HOWTO make GBR (germinated or sprouted brown rice)

This tutorial will describe how to make germinated brown rice (GBR). Why do you want to do this? Because it's healthier and better tasting (I think) than the regular version! I'll discuss some of the health benefits and ways of making it.

Thanks everyone for making this a popular instructable!  It's been a few years since I've posted it, so by way of an update I'll answer a couple questions here.  1. The purpose of the hot plate is to keep the rice at a temperature at which it will sprout.  If it's warm out, you don't need the hot plate.  Recently I built a warming box powered by a simple light bulb attached to a temperature sensor; I put the pot of rice in there and it works great.  Easier but a bit more expensive than the hot plate.  2. You can also sprout rice as you would alfalfa sprouts--soak, and then rinse and turn the jar upside down over a strainer.  Personally, I find it easier to sprout when the rice is in water.  3. Green tea works to reduce the presence of bad bacteria that cause spoiling.  Recently, though, I have had more luck using whey or other fermenter starters.  Anyone experimented with this?

For other great recipes featuring fresh Japanese ingredients, check out http://gaijinfarmer.com!

Sprouted brown rice can also be called sprouted brown rice, GABA brown rice (for the amino acid GABA that is created during the sprouting), or hatsuga genmai in Japanese.

On page one is a short history and some health benefits. Skip to page two to get straight to the how-to.

Step 1 History of GBR

First, a really short history. Although people around the world have probably been eating GBR for thousands of years, what we now call GBR or GABA rice was 'discovered' in 2004, the United Nation's Year of Rice, as part of their research into rice. Since then it's become a health craze in some parts of the world, inspiring (predictably) many variants on automatic family-oriented GBR-making machines in Japan.

Why not just buy a machine? GBR is made by soaking brown rice in warm water for up to three days. The rice machines that claim to have a GBR setting soak for two to three hours. Although this probably has some health benefit, most people seem to agree that it's not long enough to properly germinate the rice. Why don't they make the cycle longer? The water gets stinky ... we'll deal with that later.

The rice is also sold by many companies around Japan now. I might go into the business too--it looks like they're making silly profits! They're charging 1000 to 2500 yen for a kilo of rice! One-cup versions on sale in America are about $3 a serving, also pretty expensive.

Comments

[superanth]

Once you've germinated the rice, what's the best method of storage? I've bought dried GABA rice in stores, so I'm guessing drying it works?

[bluescrubby]

I always freeze mine. In the fridge it will continue to grow and go bad. Drying seems like more trouble than it's worth. Let us know if you try it!

[83drummer]

It can also be sprouted using body heat in cold climates. For instance you could keep in in ziploc bags in a bra or in a pocket within in layered clothing.

(I'm developing a modern nomadic lifestyle that is independent of society).

[rosewater]

I've used a rice cooker on it's warm, as opposed to " cook" setting. I didn't use a thermometer so I can't vouch for if it was actually below the recommended temperatures for raw diets. You mention that the temperature should be between 86-104 F but most raw books say that the living enzymes that are beneficial to our health are destroyed when they are above our bodies temperature, 98.6 F

[bluescrubby]

Perhaps I miscalculated or got some bum information from the internets... At any rate, you're right--I think just over 70 degrees F should be sufficient for sprouting. However, many sources seem to say that up to 100 degrees or more is perfect for germination. My experience is that as long as you keep the water fresh, rice has a tendency to germinate in a wide range of temperatures. The warm setting on a rice cooker, though, is intended to keep food hot enough to prevent contamination, so I suspect it would be too warm for germinating rice. Did you succeed?

[btodd2]

I have been able to use my rice cookers warm setting to keep the water close to 100 degrees by putting three potholders in the bottom and wrapping a double layer of paper towels around the bowl. This lifts the bowl up and creates less contact with the heat while the paper towels insulate the sides from the metal of the rice cooker and decrease the heat transfer as well. This is my first batch of rice so I haven't seen any results yet.

[bobk_nyc]

The Zorirushi, says on their site that there baba model heats the rice for 2 hours, at 104 f, before going into the cook cycle..... Has anyone here tried to pressure cook the rice after it has sprouted?

[rosewater]

Sprouting before cooking would be healthier than just cooking it, yes. I'm not sure about any difference steps in the actual preparation method though.

