BIO-SET Sprouter
We no longer offer this item. We used to say...We Sproutpeople don't much like "no-rinse" multi-tiered Sprouters like the Bio-Set. But... Enough of our customers have requested this type of Sprouting Device, to keep us offering it. Please read about it before ordering one.
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 best loved European tray sprouter, Bio-Set is supposed to do some of the work of sprouting for you - by helping with the Rinsing and Draining. It has 3 growing trays.
Bio-Set isn't like our other tray sprouters. It is a siphon sprouter (like Biosta - a sprouter we no longer sell), which works on the principle of retained high humidity. We are big on Rinsing, Draining and air-circulation, so we are generally at odds with this concept.
According to the manufacturer's directions: Water enters the Bio-Set by filling the top tray - the reservoir tray as we call it. The water then siphons down to the lower trays - one by one - through the siphon holes, and ends up in the drip tray at the bottom of the stack. The concept is this: Water is retained in the grooves on the bottom of each growing tray, creating humidity, theoretically conducive to sprouting.
The Bio-Set is 8 1/4 inches tall, 6 inches in diameter. It has three 1 1/2 inch tall, clear growing trays, a white drip tray and the top reservoir tray - where you add water - also white. The bottom of each tray is full of grooves. Water remains in those grooves and because of the sealed nature of the device, creates the high humidity desired. In theory your seeds will germinate in this very humid space. The problem is that, when your seeds are small (Leafy Sprouts like Alfalfa and Clover, small Brassicas like Broccoli and Mustard, etc.) - they sit in the grooves, and therefore in water. In our experience, a seed that sits in water will rot before it germinates.
Though we are generally opposed to this concept - it can work. Big seeds (like Beans and Grains do quite well, because they are too big to sit under-water in the tray's grooves. Little seeds can work too, if you are either lucky, less demanding (willing to accept a high percentage of un-sprouted seeds), or willing to Rinse and Drain each tray manually 2-3 times daily like our favorite European tray sprouter Bio-Salad or our favorite tray sprouter of them all - SproutMaster. Bio-Set is also good at growing Grass, and growing Radish into Micro-Greens, but the roots of those plants will cause problems for your Siphon Caps. The Siphon Caps can get so intermingled with the roots that they either get lost or broken when you try to get them out.
Growing Capacity Per Tray : 1.5 Cups of Sprouts. Each tray can yield approximately 6-8 ounces of Leafy Sprouts or 12 ounces of Bean or Grain sprouts.
FOR USE WITH THESE SEEDS/CROPS
These seeds are the Best match for Bio-Set:
Beans - All (see Mung Beans - under Seed Specific Sprouting Instructions, further down the page).
Mung Beans - We suggest that you stay with small and sweet Mungs when using Bio-Set.
Grains - All, except for Amber Waves of Grain (because of its small seeds).
Possibilities:
Leafy Sprouts: Alfalfa/Clover and Mixes - If you really want to grow these little seeds you should consider Rinsing and Draining the tray manually - by tipping it after every Rinse, to get as much water out as possible - as you would with Bio-Salad or SproutMaster. If you want to grow vertical Leafy Sprouts use SproutMaster.
Brassicas - Broccoli, Radish, Mustard, Cabbage, etc. If you really want to grow these little seeds you should consider Rinsing and Draining the tray manually as you would with Bio-Salad or SproutMaster. Remember: Keep these Brassicas from forming a mass.
Exotics - Garlic, Onion, Fenugreek These really will do better if you do your Rinsing and Drain manually. Alliums that sit in water produce an amazingly strong smell which virtually no human being likes in their house! Fenugreek is big enough to stay out of the grooves, but may not thrive in such a humid climate.
Nuts, Seeds and Pseudograins - Almonds, and Peanuts will work best. Sunflower and Pumpkin may not do well in the high humidity. The little seeds - like Quinoa and Amaranth will be drowned in the water - so you'll need to Drain manually if you are growing them.
