Jan 12, 2008 00:44
Recently, I read an article explaining why some of my sprouted grain bread has been a dismal failure, being both soggy and heavy as a brick. It's because of enzymes that form in wheat that has sprouted too long. Apparently you really DO have to "catch" the sprouted grain at its best stage--with sprouts no longer than "little tiny tails" as my first online recipe called them--in order to get a decent loaf. If the grain sprouts longer than that, a different enzyme is released, the chemical balance of the grain is altered, and you will never be able to get a good bread out of that batch. You can still eat the sprouts, and they're still good for you, but only as sprouts. Add them to a salad or something.
For this reason, I now sprout a batch of wheat carefully, only at a time when I know I'll be able to make it into bread in approximately 24 hours. It just doesn't keep much longer than that.