[rosewater]

I don't know, I had to start over because I forgot to change the water. I've gotta start over. Considering that heat destroys nutrition, and the higher the heat the more carcinogenic food becomes*, and that we all want to be as healthy as possible, I wonder if I could find the lowest possible sprouting temperature for rice. It'd be a good question to ask on the raw forums.

[shadec]

As someone in the medical industry I can say that it's not as bad as it's made out to be. 'Carcinogen' is a term that's been massively abused by people who don't necessarily know what they're talking about (I'm not suggesting this is you!). It comes down to molecular chemistry, and while increasing the energy in a chemical system can increase the rate of change/reactions between in the molecules, this doesn't make them inherently carcinogenic. Also, not all beneficial molecules in food are destroyed by heating, some may have their numbers reduced (key word), but certainly not all molecules, and certainly not completely removed, and elemental nutrients (ions like Ca2+ for example) are definitely not affected.

[raw lady]

I am going to try sprouting rice with my Excalibur dehydrator. Take a few trays out and place shallow pan on try. Can use the rest of the dehydrator for whatever. Has anyone tried this method?

[bluescrubby]

Interesting. I think a dehydrator would not be a good environment for making sprouts, but it'll depend on how you do it--let us know how it goes!

[lilyrose]

My husband bought a small crockpot with simple "high" & "low" settings, added a dimmer switch, and bought a nifty remote-reading digital thermometer (which was probably unnecessary but nice for me;-) Hadn't found this site before trying it, but he's gotten the temp to hold steady at 99-100 degrees F and soaked a cup of short-grain brown rice for 20 hours so far. I think a see a little germ opacity at one end of the grains but they're still starchy; just read that we were supposed to rinse every 4-6 hours, so this first batch may just be for experimenting, not for eating! I hope this will work with the short-grain stuff; I really like it best.

[traductor3]

I go along with Xinia. The method with the rheostated hotplate or dutch oven is overly complicated. Her method, and mine, will work nicely in warmer climates (such as Tucson). After thoroughly rinsing the rice, as she says, I soaked the grains in a screw-top jar with the lid loosely in place for approximately 12 hours. (I confess that I was flying blind because I had never sprouted rice previously. I had only sprouted wheat and several varieties of beans. My main interest is to produce salad sprouts, so I wonder if the final product will be soft enough for this purpose.) Anyway, I poured the grains into a large strainer--rinsing them carefully once more and piggy-backing them onto another strainer holding black beans that had been soaking concurrently. Then I placed both strainers into a black plastic polyethylene bag and left them over night in a warmish spot in my kitchen. Toward noon of the following day I noted that the beans had begun to sprout and that there were fine protrusions at one end of some of the grains. (Periodic rinsing is necessary of course.) They are now out in our Tucson spring sunlight, hopefully to finish the job. My only caveat: the tutorial says they'll be soft enough to eat raw, but the jury is still out on that one.

[bluescrubby]

Traductor3, you answer your own question. If you live in a warm climate, good for you. If not, use a hot plate.

[traductor3]

Bluescrubby, you are correct. I thought I'd reinforce xinia's helpful comments for us warm climate denizens. Of course in summer many northern climes generate sufficient heat for several hours each day. (I grew up in N.Y. and we had long, sweltering summers.) But since you are the expert, can you tell me if my rice grains will soften up, and after how long? They have been germinating, in and out of the house, for over 20 hours; but the barely, though visibly, sprouted seeds are still quite crunchy. Also, will the sprouts get long and matted like my hard winter wheatberries do? Thanks.

[bluescrubby]

I usually soaked for 12 hours, then germinated for 2-3 days. You should be able to see them sprout after 1-2 days. Good luck!

[Joyful Song]

Brown rice is an acid forming food. Does the germination change it to an alkaline forming food?

[Rogues]

Are there any links to prove that GBR is more nutritious? I know that more GABA is produced but I really don't see the point when ingested GABA doesn't even cross the blood-brain barrier.

[geetus]

I followed the above suggestion of getting an aquarium heater.  But, I avoided the styrofoamcontainer-float-another-vessel-in-warm-water approach and stuck it straight in the bowl with water and rice, covered it -- easy.

