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Jars & Lids
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The least expensive and best known method of sprouting.
Though Jar sprouting generally requires more attention to detail - it certainly can work!
Jars are clear and very cleanable. Lids come in various mesh sizes for various seeds.
Jar and Screen Lid Info
Jars & Lids - Description
Seeds to Sprout in Jars
Sprouting Instructions
Jar & Lid Assembly?
| Sprout School & Shop Sprouting Seed Info Center |
We sell Wide-Mouth Mason Jars:
1 Quart and 1/2 Gallon (2 Quarts)
and we sell various Stainless Steel Screen Lids.
Though you can make your own "screen" lid, with cheesecloth, hardware cloth, a nylon stocking and a rubber band or string, we strongly advise that you use actual screw on Screen Lids. They make the Jar as good as it can be, and because Jars require extra work (they have poor air-circulation and draining is relatively difficult), we think you will be very well served by adding these inexpensive attachments.
Per Quart you can grow:
Up to 1 pound of Leafy Sprouts or 2 pounds of Bean or Grain Sprouts.
Growing Capacity: 1 Quart or 2 Quarts
Eat More Sprouts + Grow More Often - Easily!
Seeds to Sprout
In a Jar
Jars can be used to Sprout or Pre-Sprout just about any seed.
These seeds are a Perfect match for the Jar:
Beans - All (see Mung Note below)
Mung Beans - Jars should be used only to grow small (1/8-1/4 inch) Mung Sprouts - which they do quite nicely! The 3 big issues with growing big thick Mungs in Jars are the inability to keep them dark while growing, the inability to apply weight to the growing sprouts and the almost impossible task of removing the sprouts when they're done. Don't even try big thick Mungs. You may very well succeed, but if you do you will have to break the Jar to remove the glorious sprouts.
Grains - All
Nuts and Seeds - Almonds, Pumpkins, Peanuts, Sunflower, etc.
A Good Match for the Jar:
These seeds can all sprout wonderfully in a Jar if you pay extra attention to the details of sprouting.
Leafy Sprouts: Alfalfa/Clover and Mixes - All
Alliums - Garlic, Leek and Onion
Brassicas - Broccoli, Radish, Mustard, Cabbage, etc.
Jars with Screen Lids are a great Pre-Sprouter for these items, but can not grow these crops to completion:
Grass, Greens and Micro-Greens
Jar
Sprouting Instructions
Specific Sprouting Instructions are found on
the page devoted to the Seed or Mix you are interested in.
Below are the specifics of Jar Sprouting.
Lids
Lids come in different mesh sizes. You should always use the widest mesh you can. Wider mesh allows the water to flow in and out more easily and improves air-flow as well. In some cases (when growing Leafy or Brassicas Sprouts) you change the screen lids (from fine to medium and then to coarse) as your sprouts grow. The widest mesh screen allows some hulls to pour out along with water during your last few Rinses. This makes de-hulling easier.
You can grow all the way with a narrow mesh screen - though your hulls won't pour off and air won't move quite as well, they still work great. But......
Sproutpeople has improved on the old Screen Lids!
14 years into our sprout adventure we are now producing our own set of 3 Stainless Steel Lids. They are made from heavy duty high grade corrosion resistant Stainless Steel. They come in 3 mesh sizes: Fine, Medium and Coarse. And perhaps best of all, our Fine mesh lid is finer than any lid ever offered (in this galaxy), so even the smallest seeds won't escape (except Teff, but that is almost microscopic).
Our Screens are held to the jar not by plastic rings, but with metal canning bands.
The bands come with a protective coating, but they may rust over time. How long it takes is dependant on how much you sprout, what your water is like (iron content especially) and how you care for them. Rust has never bothered us, but we do sell replacement bands anyway.
Seed Prep
Not all seeds require this step. See the seed information page to see if you need to do this for the seed you are sprouting.
Fill the Jar with water. Twirl and twirl and twirl the water around in the Jar. Pour water out and repeat the fill and twirl and pour until the water runs clear. Skip this step if you don't have a screen with mesh smaller than your seeds.
Soaking
Fill with cool (60 - 70°) water unless instructed otherwise by your seed supplier (us we hope =;-) and leave to soak for 8 - 12 hours or for the time noted for the specific seed/mix you are sprouting.
