Best of the Best of the Best Sprouting Kit
An Easy Sprout Sprouter and 6 pounds of Sprouting Seed: 1/2 pound of both French Garden and Russian Mix. 1 lb. of Madison Market. 2 lbs. of both Beanie's Awesome & San Francisco Mix, Detailed Instructions.
This kit is made up of our personal favorites - both seeds and the Sprouter. All of the items happen also to be our most popular, which is why it is called The Best of The Best of The Best. The 6 pounds of seeds will keep you in gourmet sprouts for quite a while.
Yields approximately 4 Cups (1/2 lb.) of Sprouts
Seed Prep
Measure out 2 Tablespoons of seed* (slightly heaping) into your Sprouter or a strainer.
Rinse your seeds to remove dust and debris.
Soak
Transfer your seeds into your Sprouter (if necessary), or to a bowl.
Mix seeds up as you slowly add water to assure even water contact for all.
Add 2-3 times as much cool (70-80°F) water.
Allow seeds to Soak for 4-12 hours.
Do Not Ever Soak Again. Soaking is done only this one time.
We start counting days at this point - when the Soak is done (post-Soak is the phrase we use).
A crop of Leafy Sprouts usually takes 6 days - from This point in time to harvest.
Sprouting
Empty the seeds into your Sprouter (if necessary).
Drain off the soak water.
You can use it - it has nutrients in it. We use it on house plants.
Rinse thoroughly with cool (70-80°F) water.
Drain thoroughly.
Draining Thoroughly (Maniacally even) is the key to great crops. The smaller the seed (all Leafy Sprouts are small seeds) the more thorough you must be. Do Not skimp on Rinsing - but focus seriously on Draining.
If you need to see what we mean by Thorough Draining - check out our videos.
Set your Sprouter anywhere out of direct sunlight and at room temperature (70° is optimal) between Rinses.
This is where your sprouts do their growing. We use a counter top - in the corner of our kitchen, where the sprouter won't get knocked over by cats, dogs, kids or us. Indirect sunlight is fine, as is your regular room light - because light just does not matter much in the first couple days.
A plant can only perform photosynthesis when it has leaves. Until a plant has leaves, light has little if any effect. Sprouts also happen to like air-circulation, so don't hide your sprouts. When leaves do appear, this will be plenty of light for them to green up. You can also use Grow Lights if you like.
Rinse and Drain again every 8-12 hours for 3 days.
Always be sure to Drain very thoroughly. The most common cause of inferior sprouts is inadequate drainage. Even the best designed Sprouting Device holds water, so pay special attention to this step.
Greening
On the 4th day (post soak) relocate your sprouts, if necessary.
If you've been keeping them away from light - move them. Avoid direct sun as it can cook your sprouts, unless you are growing in a Tray Sprouter - in which case direct sunlight is great. Indirect sunlight is best for non-tray Sprouters but grow lights work well too. Experiment - you will be amazed at how little light sprouts require to green up. Photosynthesis is a marvel!
Continue to Rinse and Drain thoroughly every 8-12 hours.
Your last Rinse and Drain will be either at the end of day 5 or the start of day 6.
Always Drain Thoroughly.
Finishing
Your sprouts will be done about the end of day 6.
The majority of sprouts will have open leaves which will be green. You'll recognize them.
De-Hulling
Hulls are the thin coat on a seed. In most cases they separate themselves from the sprout. They are only a problem when it comes to the shelf life of your finished crop. We've eaten them for years and consider them extra roughage, but the crop looks better and lasts longer without them - so removing them is good.
You may De-Hull your sprouts at any time during day 5 or 6.
If you have a Salad Spinner - De-Hulling can be your last step. You can harvest and refrigerate them immediately after you finish.
You can also remove hulls prior to harvest...
If you are growing in a Jar - using the Coarse Mesh Screen will allow some hulls to float out through the screen while Rinsing. Repeating and agitating your sprouts will allow more hulls to escape.