Pre-Sprout - Acceptable and Possibilities:
Grass and Greens - Because the Bio-Set holds moisture well, it makes it possible to grow grass and greens without soil. Doing so always requires extra attention but as long as you keep the seeds moist all through growing, it can be done. WE ARE NOT suggesting this as a good way to grow these crops but we are saying that it is possible. Experiment Freely! The major problem is that the roots will grow around the tray's siphon cap - in a big way. Be sure to find - and very carefully extract the white siphon cap before discarding the root mass - you need those caps for Bio-Set to work!
Do Not even bother trying Sunflower Greens - they taste terribly bland when grown without soil (our opinion).
Pre-Sprouting is best with big seeds that won't fall into the tray's grooves.
Impossible:
Micro-Greens - I hate to tell you that anything is impossible, but since Micros are grown from small seeds, and they need to stay in one place to grow vertically - I just can't see them working in a Bio-Set. The one exception to that is Radish - the biggest of the Micro-Greens seeds.
Notes
Cleaning
Scrub well between crops with soap and water. Be sure to get into the grooves on every tray! Rinse well! We do this every crop because a clean sprouter produces better sprouts.
Scrub and soak in some disinfectant. We don't do this often because regular soap does the trick nicely, but a sterile sprouter is a great place to begin a crop.
* If you have a Biosta (we don't sell them anymore) you can follow the instructions on this page pretty much word for word. The only differences between the two is that when you add water to Biosta it goes directly into the top growing tray while water added to the Bio-Set is added to the reservoir tray.
Adjust accordingly. Biosta is also larger, having about twice the capacity per tray as Bio-Set.
I love these! I just incorporate the rinsing into my day. Morning, afternoon and bedtime. I rinse, drain well and re-stack.
It is terrible with broccoli and alfalfa so I do those in jars. But radish, adzuki, sunflower all preform well in this sprouter.
NOTE: I do NOT use this sprouter as the manufacturer recommends. I tried that. It was a huge FAIL. But when I rinse the individual trays manually (allowing the siphon drain to drain excess a couple of times per rinse ( and I also prop the trays along the edge of my sink with one side elevated to send all of the excess water to the drain before I re-stack them).
I love these! I just incorporate the rinsing into my day. Morning, afternoon and bedtime. I rinse, drain well and re-stack.
It is terrible with broccoli and alfalfa so I do those in jars. But radish, adzuki, sunflower all preform well in this sprouter.
NOTE: I do NOT use this sprouter as the manufacturer recommends. I tried that. It was a huge FAIL. But when I rinse the individual trays manually (allowing the siphon drain to drain excess a couple of times per rinse ( and I also prop the trays along the edge of my sink with one side elevated to send all of the excess water to the drain before I re-stack them).
We have awful problems with drain flies and fruit flies. The flies are very attracted to my sprouts. The Bio-Set worked so well that I bought a second one and stacked it together with the first. For small seeds I bought small clay trays (the kind that go under garden pots) and placed them in the Bio-Set. When I pour water through the Bio-Set, the water comes up to the edge of the tray, but does not flood it. The clay tray absorbs enough water to keep the sprouts growing. The Bio-Set keeps the flies out. Mung beans work great without any modifications. I love my Bio-Set.
We have awful problems with drain flies and fruit flies. The flies are very attracted to my sprouts. The Bio-Set worked so well that I bought a second one and stacked it together with the first. For small seeds I bought small clay trays (the kind that go under garden pots) and placed them in the Bio-Set. When I pour water through the Bio-Set, the water comes up to the edge of the tray, but does not flood it. The clay tray absorbs enough water to keep the sprouts growing. The Bio-Set keeps the flies out. Mung beans work great without any modifications. I love my Bio-Set.
I have had a sprouter like this one for more then 17 years. I paid just over $12.00 for it at my local health food store. The price asked for it now is truly ridiculous. I was looking to get another one, but not at these prices.
