March 21, 2011 - 9:19am
Sprouting Barley
Can hulled barley be sprouted, or does it have to have the hull intact? I tried to sprout some hulled barley last year and was unsuccessful. I want to try this again because I would like to make some diastatic malt. Can anybody give me some pointers? I followed instructions that I found on TFL and as far as I know I did everything right.
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Hulled barley suffers too much mechanical damage during the de-hulling process for it to be viable afterwards. You might get a few to sprout but the percentage will be so low that it is a waste of time. I tried recently and failed miserably.
Naked barley, on the other hand, is a variety which loses its hull very easily during the threshing process (the hull, I as I understand it, loosely encases the grain and isn't glued to it as in the case of other varieties of barley. Apparently this sprouts well, but I bought some a few months back and only had marginal success with it. Perhaps it had been sitting on the health food store shelf too long. I don't know. I want to try it again, though. MiniOven had great results with it so I am thinking I just got a bad batch
So I have just used regular barely (still in its hulls) to make my diastatic malt. I have made it twice now with great success. I sprout it, dry it, grind it then pass it through two different grades of sieve to remove 90% of the husks. A little bit of extra work but I get such a high germination rate and the stuff is so fresh (and potent) that it is well worth the effort.
Syd
I kind of figured that was where the problem sourced. So, where would I buy unhulled barley? I don't see any at my health food store. A garden or farm supply store where it is sold as seed for planting, perhaps?
I got it at a garden store. Apparrently, it is sold to be sprouted and the resultant barley grass cut and made into a health drink. If you get it from a garden store just make sure it is untreated seed and is fit for human consumption. Or you could buy it online. :)
Syd
I got it at a garden store. Apparrently, it is sold to be sprouted and the resultant barley grass cut and made into a health drink. If you get it from a garden store just make sure it is untreated seed and is fit for human consumption. Or you could buy it online. :)
Syd
I tried hulled too and nothing happened. I found 'intact' barley at a local health food store. It is sold in small packages and displayed with other grains and seeds for sprouting such as alfalfa and mung beans.
Link below is a wonderful on of sprouting barley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HauYECAEQ8I
One can let the seeds soak too long! It is suggested on many sprouting sites not let them stand underwater longer than 6 hrs. Drowning can occur.
mini oven -- Does 6 hrs pertain to unhulled barley seed or raw hulless barley or both? I let it soak 12-18 hrs. maybe this is what's wrong.
Those are soaking instructions for all seeds to start the sprouting process, as a general guide. I suppose coconuts are an exception but they float, floating seeds might not be a problem. Most grain seeds sink. They can float on surface tension at first, if they are dusty, but as soon as they're wet, bloop-bloop-bloop, down to the bottom.
mini oven - thanks I will try a small amount this next time by soaking only 6 hrs. and see what happens. I got organic barley seed it should sprout. Want to make sprouted bread. I assume I can freeze it till my next trial for sprouts and then make the bread. I have done sprouted wheat but this is a first for barley.
Thanks again
I soaked for 6 hrs. drained and let sit overnight as it was late. Wed. the 1st day notice tiny tails. How long do tails need to be or do I just go the two days or (2-5 days). Can I freeze these till I get more sprouted, since this was a trial thing, then dehydrate them. Will these keep ok in a glass canning jar using food saver? Would like to store the whole sprouts in jar till I'm ready to grind into flour. Thanks for all replies.
that come in threes, and then the sprout can be seen running up the inside of the seed.
There is another thread here with pictures. I think it's under: making your own diastatic malt. Don't rinse them when the sprouts are the length of the seed. Spread them out to dry before grinding. A small fan is useful. I still have some of my malt flour here with me now. I keep it in the freezer.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/6567/make-your-own-diastatic-malt
I took about 1 tablespoon and put in water the hulls did not float. So when hulls start to float is that time.
would indicate a bad seed. Hollow, dead, dried up completely or eaten by little animals, worms, larvae, fungus or something. You do not want to find floating grain.
one takes about 18-30 hours where the first white parts if the gowning seed break though the skin. T his is called chitting and if you dry them and then mill this then you have sprouted flour. Malting on the other hand takes 96 hours or more when the main big shoot reaches the length of the seed (not the 3 rootlets that will be 3 times that long). If you dry these seeds < 125 F and then grind them you have diastatic malt, if you take the temperature up to 350 F in 50 degree increments then the seeds will brown. When you grind this the malt is non diastaic (the enzymes are dead) you have red malt
Here is how I do it but have now reduced the temperature down to 125 F for white malt and it is best dried in a dehydrator.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/30857/making-white-and-red-malts-sprouted-rye-whole-wheat-and-spelt
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27954/making-red-rye-malt
Once the sprouts are ready can the sprouts be frozen till I get enough to go into my dehydrator? I want to make malted milk powder and bread. Does anyone on this site have recipe for "Raw Sprouted Barley Bread"? Late today will be 2nd day(mar.12) of sprouts
would tell me it would be better just to spread them on paper towel or plate and let them dry, Freezing might make drying later difficult as they may thaw out as mush. Freezing might be good if sprouts are thrown in whole or chopped into the dough.
If you have a dehydrator, use it. Air drying takes longer. I didn't have a dehydrator the first time I made malt.
You may get more hits if you drop the "Raw" and type: Sprouted Barley Bread or Sprouted Grain Bread
dabrownman is our expert with the sprouts.