[hishealer]

Not only rice, but wheat was once sprouted before being ground.  I know I was taught to soak beans before cooking.  The sprouting starts chemical reactions and makes a lot more nutrition available for our body.  That's why bean sprouts and such are so healthy.

[Brownrice]

Sorry I just lost my comment. Hope this is a continuation. The pressure cooker weight stops dancing 15 minutes 4/5 flame 50 minute flame off. Best, LN

[siameez]

You can't germinate (sprout) brown rice in a pressure cooker as it gets too hot (above 104 degrees) and will kill the seed. A pressure cooker works by boiling water under pressure and with that can cook at a temperature way above 212 degrees, the boiling point of water --it cooks at around 250 degrees --that's why it is used to cook food fast. You can obviously "cook" brown rice in a pressure cooker --but it will cook it, (killing the embryo) but not germinate it...

[inxanadu1]

I've sprouted my first batch of gaba rice. Today is day three. I recently bought a yogurt maker with a one quart container, which I decided would be perfect. I also used green tea for the soaking. Since it does not have a foul odor after three days, I think I'm going to use the soaking water for cooking the rice. I'll let you know how it goes. Maria

[bobk_nyc]

I am doing it now, and at 100 degrees I dumpped the tea, rinsed and added new tea_{,don't see anything yet.}

[xinia]

Well... I don't know why complicate something that can be sooo simple. Here's an easier way to sprout brown rice and it works!!

No need to waste energy keeping the concoction warm for 3 days.

http://radishboy.blogspot.com/2008/05/sprouted-brown-rice.html

If you cant get to the site here's the method:

1. Rinse 1 1/2 cups (or more if desired) brown rice several times until the water is clear.

2. Place the rice in a bowl and cover well with filtered water.

3. Let stand 12 hours or overnight.

4. Pour rice into a strainer and rinse well.

5. Set the strainer over a bowl to drain out of direct sunlight. Cover with a clean dishtowel.

6. Every 12 hours, rinse the rice well.

7. After 24 to 48 hours, small sprouts will appear. Use or refrigerate the rice until ready to use.

8. Cook as you would cook unsprouted brown rice, using slightly less water (for the 1 1/2 cups of rice in this recipe, use 2 cups water). The cooking time will also be shorter.

[bobk_nyc]

anyome do this in a pressure cooker. and have a time guess to start at?

[bluescrubby]

True, but brown rice will only germinate in an ambient temperature of 70 degrees or more. If it's cooler than that, a modified hot plate is the cheapest way to provide localized, low-level heat!

[jtodd5]

You don't need ambient temperature of 70 degrees for rice to sprout. I live near the coast in Northern California, where it's generally pretty cool (50s to 60s most days, down to 40s at night -- even in summer!). I soak the rice in warm water for a day, then drain and cover, rinsing at least twice a day, and it sprouts just fine after 2-3 days. I no longer eat brown rice myself, so I'm sprouting what we have left for our chickens.

[tattooyu]

I like riendear's idea of a heating pad. I was thinking the same thing.

[narniamermaid]

yeah i cooked it & it made the whole house smell like stinky stinky cheese. So I just chucked in the compost...trying again.

[narniamermaid]

what i did was: I put the rinsed & picked over rice in a glass casserole dish & put that in a gas oven with just the pilot light on. I did that on Monday at 10:30 am. I rinsed it a couple of times & put it back in the oven. It is now Wednesday at 5 pm. I didn't really see any sprout action. (I used organic short grain brown rice.) It is kind of stinky....but not horrible. I am going to give it a shot & cook it.

[ellenwheelz]

An aquarium heater can work. The one that looks like a glass test tube. I used one to produce yogurt. It can be mounted on the side of a container full of water, and the fermenting container floated or submerged in this. I used a cheap styrofoam cooler, first. It got a bit complicated. Then I found an old Igloo cooler that worked. The heat from the heater slightly deformed the plastic where it was mounted, but no harm done. I found the heater at a thrift store, but a lot of people who've had fish tanks have them around the house. If the heater does not produce enough heat, the knob on top can be simply removed and replaced at a different position to enable the thermostat to go a bit higher. This is a very energy efficient method, as the cooler keeps the heat in. I would suggest using a gallon jar with a lid for the fermenting chamber. It will float if not too full, so the lid could be cracked for air if needed. Once you get the heater to produce the temp you want, It's easy to get consistent results any time. The reason the styro cooler got complicated was, if I recall correctly, that the heater was too hot to mount directly on it. I solved that problem by putting the heater in a gallon jug full of water. I cut out a hole in the lid of the cooler, and the jug stuck through it. you could use this method with or without water around it, I guess. But it pretty much had to be in the bathtub because I didn't trust the styro cooler not to leak. And I felt I was getting better temp control floating it in water. Eventually I bought a yogurt maker. And promptly lost interest in yogurt. Ah, evolution!

