Soaking Grains and Flours

Soaking Ingredients- Grains, Flours, Nuts, Seeds, Legumes

On the third day of creation God made vegetation: Genesis 1:11-12  “Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

In God’s incredible design of seeds, he built in self-preservation.  He designed them to be prevented from sprouting until the timing and conditions were right.  Likewise, seeds (including nuts, grains and legumes) can be stored for long periods of time without going bad.  The surface of seeds (the bran or hull) naturally contain what are called “anti-nutrients” which protect against untimely sprouting or consumption.  One of these anti-nutrients in phytic acid, and if not probably dealt with prior to consumption, it prevents the absorption of critical nutrients like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc in the intestinal tract.  Enzyme inhibitors do just what their name implies- inhibit enzymatic activity- which inhibits digestion.  So you might be eating a beneficial grain or seed, but not get the nutritional value because these anti-nutrients are in the way.  Hard-to-digest proteins naturally present in unsprouted seeds can also cause a variety of digestive and secondary problems.  Whereas seeds that have been properly treated (through soaking) provide almost twice as much protein value.

All of these problems, however, are only problems with seeds when they’re in this “self-preservation” mode.  When you give them moisture, warmth, a slightly acid environment and some time, the germination process begins and not only are the anti-nutrients deactivated but all of the nutritional components naturally existing in the seed become more nutritionally dense and available (bonus!).

So what are our options for giving seeds/grains this treatment?

Soaking

Sprouting

Souring/fermenting

This may seem too time-consuming and contrived- yet if we look to the not-so-distant past, we find most cultures employing some form of this kind of preparation.  We live in an industrialized, modern society used to quick-rise breads, boxed cereals and prepared packaged foods.  In high contrast, many cultures still employ some form of sprouting or soaking in making some staple, traditional foods.

Cookbook author, Sue Gregg, refers to this preparation as “the two stage process”.  She puts it in a positive light by suggesting it reduces the amount of work you need to do just before getting food on the table.  The flavor and texture of the baked goods also tend to be more like the refined flour ones we’ve grown accustomed to.

Whole grains for hot cereals/side dishes:

Soak overnight (or at least 8 hours) with added vinegar or lemon, pour off soak water, rinse and cook

Whole grain flours- soak and/or sour

Prepared bread- look for sprouted or sourdough whole grain breads

Nuts- soak then use immediately or dehydrate

Grains have differing levels of phytates and require different lengths of soak times:

Brown rice, millet, buckwheat- less phytates- 7 hours is fine

Other grains- 12-24 hours

Oats- highest in phytates- soak upwards of 24 hours

For baked recipes-

Soak the whole grain flour in an acid medium

For those who consume dairy- there are lots of options- raw sour milk, cultured milk, whey, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.

For vegans, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice is used at 1 Tbsp. per cup of grain

Basically soak all of the flour with all of the water (and acid).  Then add the rest of the dry ingredients just before baking (salt, baking powder, etc.)

This doesn’t take a whole lot of extra time- just some forethought-

Perhaps get in the habit of “setting something to soak” each night before bed-

a grain for a hot cereal for breakfast

a grain for a side dish in the evening

a legume for a soup or entrée later in the day

a nut that will be added to a smoothie or baked good, etc.

Begin a grain for a side dish in the morning and it will be ready to cook by dinner time

Remember cook times will be reduced by the soaking process

I’ve also found that adding even a small amount of vinegar to a recipe changes the flavor and texture of the end product in a positive way

It’s important that our grain dishes be enjoyed with some good natural oils.

The fat-soluble vitamins naturally found in oils/butter help us absorb the

beneficial vitamins and minerals present in the grains.