Anyone have a recommendation for a sprouter and book on sprouting/sprout recipes? I know there's info in the archives, but I don't have that much time.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001

Answers

a quart jar (or bigger if large family) jar ring and cheese cloth is about the best sprouter I have used. I will have to check through my cookbooks to see which have the most recipes, I tend to like to invent.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 05, 2001.

You can get "sprout jars", which are just overpriced quart jars with a plastic lid that acts like a screen, easy to rinse the sprouts as they're growing. I had one, it was handy, but I broke the plastic lid. I got a plastic strainer with fine holes, just hold that against the jar opening while pouring off rinse water.

I don't have any recipes, I just grow alfalfa sprouts in the winter when lettuce gets expensive. One of my favourite lunches is a fried egg on toast sandwich....with an inch of fresh sprouts packed in there and a bit of mayonnaise.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), January 05, 2001.

I had a great sprouter when I was a girl My mom got it in a health food store It was a little bigger than a plate the bottom was a plastic screen. And it had a top. You put the seeds on the screen and rins them every day. She kept it in the dark cabnet until they were grown then she put them in the sun to green up. We had them all the time. She still has that sprouter but does not use it. I have looked and looked for one like it but have not found one. I have even ask healthfood stores to see if they can order them. they told me that they can not fing any. If any one knows were I could get one like that I would love to have one again. My mom has not taken the hint that I want hers. Poor me. Lisa in TX

-- Lisa In TX (wtxhomestead@safezone.net), January 06, 2001.

Just be careful. A lot of sprouts have toxicity levels prior to maturation.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 06, 2001.

I have sprout lids and jars, I'm thinking about getting a larger sprouter. I would love to make sprout bread.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), January 07, 2001.

I too have the jars with the sprouter lids. My problem is the sprouts always seem to go sour before they reach an edible stage. I've tried following the directions precisely but with patch success at best.

Any suggestions for me?

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

I have had the souring problem before and now I just rinse more often than the directions say to, depending on the type of sprouts I am doing.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001.

I have purchased a sprouter from Wal-Mart in their nursery department. It's the best I have ever used. It is three layers of clear plastic bowls. You place the seeds on each layer and then follow up with the water. The water trickles down unto each layer and automatically waters the seed. The last layer holds the water. You can use the water again to trickle down all the layers or use fresh water. The seeds sit on a grate, and therefore never turn bad. You can sprout three different types of seeds at a time. I think it's

-- carolann miller (bli_mil38@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

I too have the WalMart sprouter and it is absolutely great. So much less messy too than some others. Also, any of you who have this sprouter, it does work super for germination tests, also, I didn't really know if a particular seed I get from a garden bush would germinate, and so I just put three of them in to this sprouter, and the did sprout. Great for starting certain seeds ahead prior to planting them into little peat pellets or whatever. Good luck.

-- Katie (ktthegardener@yahoo.com), January 09, 2001.

I,too, bought the sprouter form Wal-mart and was very disappointed..took it to the local charitable resale shop. I have tried several different containers and have found that a glass gallon jar with cheese cloth placed over the mouth and held there with a large rubber band works best. I never have a problem with souring. I soak whatever I am going to sprout over night in water[ use that water in soups or stews or at the very least water your houseplants with it]then rinse twice a day with cool water and drain well. I always leave mine out on the kitchen counter. If I were to put them under the cabinet in a dark place I would not remember to rinse them..out of sight-out of mind. "The Sprouting Book" by Ann Wigmore is really very good. Lots of how-to's and lots of recipes.

-- Artie Ann Karns (rokarns@arkansas.net), January 10, 2001.

I have used for years a Biosta (not sure if the name is correct) 4 tier sprouter that I purchased in a health food store. I think you can buy them through Burpee for about $20.00

It is green and you can sprout 3 variety of seeds at the same time. One of my favorite sprouting seeds is Chinese cabbage. I generally will sprout alfalfa, a cabbage and something tangy like radish.

I have also used a jar with lid. It worked fine but I cannot sprout as much as I can in my other sprouter.

The first time I did the radishes I thought they had molded after only 3 days of sprouting and I threw them out. After doing that a couple of times I took a real good look at them and discovered that they were very tiny roots. Kind of fuzzy. That is why I thought they were bad. Mold also seems to be fuzzy.

Whatever sprouter you use I am sure you will enjoy the taste of fresh greens, especially in the winter.

-- Cordelia Kaylegian (ckaylegian@aol.com), January 12, 2001.