fermenting lentil sprouts?

hey ...

i am thinking about fermenting lentil sprouts. i use small red lentils or bigger, flat light-brown lentils (which are standard in germany).

there is a point shortly before the development oft the leaves, when they re best. after tht they start to loose nutrients, taste too harsh and might even get moldy even in fridge).

so i d like to put the sprouts into brine (maybe rejuvelac, pickles or sauerkraut) and put it in the fridge. it wont ferment much, more it ll soak in the acid and salt from the brine. the fridge will slow down the fermentation, but the brine is full of acid and bacteria from the start on.
kinda like a living salad-dressing. it should conserve the sprouts for a long(er) time and make them easier to digest.


any experiences, ideas, hints?

thanks and blesses
tobias

I have heard that lentils don't even need to be cooked, but fermenting them can improve their nutrition and flavor. Good idea.
John S
PDX OR

yay, they can be eaten raw as sprouts. but they re not easy to digest, at least for some people. some bacteria might help to digest in general.
i don t know if i d like them to really ferment. i think more of using the ready brine to conserve them and add good stuff.

i am not sure if there s much sugar/starch left in the lentils after they sprouted. so i don t know if they would ferment well.
but i get enough brin from other veggies which could add some flavor.

Hi there! Love this post, I’ve been experimenting with sprouted and especially high protein ferments for a mostly plant based diet.  
I found this recipe online (link below) that encouraged me to give sprouted lentils a go, I’m trying fermenting some now. Only using salt water this round so I can see what kind of flavor profile they end up with. I’ll try to let you know how they do!

https://www.food.com/recipe/exotic-sprouted-fermented-black-beluga-lentils-521186

I have fermented a few other legumes with varying results, listed below.
My basic method is very simple with only what I have in my kitchen. I soak overnight in a large bowl with plenty of water, then drain in a colander, then leave them in the colander over a bowl to sprout. To ferment, I pack them into a mason jar , cover with brine (usually only salt and water, no starter) and use a cut piece of plastic yogurt lid shaped to my jar, with a slit in it so it can cone into the veg and keep everything down. I put them in a dark drawer and burp my lids daily. I get mold occasionally and just skim it. If I bought special lots it would prob reduce the mold bit I just haven’t yet
On to the results-
Sprouted mung beans- awesome! I love them, they are a bit like capers, delicious on my salads.I do notice that beans tend to mold more often than most of my other ferments. I lost a couple of jars to a black powdery mold that I could not skim off the top- it just mixed in when I tried but most of them were very successful. I like adding a little garlic to the brine and
sprouted garbanzos- I soaked overnight and then only let them sprout for 24 hours. They tasted ok, still had that sort of raw/creamy taste they have when sprouted. They didn’t seem to get fully ‘pickled’ on the inside after 7 days ferment time (estimate, I did several jars, some may have gone for 2 weeks), and didn’t last nearly as long as other ferments, they were good for a couple of weeks and then my jars either got overtaken with mold or developed a strange smell, so they got tossed. I’m realizing as I type this that they went bad because they didn’t ferment long enough to penetrate and fully pickle the inside. I think they would need a very long time.
Black beans- these were successful but I found the flavor of black beans plus vinegar odd, so haven’t done them again.
Adzuki beans- the ferment was successful but they tasted very bitter, haven’t tried again. I did put some turmeric in the brine, but I don’t know if that’s what made them bitter.

Red kidney beans- definitely worth trying! my beans were old and didn’t sprout, so I just soaked and tried fermenting. The skin was too tough and fermenting did not soften it, but the flavor was great, so I tried again with soaked and cooked beans, and they are really delicious. Great on salads! I think cooking first is really the way to go with a larger bean. I think I’ll try cooking first next time with garbanzos.
Happy fermenting

I have found that I really like sprouting beans.  Now I don't really ferment them, because sprouting them gets rid of a lot of the problems that legumes can have and turn them from a starch to a vegetable.  They become more digestible and have more bioavailable nutrients.  I bought a sprouting lid, which is mesh, for a mason jar and that's how I use it. It's easy and I make it every week with a different kind of bean.

John S
PDX OR

An alternative to lacto-fermentation might be fermenting with some natto starter -or even just inoculate from some frozen natto.  I've always done this with cooked legumes to insure the desired bacteria take hold.