Rinsing
Fill Jar with cool (60 - 70°) water (unless instructed otherwise by your seed supplier). Twirl and twirl the Jar. Pour water off and repeat once or twice more. As a rule we do it 2-3 times every time we Rinse. We Rinse 2-3 times daily.
Draining
This is the hardest part of Jar sprouting. It is also the best reason to have screw on Screen Lids. When you are done Rinsing you need to get as much of the water out of the Jar as possible. With a Jar all you can really do is use gravity, so turn it Screen down and shake it up and down over and over and over again until no more water comes out through the Screen. When you are growing big seeds it is easy enough to get most of the water out, but when they are small seeds, there will always be some water left, so shake more than you think is necessary. It can't hurt!
Sprouting
We always put our Jars face down - at an angle - 
between Rinsing and Draining. We will use our dish rack in the rare event that it isn't full of dishes, or more often, we use high rimmed bowls which the Jar will rest on and which will capture the excess water that inevitably drains out, even after our thorough Draining. You can get away with leaving the Jar upright if you are growing big seeds (see Perfect, above), but when you grow small seeds (those listed above as Good Matches) they end up sitting in water (that water which we can't believe is even there, because we drained so thoroughly after Rinsing). Actually it is only the very bottom seeds/sprouts that are sitting in water, but they don't much like it and they can spoil your whole crop. So, set the Jar - at an angle - face down between Rinsing and Draining! It can also improve air-circulation (not if you use a bowl as pictured, but certainly if you use the dish drainer or something open like that).
We always suggest a low-light, 70° location for your sprouter, until it is time for Greening (if you are growing sprouts that green (anything that grows a leaf - like Leafy or Brassica sprouts, Grass or Greens and Micro-Greens). At that point we often say: Move your sprouter to a brighter location (or words to that affect), and though we always say to avoid direct sunlight, we will tell you strongly: Never put a Jar in direct sunlight - unless you wish to cook your sprouts! The lack of air-circulation built into Jars makes them the most vulnerable to heat build-up, so if you are Greening sprouts in a jar, don't move them to a too bright or well-lit location, but rather, concentrate on that other thing we say: You'll be amazed at how little light it takes to turn your sprouts green!
Seed Specific
Sprouting Instructions
If you have a particular seed type in mind,
read on to discover further details of Jar Sprouting that seed type.
Refer to the seed's main information page for detailed instructions.
Beans
Follow instructions on this page for Jar specifics and on the seed/mix detail page for all bean specifics.
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 1 cup.
Mung Bean
You can't grow big thick Mungs in a Jar unless you want to break the Jar when they're done - that's the only way you'll get the sprouts out. SO, grow the sweet and tiny Mungs when using a Jar!
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 1 cup.
Brassicas
Broccoli, Radish, Cabbage, Mustard, etc. need to move while sprouting or they will form a root mass (beginning around day 3) which is at least unpleasant and often lessens the sprouts' quality. Solution: Break Up/Loosen the mass. Fill the Jar with water, take a fork and use it to loosen the sprout mass. If the Jar is too full, transfer them to a bigger container for the loosening. Keep breaking up the mass at every rinse or 2 after that too.
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 4 Tablespoons.
Leafy Sprouts
One issue folks have with these sprouts is that they expect them to be green. There are almost always - regardless of the sprouting method - some sprouts which will not turn green. Those that grow in the center of the crop will remain yellow. Our advice is: Live with it! Most will green if you don't over-crowd the sprouter (use 2 Tbs. or less of seed) - and those that don't are still plenty delicious, nutritious and they add beauty (yellow goes well with green and white!) too. Leafy sprouts will do better shed their hulls more readily if they are allowed to move freely, so break up the mass on day 4 and 5 and maybe 6. Fill the Jar with water and kinda pull the mass apart with a fork type implement. It isn't a critical issue with the Leafy Sprouts, but it doesn't hurt.
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 2.5 Tablespoons.
Alliums
Garlic, Leek and Onion require no extra work - though they do take more time. Be sure to drain the Jar well after each rinse so that the seeds/sprouts aren't sitting in water (not only will those that sit in water sprout poorly - they'll smell REALLY bad!) and remember - these all take up to 2 weeks to finish sprouting so keep rinsing and draining!
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 5 Tablespoons.
Grains
Follow Seed and Jar specific instructions.
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 2 cups.
Nuts and Seeds
Follow Seed and Jar specific instructions.
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 2 cups.
Grass and Greens
Pre-Sprouting Only!
