Sprout Bread

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Does it ever bother you if you go to buy bread and it contains 10-20 or more ingredients? Or you go to a health food store and can't find a bread without added salt?

You can make a bread with only one ingredient—Sprouted wheat berries-- Sprout bread. (Sometimes a little water is needed, making it a two ingredient bread). Sprout bread has a fabulous taste, as polysaccharides are partially converted into maltose during the sprouting process, thus making the bread nicely sweet.

According to Steve Meyerowitz (who has had the title Sproutman since 1977), sprouting the wheat berry results in the destruction of phytic and oxalic acids. Phytic and oxalic acids bind minerals like calcium and zinc (anyone have confirmation of this---this has some significant implications?).

Here is Steve Meyerowitz's version of sprout bread. He gave me permission to use information from his book, Kitchen Garden Cookbook, Sproutman Publications, 1999, specifically for this posting.

Here's a brief summary of the recipe: Grow your sprouts. Grind them into a paste. Form into 2-3 inch round loaves. Bake in an oven at 250 F for approximately 3 hours.

I've got sprout bread baking in the oven right now. The size is up to you. The ones I"m baking now are about 5" X 5" X about 1/2 to 3/4" thick. I purchased some commercially made a couple of weeks ago, and the size was 5 ½” X 3” X 1” thick.

In more detail:

To make 2-4 loaves: Soak 2 cups of hard wheat berries (you may see these as hard red winter wheat , but there is also hard spring wheat--don't use soft pastry wheat) in a jar for about 12-15 hours. I just soak them overnight and don't worry about the exact time. Sproutman recommends using his flax/hemp sproutbag, his own invention, to sprout the wheat berries. I personally use a wide mouth jar covered with knee high hose, cheesecloth, or a 4" X 4" cotton mesh gauze, secured tightly with rubber bands. Sprout them for 2 days, rinsing them and draining them well twice a day. After two days you will see a few long, thin, white hair-like rootlets. Going the other direction is a short, thick “shoot” that may be slightly green. This is the shoot that, if growing continued, would eventually grow into a blade of wheatgrass. The length of the shoot should be no longer than the length of the berry. If the shoot is too long, the bread will be chewy and fall apart. If it is too short, it will be too difficult to grind.

Grinding the sprouts into dough:

In typical breads, the grain is ground and water is added to make dough. Since the sprouts are already wet, once ground, you have instant sprout dough. One of 4 kitchen appliances will do a good job grinding the sprouts into dough:

A food processor, using the S shaped blade, a Champion juicer using the homogenizing plate (some other juicers do this also, e.g. the Sampson 6 in 1 Juicer), some types of wheatgrass juicers, or a meat grinder. If you use a food processor, Sproutman likes the Cuisinart, but says that others may do equally well. Whatever method you use to grind the dough, make sure the dough is ground to a smooth, not chunky, paste. You may have to run the sprouts through your appliance a second time. (I’ve sometimes found that a little water needed to be added to grind the sprouts into a smooth paste. However, if water is necessary, keep it to the absolute minimum amount required

Let the sprouts dry for 3-6 hours before grinding them (don’t rinse them during this time window). Wet sprouts run through the grinder too quickly and will not be properly ground. . Make sure that essentially every grain is fractionated into paste. Coarsely ground dough will not hold together well, and any unground sprouts will taste like little rocks in the bread.

Forming the sprout dough into loaves:

Kneading is optional. If you choose to knead the dough, fold the dough into itself repeatedly. This spreads the gluten that holds the bread together increasing the elasticity of the dough. While kneading, clean and wet your hands several times, so they don’t get too sticky.

Per Sproutman, form a ball of dough about 3” in diameter and plop it onto a baking tray. Pad it down to a height of about 1 ½” and a diameter of 4-5 inches. You should get 2-4 patties from 2 cups of wheat.

Flat pans or cookie sheets work best. To keep the bread from sticking to the pan, Sproutman recommends seeds, such as sesame, poppy or flax, spread evenly on the pan. Cornmeal can also be used. If you prefer, some oil can be used on the pan. Personally, I don’t use seeds, cornmeal or oil in making this bread. I lay out a sheet of Parchment Paper (“The Simple Secret to Better Baking”) per the brand I happen to have now), and place the formed loaves on top of it. Works great.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Then bake for 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours, depending on the size of the loaf. Sproutman states that this low temperature, long cooking time is the least destructive to nutrients. Also, using 350 degrees F would result in a hard crust, a black bottom, and a soggy center to the bread.

The bread is ready according to the preferred moistness or dryness of the inside. This is a personal choice. The usual test for a bread or cake (using a toothpick or fork), is not applicable here, because a sprout bread never gets completely dry inside. The “baking” of the bread is really a combination of baking and a drying out process, so it could potentially take even longer than 3 ½ hours. If it has a hard crust but is wet inside, lower the oven temperature. This bread takes a little practice to master, but once you get your technique down, it will be easy to make. You can make a large amount of sprout bread and freeze whatever you will not be using.

Thank you to Sproutman for allowing me to provide information from his book.

Here’s some additional information about Sprout Bread. It is often referred to as Essene Bread, because historically it appears that the ancient Essene community in the Middle East developed it. At least they wrote about it and described it in detail. The Essenes just dried their bread in the sun.

In spite of an authoritative book which states that “Bread made from rye sprouts alone will not turn out satisfactorily”, I have found that sprouted rye bread is excellent. I had it with dinner last night, and it was delicious. In the oven now, in addition to the sprouted wheat bread baking, I am experimenting with a new bread: sprouted barley bread. I have never tasted it nor even heard of it, so we’ll see. Triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye, also makes a nice sprouted bread.

One can also make a very fine bread using part sprouted wheat and part other ground (into flour) whole grains: oats, rye, barley, triticale, quinoa, buckwheat, rice, etc.

If the sprouted bread is drying out too much during baking (forming a hard crust), place a pan of boiling water below the bread in the oven.

Purists of the live foods diet, such as Ann Wigmore, and her thousands of followers, do not bake their sprouted breads in ovens, because the temperature destroys living food enzymes. Instead, they place the loaves into a food dehydrator at 104 degrees F or lower, and “dry” for 13 to 17 hours.

Finally, for those who do not wish to make their own sprouted bread, I have found one company that sells it commercially. The company is called Nature’s Path, and their products are called Manna Bread. The package of the one I have in front of me says “Unleavened sprouted rye bread”. It also says: The origins of Manna Bread reach back into biblical times, when the art of breadmaking from sprouted grains was first recorded. After germinating the grain, we crush and form it into loaves, which are baked at low temperatures.” I have tried their sprouted whole wheat, sprouted whole rye, and combination of sprouted grain with unsprouted whole grain flours. All are excellent.

Their address is 7453 Progress Way, Delta, B.C. Canada,V4C 1E8. www.naturespath.com

I have no affiliation with this company, nor is their product even sold in the city in which I live.

Enjoy some sprouted bread. It's fabulous.

For those interested in sprouting in general, 2 books I like very much are:

1. Sprout Garden, by Mark M. Braunstein, revised edition, 1999, Book Publishing Co.

2. Sprouts, the Miracle Food, by Steve Meyerowitz, 1999, Sproutman Publications.

Bessen

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