If you're growing in an Easy Sprout Sprouter - transfer your sprouts to the Solid Base, fill with water, and agitate with a fork. This will help hulls get to the surface - where you can skim them off. When you've gotten all you can - move your sprouts back to the Growing Vessel, Rinse again, and Drain Thoroughly.
If you're growing in our Stainless Steel Sprouter you can get rid of most of the hulls by Rinsing Upside Down. Instead of writing words - let us direct you to our short video on the subject: Rinsing Leafy Sprouts Upside Down
Here is our video on De-Hulling.
Harvest
If you De-hulled with a salad spinner - you can go right to refrigeration. If not... Your sprouts are done 8-12 hours after your final Rinse and Very Thorough Draining. If we minimize the surface moisture of our sprouts they store much better in refrigeration, so we let them sit for 8-12 hours after that final Maniacal Draining.
Storing Your Crop
Transfer your sprout crop to a plastic bag or the sealed container of your choice. We have Produce Storage Bags that can extend shelf life substantially.
Leafy Sprouts are best within a week of harvest, but we've had some crops last for over a month in the fridge.
Great work sprout farmer!
*Amount of Seed to Use
* If using Sproutpeople's Single Harvest Pack - use the whole bag (for a one-quart Sprouter). It will produce a crop of approximately 8 ounces.
These seeds yield approximately 7:1 - which means the sprouts will weigh 7 times as much as the seed you start with, but, they will increase even more in volume - so don't start with more than 2 (heaping) Tablespoons per quart/litre of sprouter capacity.
The Very Best! We are by nature modest people, but we have to admit that we have the best sprouting seeds on our planet - its just the way it is. Though we have many, many wonderful seeds to sprout, these five are the Best of the Best of the Best! Grow up to 15 pounds of our most popular sprouts using our favorite - and most popular Sprouter.
For Sprouting Instructions and to learn more about a seed/mix, click the name of the Seed or Mix you want to grow. To learn about the Sprouter, click its name.
The Seeds
2 Pounds each, of
Beanie's Awesome Mix
Green, Crimson & Red Chief Lentils, Green, Marrowfat & Yellow Peas, Beige Garbanzos and Adzukis
A remarkably beautiful pastel bean mix where the greens, yellows and oranges are set off by the addition of deep red Adzuki Beans. Beanie's Awesome Mix is our original bean combo and was originally called Jupiter's Awesome Mix - after our (first) beloved dog, who is responsible for our move "back to the land" and subsequently the rest of our lives. Jupie loved beans (her traditional birthday meal was chicken and beans) of all kinds. Awesome Mix is a wonderful snack and lends itself to many recipes.
San Francisco Mix
Peanuts, Mung Bean, Adzuki Bean. Black, Crimson, Eston, French Blue & Green Lentils. Green, Speckled & Bill Jump Peas. Black, Brown & Beige Garbanzos
13 seeds mixed up to make our most popular bean sprout combo ever. During our decade as market vendors in Madison, Wisconsin - we sold over 100 pounds every weekend throughout the Summer to our loyal and delighted customers. The inclusion of Peanuts is the main reason that more folks are addicted to this than to any other of our bean sprouts. The most popular use of this mix (and many other bean sprouts) is as a snack - the majority of our customers say they eat SF Mix like popcorn or mixed nuts - straight, but we have some great recipe ideas too - our favorite of which is Spicy San Francisco Snack, which is even greater than great if you mix Almonds or Madison Market Mix in, as well. Like other of our mixes San Francisco Mix, has a great story. You'll find those by visiting any seed or mix' detail page.
1 Pound of
Madison Market Mix
Almonds, Peanuts, Pumpkins and Sunflower
This mix is beyond outrageous! We have sold a ton of it over the past 5 summers at our farmer's market in Madison, Wisconsin.
