Soaked grains is a must…
I know this is a GAPS blog (and many of you are on intro), but eventually many of you will want to dabble into learning or maybe try eating rice. It is one of the first grains added back into the diet after GAPS. I get it- grain free is awesome and I don’t myself personally eating any grains in the near future (but please don’t compare yourself to the girl who eats 3 foods…).
Why soak your grains?
Here is all the extensive research done my my fellow Village Green Network bloggers (they are come smart cookies!)
Soaking Grains: A Traditional Practice
Soaked, Sprouted, or Soured: The Healthy Way to Treat Your Grains
Phytic Acid-The Bane of Grains
Make your own rice four–the story.
The reason why I even have rice flour in my house is that I live at home with the rest of my family. They need a “safe” flour that is not-cross-contaminated-glutenfree-allergyfree-caroline-safe. Does that make any sense? Well, nobody could think of a source so for a long time flour was just out of the question.
One day, my mom had a brillient idea. I am not allergic to being around her rice. Why not soak and dehydrate rice and then blend it into flour. Let me show you what we did.
REUSE Liquid (whey)
You will reuse the “whey liquid” each time you soak your rice. For cycle 2 and cycle 3 you will add an additional 2 Tbsp to the liquid.
So here is how it will look:
Starting your rice! : add the required 2 Tbsp of whey to your water and rice–strain (keep a bowl underneath)–save liquid
Cycle 2: get your saved liquid and add 2 more Tbsp of whey to the liquid–use this to soak your rice in–strain (keep a bowl underneath)—save liquid
Cycle 3: get your saved liquid and add 2 more Tbsp of whey to the liquid–use this to soak your rice in–strain (keep a bowl underneath)– save liquid
Cycle 4: Hurray your liquid can be reused as-is from now on. Just keep reusing it. It can be reused for months, hey maybe even years!
*Keep the reserved whey liquid in the fridge when you are not using it. We keep ours in a ball jar.
**if you are using apple cider vinegar just start over each time.
Reuse liquid for soaking ( for cycles 2 & 3 add 2 tbsp each time to liquid) on 4 th cycle just use liquid as is( no need to to add any more whey) that liquid is good to use for a Lon time. It will begin to smell like cheese- does not taste like cheese
How to make Soaked Brown Rice Flour
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of Brown Rice
2 Tbsp raw milk whey (learn how to make it here) *you can use apple cider vinegar instead if you are dairy free.
Filtered water (I used Berkey water)
DIRECTIONS:
Part 1– Soak
1. Measure out 2 cups of brown rice into a jar.
2. Add 2 Tbsp of raw milk whey or apple cider vinegar.
3. Add filtered water in the jar-leave 1 inch from the top.
4. Place soaking jar in a warm area for 8-18 hours ( you choose what time span is convenient for you. The longer soaking time may taste slightly different- but it is hardly noticeable.
Part 2–Strain
1. Strain rice in a fine mesh strainer (keep a bowl/jar underneath to catch the liquid, you will reuse it!) –Check out directions under REUSE liquid section above.
2. Rise rice well under cold water.
Part 3—make flour: dry and grind
3. Get out your dehydrator trays. Put parchment paper/dehydrator paper/ silicone matt under the screen. Place the screen on top of the paper. (This is so the rice does not fall through, but is not just “resting” on the paper).
4. Scatter wet soaked rice on the screen. It does not have to be perfectly evened out because it dries and shrinks.
5. Dehydrate on 145 for 2 hours.
6. Once done, take the dried rice from the tray (easiest way is to fold the edges of the screen inwards and tilt it into the blender. Rice will fall all over the place if you are not careful!)
7. Blend in a vitamix or heavy duty blender. Start on low and slowly increase to high speed and then keep it on high for 60 seconds until fluffy.
8. Store in a sealed container to keep it fresh. Keeps for many months. Use in replace of wheat flour- it has similar ratios (but no gluten).
** the other day I blended white rice out of the bag and made flour (without soaking it and dehydrating). It turned out very gritty while the soaked brown rice was SUPER fluffy–just like or even fluffier then wheat flour. You can soak white rice too for like 30 minutes and then dehydrate. It helps the rice absorb more liquid but it also seems to produce a very fluffy flour after you dehydrate. It is worth the extra step for sure.
Part 3–cook it (If you are not making flour)
1. Put soaked/rinsed rice into a crock pot.
2. Add in 2.5 cups of liquid (we use bone broth), 2-3 Tbsp of fat (we use butter), and 1 tsp of sea salt.
3. Cook in the crock pot (on high setting) for 2 hours. DONT LIFT LID, until it is done.
~Stay Gutsy, Caroline
Thanks heaps.
Do you think soaking rice flour with fermented liquid for 24 or so hours will have the same effect? I use my leftover fermented liquid (like homemade sauerkraut liquid) for buckwheat flour and it makes it into a wonderful sourdough-like consistency.
Its worth a try!!
Do you soak the rice for 4 separate days or do you do it all on the same day after soaking . Cycle 23and 4 are done on the same day.
usually we would soak the rice for a day and then use it. Then you put more rice in the saved liquid and do it again.
When you are rinsing the rice, do you use your Berkey water? I always wonder how people rinse foods with water from a container. It is so much easier to use tap water coming through the sprayer, but then you’re using the dreaded tap water. My tap water is not filtered so I have to use water from a container without a sprayer.
Naomi, I would rise with the filtered Berkey water if you are worried about it. I rise vegetables and other things I cook in filtered water, under the tap because it is all shaken off and then soaks us the filter water while cooking. But with fermenting, its always important to use filtered water because you don’t want the bacteria to be altered. I use the one with ceramic filters http://amzn.to/1giZcRk because I find that im sensitive to the black filters. good question!
Thank you for that! Do you think we could dehydrate it in the oven? If yes, for how long?
Hello! Thanks! Can I dry my rice in the oven as I haven’t dehydrator?