the center of my diet, to which I add sprouted green peas, lentil, beans etc. for complete protein. It all goes into a daily salad with one or two avocados, chopped lettuce, grated beats, etc.
Correction to the information on my Nov. 23, 2020 post: The reason Einkorn from Bluebird Grain Farms sprouts so well
is: Bluebird’s de-hulling machine works by centrifugal motion (high speed spinning motion). Ordinary de-hulling machines used by other farmers, work by mechanically grinding the hulls off the kernels which damages the grain with nicks and scratches.
For a kernel to sprout, the germ must be undamaged.
Wow. thank you for this great info. the community is much greater with your help
Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar or apple cider vinegar to the water. That’s what I do.
What mill or grinder do you use to grind your grain to flour?
Hi Charlene, I use a Victorio mill with this motor. I bought them both on Amazon over a year ago. It’s perfect for a family my size – two toddlers (+ a baby coming this week) and three adults. I couldn’t get myself to spend big money on one of the fancy ones back then, and now I just don’t want another one, love it! 🙂 I keep it in a box, it has small profile and doesn’t take much space, and it comes together very quickly.
Where do you purchase your einkorn from? I’ve read that Jovial does not sprout because it is an imported grain. Imported grains, even though organic, are irradiated at the ports to kill insects. I managed to sprout Jovial, but at about 50%. I’m looking for US grown organic grain, but most sellers say they aren’t for sprouting. Needing a hull doesn’t make sense to me, because other seeds sprout without hulls…but then I’m not a wheat farmer.
And the Jovial berries that I did buy looked like it had been treated for insects. It had dead ones mixed in the grains, nothing alive, so this tells me they didn’t get there on the shelf at the store. 🙁
Ouch, that hurts to read – insects in the Jovial grains? Yikes! The majority of the einkorn I use has been from Jovial.. but I’ve never seen anything resembling insects, each batch is packed air-tight so I don’t know how bugs would get in.. I’ve tried grain and flour from Einkorn.com, which are produced in the States, and they are great, it was just hard switching from my Jovial routine and having to pay for shipping.. I was able to sprout grains from Einkorn.com easily.
Can they sprout into wheatgrass?
I’ve been buying Jovial grains for years and NEVER saw a dead insect.
If you look on the Jovial website, someone asked them if their grains are irradiated – and their answer was an emphatic NO.
Other than the sprouting issue, I’ve been so satisfied with Jovial’s berries over others. I’m going to try the vinegar suggestion and see if that helps. The dormant statement made a lot of sense too. Think I’ll ask Jovial that question, or call our local University to see what they say.
Thank you for the great article! Can I use some of your material with credit given in an article on Einkorn in a magazine I write for called “Ozark Hill and Hollow”? I want to do a series on ancient grains starting with Einkorn. Also I am wanting to make these health changes myself and so I am really excited about running into your blog.
Hi Mary, thank you 🙂 Please feel free to use it any way you like!
Do you still buy your einkorn for sprouting from breadtopia? I used your link to check it out and liked the prices I saw but there’s a big disclaimer saying most customers don’t have success sprouting it and that you shouldn’t buy it with that intention. I see in a previous comment that you’ve purchased from einkorn.com and wonder if that’s the grains you’re finding sprout best these days.
Thoughts? Thanks so much!
Hi Heather, sorry for delay on this, just found it in my spam folder!! I haven’t bought from Breadtopia for a while. I’m not having much luck with sprouting einkorn. The berries from Einkorn.com sprouted but only about 70%. I always feel like I’m wasting a lot when I get those fluffy grains that just melt away during rinsing.
What I sprout successfully ALL the time is rye – regardless of brand. Also, most of spelt berries sprout well for me. Not sure what the deal is with einkorn!
Just thought I would let you know that the einkorn through Azure Standard is sourced from the US and sprouts great. They have delivery drop sites all over so it might be worth exploring.
Thanks so much Nicole for the tip! What a neat website, I might give it a try 🙂
I have been searching all over about sprouting Einkorn for wheatgrass and I’m not having any luck can someone help me?
Hi Sheree, I haven’t tried to grow wheat grass out of einkorn berries, or out of anything really, but I guess intuitively – if it can sprout, it can grow, right? 🙂 Hopefully, somebody else will share their experience with it here.
I tried adding 1 tsp apple cider vinegar and my Jovial wheat berries sprouted within the first 8 hours. Its a great trick.
Also, I checked on the winter hibernation – and YES – these berries, if fresh, need to be frozen for at least 3 weeks in the freezer for them to be able to sprout. I have not tried that – because I just learned today about it – but I will try and write back in 3 weeks to see if I can get them to sprout without adding vinegar. If the berries are old, and have already made it through a natural winter, these steps are not necessary.
Very similar to blueberry sprouting – will absolutely not sprout unless the seeds are frozen for at least 3 weeks. Interesting.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, Judy! This is good information! I also have to say I’ve been buying Jovial grain for years and have never seen insects. I will try the freezing technique, thanks a lot for sharing 🙂
I buy wheatberries from einkorn.com grown in Idaho. I have not tried to sprout them yet, excited to try thanks for the article!
Jody Cummings & Valeria….I was curious as to whether or not the freezing method worked out with your Jovial Einkorn Wheat Berries…Any luck? Should I just go ahead a use the ACV when sprouting my wheat berries or freeze them? Thank you for all the wonderful information and research! Trying to feed my family as best as I can!
Does anyone have an update on freezing Einkorn Wheat Berries in order to get them to sprout?
Should I use whole or hulled Eikorn wheat berries to sprout?