Maximum dry seed per Quart = 2 cups.
Micro-Greens
Pre-Sprouting only!
Screw Lid on Jar.
Wait, believe it or not, there's more.......
All of our Screen Lids will fit any Wide-Mouth Mason Jar - which are the only Jars we sell.
The Stainless Steel Screen we sell alone (pictured here) comes with a plastic ring which does not quite fit a Wide-Mouth Jar. It does snap on, but does not screw on! If you snap it on the only problem is getting it 
off. The only problem in getting it off is hurting you fingernails - so - don't use your nails - use the pads of your thumbs to push the green plastic ring up. Works like a charm. Alternatively you can use another ring to hold the Screen on the Jar. We often use standard canning bands (which we usually send you when you order a Stainless Steel Screen) as they are the perfect fit. They will rust eventually, so go to the store and buy another dozen (they are in the Canning section) or get some here.
Though it might sound like the Stainless Steel Screen is too much of a pain, it is worth it! Because it is Stainless Steel as opposed to Plastic (which are almost gone as an option due to the closing of the company that produced them) it is thin so water passes through it better - both going into and out of the Jar. If you are committed to Jar sprouting you should definitely have at least one Stainless Steel Screen in your collection!
We have improved big-time on the old Stainless Steel Lids!
We are now producing our own set of 3 Stainless Steel Lids. They are made from heavy duty high grade corrosion resistant Stainless Steel. Our lids are less likely to rust (rust has never bothered us) than the old standard lid (the one we sell individually, pictured above). They come in 3 mesh sizes: Fine, Medium and Coarse. And perhaps best of all, our Fine mesh lid is finer than any lid we have ever had, so even the smallest seeds won't escape (except Teff, but that is almost microscopic).
Our Screens are held to the jar not by plastic rings, but with metal canning bands.
To see how to use the different mesh sizes come back up here.
Cleaning: Scrub well between crops with soap and water. Rinse well!
Sterilize: Scrub and soak in bleach water. We do this every 3 - 4 crops because a clean sprouter produces better sprouts and a sterile sprouter is a great place to begin a crop. You can use food grade hydrogen peroxide - it is better for you and the environment than bleach.
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| Jars | ||
| 1 Quart Jar | Yields 8-32 ounces of sprouts. | |
| Half Gallon Jar | Yields 1-4 pounds of sprouts. | |
| SproutPeople Stainless 3 Screen Set Our 3-Lid Set is made of heavy duty high grade stainless steel. |  | |
| Stainless Steel Screen Lid | | |
| Replacement Metal Bands For use with any of our Stainless Steel Screens. These come with a protective coating, but will rust in time. We don't mind the rust, but you might, so here ....... |  | |
| Solid Plastic Lid A solid white plastic wide-mouth lid. Use it for storage if you are refrigerating your sprouts in a jar (wide-mouth of course). Display box not included. One lid = $1.50 |  | |
SPROUTPEOPLE®
170 Mendell St.
San Francisco, CA 94124
Toll Free:
877/777-6887
(877/SPROUTS)
We only use the phone for emergencies.
Back in 2001 we were still using the phone. One day I was talking to a long-time customer while pushing my daughter on the swing in our backyard (this is what a mom n' pop business is like on the internet). It dawned on me that my priorities were severely messed up, so I stopped using the phone. I love to talk and I love to help, but my family would never see me if I picked up the phone again.
The very best way to contact us is through E-mail =:-)
We are quite fast and VERY thorough. We love to help.
We have been an internet only business since 2001. We are not a big corporation. We are but 2 people, mom n' pop. We decided after years of juggling our family's (kids, dogs, cats and even our own) needs, and the needs of Sproutpeople, that we had to make more time for our kids, so we stopped talking on the phone. All calls go to voice mail and have since 2001.
We are very fast to fill orders and answer e-mail, and though we wish we could make the time to talk, we just can't seem to get more minutes into a each hour. We are many years older than when we started and our days are too short and made up of too few hours to do everything. This limitation in our business has not kept us from pleasing our customers, nor from growing (as we have every year since 1993). We do what we do as well as we can, and we think we do it very well indeed.
We appreciate your business more than we can say. We ask that you use the phone for emergencies only and that you search our site for answers before e-mailing us. This site is bigger than any 4 sprout books put together, it is always available and it is free, and we know that almost all questions are answered here.
Thanks again for your patronage and your many kind words.
Sproutpeople family