Sprouting Seeds for Salads

[blue_green_sparks]

Newbie to sprouting minus a few attempts years ago. I still have a triple decker sprouting tray and I just ordered a few pounds of mung seeds and a salad mix. Have a few ?'s for veterans ;)
1) I ordered seed specifically sold to sprout. Is this necessary? Can I just buy lentils anywhere, for example?
2) I recall some sort of bacterial scare. What do you guys do to ensure food safety. Thanks !!! Looking forward to some fresh sprouts in the next few weeks...

[Cranky]

I’ve only sprouted mung beans and spicy salad mix.

You could always give lentils a try. What’s the worst that can happen? LOL

Any food that you eat raw can have issues. I rinse my sprouts well twice/day, and we’ve never gotten sick, but I’m sure it can happen.

[lilactree]

I'm not super-experienced, but re: #1, in general don't use seeds that are sold for gardening, as these may be treated with something you don't want. The lentils you buy for cooking might be fine, especially if they have been stored well/not too long, they might sprout. I'm sure others can weigh in.

[stoaX]

I frequently sprout regular dried lentils. Love'em!

[draco44]

I rinse my sprouts well twice/day, and we’ve never gotten sick, but I’m sure it can happen.

This. While I'm sure there are weird circumstances, the people who get ill from sprouted seeds are the ones who aren't diligent about rinsing the sprouts regularly. Rinsing regularly is the main thing you need to do both for your own health and to ensure the seeds growth properly.

[kpd905]

 I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death.

[BikeFanatic]

There are some videos on YouTube one woman Judy says use a mason jar, rinse twice a day, and in5 to 7 days ypu will have sprouts. I think the rinsing is very important to prevent contamination by bacteria and mold.

[herbgeek]

Some dried items from the store can be irradiated (in which case they likely won't sprout) or have inhibitors on them to keep them from sprouting.  There is no way to know.  Personally if I'm going to invest the time into sprouting, I want to start with the best materials I can (I use this philosophy for many other things).

I've had a lot of success with True Leaf Market or Johnny's Selected Seeds.

[blue_green_sparks]

Thanks all !...enjoyed some fresh lentil sprouts for the first time and they were so delicious, a little sweet even. I rinsed them 3 or 4 times a day and let them drain well each time. Still waiting on the bulk of the seed order from True Leaf Market. May use some seed in a microgreen garden. This is phase one of my effort to self source more food. I am designing a large plot that will be irrigated by a solar-powered pump that uses pond water. We feed tilapia and they will feed the plants.

[ZsaZsa]

I frequently sprout regular dried lentils. Love'em!

Agreed...although the grandkids said they smell like dirt! We sprout in a quart jar with holes punched in the lid. Very simple. Lentils came from a bag at the grocery store. Almost 100% sprouted with no problem.

[FLBiker]

I use an old plastic colander and a couple of clean handkerchiefs.  Line the colander with one handkerchief, put on the beans or lentils, cover with the other handkerchief.  Rinse twice a day.  It's really easy, and you don't need any special beans.  Regular lentils work great.  When they're "grown" enough, if I haven't eaten them all, I'll stick them in a container in the fridge with a dry paper towel and they last for a while.

[Metta]

I'm an experienced sprouter and have been doing it for decades with many different beans and seeds.

1) You don't need to special order seeds or legumes. But what ordering from a reputable supplier gets you is guaranteed sprouting, which means that they aren't too old. Take for example mung beans. They will last forever in your cabinet and will still be good for cooking into a soup. But their sproutability degrades over time. So fewer beans will sprout. I buy my mung beans from the Indian grocery around the corner or the health food store bulk bin and I'm pretty pleased with their vitality. Almost as good as Sproutpeople's mung beans.

2) The bacterial scares have primarily been for alfalfa sprouts and clover sprouts. What you do is to buy your seeds from a supplier that acknowledges and stands behind them. Or avoid alfalfa and clover sprouts altogether. Either way it is critical to wash, wash, wash. I wash my sprouts 3 times a day counting to twenty seconds each time. This also prevents fungus from growing amid your sprouts.

Years ago there was a commercial mung bean sprout problem, which turned out to be because they were washing the sprouts in water contaminated by the runoff from a factory farm and the shit-infused water had a variety of food borne microorganisms. This is another reason to grow your own rather than buying sprouts.

I've mentioned Sproutpeople.org. I'm going to recommend that you visit their site. They have instructions for every kind of seed or bean you want to sprout and how to grow microgreens. Plus they have videos.

As others have noted, you don't need special equipment to sprout. That said, over the years I've tried many different special spouters. Here are the ones I swear by:

EasySprout. It is a self-contained unit that is easy to wash and seems to work especially well. If I could own only one sprouter, this is it.  https://sproutpeople.org/sprouting-supplies/easy-sprout-sprouter/

For small seeds like alfalfa sprouts or microgreens, they just started selling a stainless steel sprouter with a steel mesh like a tight sieve (but flat). It's been the best thing I've used for tiny seeded sprouts. It allows them to grow up instead of in a tangled mess. The resulting sprouts stay fresher longer in the fridge. I am certain you could find other options that are similar to this. But this is what I bought and use.https://sproutpeople.org/sprouting-supplies/small-stainless-steel-tray-sprouter/