Update to Gluten Free Brewing

So, I posted the other day about having to malt my own grain. I was able to find raw buckwheat groats (seeds apparently) at Whole Foods. It was actually a total fluke that I looked, but there they were. And here are two pictures of the raw grains.








notice their shape. They are neat little pyramids of gluten-free (GF) goodness. They were hard as a rock when I first got them, and I was pleasantly surprised when they softened after only a few hours of soaking.


I soaked the raw grains for two days, changing the water every day. I drained them completely each time then rinsed the weird slimy stuff off of them. (Might have been good stuff, but it creeped me out.) Some people might say bad stuff about using regular tap water, which I did, but as you will see from the pictures, it worked. Not only that, but I figure since I'm going to roast these grains and then steep them in 175 degree F water, then boil the resulting creation (for at least an hour), any toxins present in the water during the soaking phase will most likely be eradicated during the boiling. Okay, that was a really long sentence...sorry.




Back to the process explanation....where did I stray? Ah yes, weird slimy stuff.

Once I had drained the grains, I spread the grains out on a small cookie sheet and leveled them out to about 1 cm thick. After work the next day, I rinsed the grains again, and spread them out. I took the opportunity to snap a few pics of my now sprouted grains. I'll continue to take pics, but I suspect that the sprouts will be of sufficient length tomorrow.



So the buckwheat is progressing nicely. I now have to figure out how to roast the grains...shouldn't be too difficult cookie sheet in the oven...but how long and at what temp? Another question, do I darken them all the same color? Should I do different levels so as to alter the complexity of the resulting flavors? I like the second option...

The next problem to tackle (and mind you this is a big one) is what to do with the raw amaranth I have on stalks at the moment. I don't have any idea how to harvest the grain from the stalks and mill it. So I'm at an impasse as far as the amaranth goes...I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to even start. That's enough for now. Cheers!