DIY Soaking & Sprouting Lid for Mason Jars

You know you’ve officially crossed over to the “crunchy” side of healthy eating when you start soaking and sprouting your grains and legumes for better digestion and easy absorption of nutrients.  The process of soaking and sprouting kick starts the digestion of proteins, making it a better choice for consumption.  You can read more about it  here for a quick synopsis of what soaking and sprouting does.  This Nourishing Gourmet post is complete with all those scientific terms like phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors but suffice it to say that that’s one of the reasons why traditionally prepared sourdough is inherently a better option for bread than whole wheat.  The extended fermentation process breaks down the gluten into amino acids that provides a more pleasant digestion, even for those with gluten sensitivity.

Soaking and sprouting are essentially the same thing, except they present a different result.  In soaking (as in seeds, nuts and some grains) you are submerging your food in water and acidic medium or salt for a period of 12-24 hours, enough time for the phytic acid to be released.  You would then strain the seeds, nuts or grains and rinse well and cook as you desire.  Sprouting requires a further step and usually takes a few days, since you’re looking for those ‘sprouts’ in your grains or legumes.  Every 12 hours or so, you will need to replace the water to your grains and legumes to avoid mold.  Instead of reinventing the wheel, I’d rather point you to this informative post about sprouting grains.

{This post may have affiliate links to items I genuinely love and use.  The cost is the same for you.}

I have used this Sprouting Jar Strainer Lid from Amazon in the past but they run at around $5 a piece and because I typically always soak or sprout several items at a time, I need more than one or two.  And I suppose you can always use several layers of cheesecloth but I wanted a more feasible and hassle-free solution.  I’ve seen people use a stainless steel fine mesh wire but wasn’t sure how it would hold up rust free with using water.  Then I came across using a plastic needlework canvas from a craft or hobby store and knew I had to try this. I wish I could take credit for this genius idea but no, I’m just responsible for the photos.

I used this 10.5inX13.5 in #7 canvas but in white.  The number 7 refers to 7 square wholes per square inch.  They come in smaller sizes for very small seeds like alfalfa, perhaps a 10 or 14 would be better for those?    How fun would it be to have the lids in different colors?  If you’re really OCD, you can use a brown lid for buckwheat sprouts, white for rice, green for mung beans, and pink for bubble-gum jelly beans.  Just kidding.  We don’t eat jelly beans around here and we certainly don’t soak them.  But I will admit to some OCD tendencies.

And the best part is it cost me a whole lot less than $5 to make 10 pieces.  TEN! Ten screens can fit on one canvas (actually I’m sure you can stretch and make 12 out of them). Including a quart jar, the price is still under $2.  When making these lids, I would suggest making them for wide-mouth lids only because they are more versatile as far as sizes go.  You can use wide-mouth on pint, quart, and half-gallon jars.  Sidenote: I am slowly making my way to getting rid of all of these random glass jars from olives and capers and such and replacing them with mason jars.

Speaking of mason jars, let’s get to it.  This is a fun little afternoon project and it doesn’t even include glitter!

Supplies Needed:

10.5″X13.5″ needlework plastic canvas

Marker – sharpie or wet erase both work great

Wide-mouth lid & jar

Scissors

Trace the wide-mouth lid (do not use band) with a marker.  I was able to fit 10 circles comfortably, but I know I could’ve made 12 if needed. I figured 10 was already an overkill.  I mean who has 10 types of legumes on their counter sprouting their sprouts away?

After tracing the lid, carefully cut on the inside of the tracings.  If you don’t feel comfortable with working with the inside, you can work with the outer edges but most likely, you will have to trim them more to make them fit to the bands.

Continue cutting the rest of the lids, making 10-12 fine mesh plastic lids.

Now, you are ready to use them for all your soaking and sprouting needs.  These hold up well in the dishwasher too.  I tried and tested it, though I typically do not put anything plastic in my dishwasher.

Note: I can’t say with certainty that these lids are BPA free since they are not designed for handling of food.  And please know I make best effort to avoid as much plastic as I can but in that same breath I can say with much conviction that purchasing one *plastic* needlework canvas and using other materials already on hand saves me time and money, not to mention it also avoids having those pesky green mesh lids which adds to more plastic in the long run.  I feel these are safe to use to sprout and soak ONLY and should never be used to heat, cook, and eat off of.  I would also caution against washing these in dishwasher (though I did do a test run and they held up fine).  

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