It is a very quick mix to grow, though the resulting sprouts (the Almonds and Peanuts) are not so much sprouts as "soaks" - that is, they plump up with water but produce very little (or no) root (see also; sprout). This mix has a shorter shelf life than most sprouts - once grown it is best consumed within 48 hours, but believe us - it won't last even that long once you taste it. The shelf life issue is one of flavor not of decomposition. As a rule the Pumpkins will get a bit bitter after a few days and the Sunflowers might get a bit over-ripe, but we've kept it for almost 2 weeks in storage tests and found it still quite tasty. Decide for yourself - like we say - it isn't likely to go uneaten so its a moot point =:-}
1/2 Pound each, of
French Garden
Clover, Arugula, Cress, Radish, Fenugreek, and Dill
Our most popular Leafy Sprout blend. Period. The inclusion of Arugula - an amazingly tasty sprout - is what has made French Garden - by far - our most popular Leafy sprout blend of all time! This is as gourmet as sprouts get! A delectable blend of mildly sweet, tangy, bitter and peppery. French Garden is just plain perfect!
Russian Mix
Clover, Fenugreek, Mustard, Onion and Dill
Our personal favorite among the Leafy Sprouts and also the most senior of those mixes. It is the perfect accompaniment to a bagel. Oddly, I used to hate sprouts (I mean Hate!) at age 19, when I (Gil) moved to San Francisco, (from Chicago), they put sprouts on everything - including bagels. It really infuriated me. It was that loathing that eventually moved us to make this, and then other mixes. I had to find a way to like sprouts, so we found seeds with flavor and well - one thing led to another - and now we are where we are - Sproutpeople, purveyors of Earth's Finest Sprouting Seeds @:-}. And hey - now I eat Russian Mix topped bagels at an alarming rate - have for years - sometimes without anything else - just a toasted bagel with Russian Mix. Moral: Never say never. =:-D
The Sprouter
One Easy Sprout Sprouter
Overwhelmingly our most popular sprouter, Easy Sprout is also our personal favorite. We have well over a dozen in our house. It offers great drainage and the best air-circulation of any sprouter.
Easy Sprout is made up of a 1 Quart (litre) Growing Vessel, a Solid container/Base that catches excess Rinse water, a Small Seed Insert that snaps in when sprouting small seeds, two Growing Lids (1 for home (Domed) and 1 for the road (Flat)), and a Solid Lid for refrigerator storage of your sprout crop.
Easy Sprout is the best all-around sprouter. Period. It is the mandatory choice for high humidity sproutpeople everywhere and great for travel sprouting! Very versatile - Easy Sprout can sprout virtually any seed, anywhere!
Easy Sprout is part of many of our Kits.
Though this Kit does come with Detailed Instructions, you will always find the most information by visiting each seed's detailed page. On those pages you will find everything you will ever want to know about each seed/mix, and how to sprout it.
How exciting opening the box of "possibilities." Thr "possibilities" of better health and better nutrition but also better tasting food. Everything was carefully packed. I saw the packing peanuts and I knew that they would be the dissolving kind, which they are. I also appreciated the personal note that they wrote me.
If you ever wanted to try sprouting, and weren't sure what, this is your answer. Quality seeds and beans, and the sprouter is the easiest thing to use.
This was one of the first things e purchased & that was a Great Idea! I never knew how much I enjoyed different sprouted items & tis variety was a great learning experience.
I've been raw for years so I've eaten quite a few sprouts. I will be a sproutpeople customer forever. Their seeds all sprout well and the information on this site is outrageous. The world is a better place for people like these. Thanks for sharing SO MUCH knowledge folks. The best of the best of the best kit has a whole lot of seeds that grow into a whole lot of sprouts. Every one of the mixes are insanely great. If you are new to sprouting or you've done it for years - these sprouts may change your life. I kid you not.
I've been raw for years so I've eaten quite a few sprouts. I will be a sproutpeople customer forever. Their seeds all sprout well and the information on this site is outrageous. The world is a better place for people like these. Thanks for sharing SO MUCH knowledge folks. The best of the best of the best kit has a whole lot of seeds that grow into a whole lot of sprouts. Every one of the mixes are insanely great. If you are new to sprouting or you've done it for years - these sprouts may change your life. I kid you not.