[ellenwheelz]

A heat source I have used with good results, to make yogurt a while back, is an aquarium heater hung over the side of an igloo cooler (or an inexpensive styrofoam cooler box). The box had to be full of water, to cover the heater, and the yogurt was in a second jar, immersed like a double boiler. The heater is capable of infinite adjustment, and it maintains the temp very well at little cost. There may be simpler arrangements, but if you are a former fish owner, you may have one of these around.

[Brownrice]

Seems my last comment was totally lost. As a reply to the commentator Brown Rice, I also ferment my rice. I have been failing drown your Rice in green tea method. So I am going back to the sprouting in a sieve getting the rice more contact with the air. I still think the dimmer control of the heat is a good idea. so I am going to put hot water in the bottom of the pot and put the sieve in the same pot. My object is to keep the air moist and warm. As for cooking in the pressure cooker, in the inner pot, I use just enough water to cover the rice. Otherwise as all other conditions are the same.

[fpfighter]

I found the perfect appliance to keep the water temp at around 102-104 (lid off) to be my oil filled radiator set on LOW with the thermostat all the way up. It's currently winter so I do not know if this will work (or if I even want to have a heater going) during the summer.

[voide]

ive heard that only certain brands or varieties of brown rice will work. I did try short grain brown rice, i forget from which vendor, and did not notice any sprouts after 3 days. I tried again with wild brown rice from ludenburg, and it did sprout, but i dont really like wild rice. Anyone know a good, cheap, available brand of brown rice (short grain if possible - i like to make sushi with it)? Thanks

[ggladish]

voide, I don't know if this will help you since I buy long grain brown but check out Honeyville Grain at http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/longgrainbrownrice50lb.aspx. I buy 50#s for $62.00 and shipping is only $4.99. I don't know how well it germinates as I only found bluescrubby's posting 12/13/08 and I'm still gathering equipment. Good Luck.

[yeshecho]

Cooking the rice: I use an expensive induction element zojirushi rice cooker. But it makes great cooked rice from germinated brown rice or any rice. I do not believe I could get the same excellent quality finished rice with a pan and a lid. The other cool thing is that after I germinate the rice I put it in the cooker (which is too cold to germinate it further, my house is at 60F ) and set the timer so that the rice is cooked and ready for me when I walk in the door at night. Makes the whole process so much simpler. I realize everyone cannot afford this but in the end I think I save money because I know there is food at home so I do not eat out as often. It’s less expensive that a computer or TV. The zojirushi cooker actually has a germination setting (GABA setting) but it only warms the rice for a few hours before cooking, really too short to do much germination but it works in a pinch. Eating it cooked rather than raw: I have tried raw food diets and IMHO (please don’t flame me over my opinion) I believe that in the end they are not workable for many, including myself. Yes cooking breaks down some of the proteins and enzymes however it makes some nutrients more bio-available. Additionally to actually be able to digest soaked rice I have read that it must be soaked for many days. It scares me to think of the level of bacterial content after that time. Even after 24 hours it starts getting a little iffy and I have more than one pot of rice make me ever so slightly queasy ( I have an extremely weak stomach). But in the end I feel so much better from the germinated rice, I think it is OK. The studies that were done with the brown rice use cooked brown rice.

[Brownrice]

I've been doing a routine where I ferment my brown rice in a pot that restaurants normally use to keep race warm. I decided to try to ferment this rice. I cook it with a pressure cooker, and because it's soaked so long it gets really mushy. I'm thinking I'm overcooking it. I'm wondering how to Cook it with a pressure cooker. I'm going to try the new green tea method. So far my rice has been very unappetizing. Overly fermented I'd say. But it's great for the bowel movements. certainly it digest very well.