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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Videos / Soaking Flour for Maximum Digestibility (+ VIDEO)

Soaking Flour for Maximum Digestibility (+ VIDEO)

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links โœ”

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Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • How to Soak Flour+−
    • Dairy-Free
  • Soaking Flour Technique Applies to All Grains
  • Bread Recipes Using Soaked Flour

Soaking flour for maximum digestibility is one of the three traditional methods of grain preparation for healthy, nutritious bread as practiced by Ancestral cultures.soaking flour basics

One of the most important baking techniques to learn when implementing a traditional diet is soaked flour. This ancestral method of grain preparation enhances digestibility and improves the metabolism of nutrients.

This technique also reduces anti-nutrients such as phytic acid in the grain flour. These substances block mineral absorption and can aggravate inflammation of the intestinal tract. Gluten-free grains also contain these anti-nutrients.

Other methods for reducing anti-nutrients in grains and improving metabolism include sour leavening (sourdough) and sprouting.

How to Soak Flour

Soaking flour is simple. Simply mix grain flour with yogurt, kefir, or clabbered milk, cover with a dishtowel, and let sit on the counter overnight. Freshly ground flour produces the best results. After the allotted soaking time, blend in the remaining ingredients and bake or cook as usual.

Non-grain based flours such as cassava and coconut flour do not need soaking. Others such as almond flour and chickpea flour are best soaked before grinding rather than after.

Dairy-Free

For those with milk allergies, substitute 1 cup of filtered water per cup of flour plus 2 TBL of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and soak as usual for at least 8 hours or overnight.

For those with more extreme wheat sensitivities, the soaking time can be increased up to 24 hours to further breakdown gluten and other anti-nutrients.

Soaking any longer than 24 hours risks the development of mold.

Soaking Flour Technique Applies to All Grains

The principle of soaking can be applied to whole grains as well, such as your morning oatmeal. It was common to soak oats overnight before cooking back before WWII. This step was apparently even suggested on the Quaker oatmeal box!

It seems with the modern preference for speed in food preparation, this essential step has been lost. Hardly anyone under the age of 80 even remembers it anymore.

Try soaking your oatmeal the night before and see how much more filling it is after you cook and eat it the next morning.

Instead of being hungry again at 10 am, you will likely be full right through until lunch! ย To soak oatmeal, use 1 cup of warm filtered water per cup of oats plus 2 TBL whey, yogurt, kefir, or buttermilk. Stir together in the pot you will cook them in, cover with the lid, and leave overnight.

Cook, as usual, the next morning.

Bread Recipes Using Soaked Flour

Try this soaked bread recipe with your soaked flour. You can also try making a soaked loaf in a bread machine.

The video in the recipe tutorial below demonstrates visually the simple process of soaking flour. Try it with your next flour-based recipe!

Soaking Flour for Maximum Digestibility (+ VIDEO)
4.8 from 20 votes
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How to Soak Flour

How to soak flour of all kinds before making the batter to improve digestibility and nutritional benefits of bread and other baked goods.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Soaking time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Servings 1 batch
Calories 1200 kcal
Author Sarah Pope

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour preferably freshly ground and organic
  • 2 cups whole milk yogurt

Instructions

  1. Mix flour and yogurt in a large bowl.

  2. Cover with a clean dishcloth and secure with a large rubber band.

  3. Leave on the counter overnight or for 8 hours.

  4. Uncover, mix in remaining ingredients for whatever recipe you wish to make and bake as usual.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Clabbered milk or plain kefir may be substituted for yogurt.

If there is a dairy allergy, 2 cups of water plus 2 Tbl lemon juice may be substituted. This reduces the calories to 910 for one batch.

Nutrition Facts
How to Soak Flour
Amount Per Serving (1 batch)
Calories 1200 Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Fat 15g23%
Saturated Fat 9g45%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 54mg18%
Sodium 196mg8%
Potassium 912mg26%
Carbohydrates 209g70%
Fiber 7g28%
Protein 40g80%
Iron 11mg61%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Category: DIY, Grain Recipes, Traditional Preparation of Grains, Videos
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (132)

  1. Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

    Dec 18, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    Hi Christy, if it doesn’t have any mold on it, then you can probably take off the hard crust that has probably formed on top and go ahead and make pancakes anyway. They might be kind of sour though. Not sure as I haven’t ever left soaking flour for that long before.

    Reply
  2. Christy

    Dec 18, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Can you over soak wheat? I started soaking some wheat about 3 days ago in the water and whey and was unable to make anything with it until now. Is it still okay to use it to make pancakes?

    Reply
  3. Christy

    Aug 24, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Thank you, my first soaked pancakes were a success!

    Reply
  4. Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist

    Aug 22, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    Hi Christy, if its too soupy, add some more flour to get the right consistency and keep soaking for the rest of the 24 hour period.

    Reply
  5. Christy

    Aug 22, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I grinded my on organic soft white wheat and then soaked it using the water and apple cider vinegar. It soaked for about 15 hours and was still really runny. Is this still good to use? Or did something go wrong?

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    May 25, 2010 at 12:46 am

    Actually I just found a site that informs us that only unhulled oats can be sprouted, that hulled oats will not sprout. It sure would be nice to be able to do it myself, but not sure how to get the groats hulled after dehydration. Anyone?

    Naomi

    Reply
  7. Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist

    May 14, 2010 at 10:37 pm

    I've only ever soaked rolled oats like for traditional oatmeal. Not sure about steel cut oats. They might be best for grinding into oat flour and then soaking.

    Reply
  8. David

    May 14, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    I tried soaking steel cut oats, and even after a couple days the oats were still hard, and cooking didn't soften them either. Is there a different way to preparing them properly?

    Thanks!!

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    May 13, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    Sorry, I meant also to ask you, have you ever sprouted oat groats and dried and rolled them for cooking/baking? Do you have any info about that?

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    May 13, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    I have been sprouting my own wheat for about a month now, dehydrating it, and grinding into flour to make bread in my bread machine. I want to tell you, it is fabulous! For those of you who want a good sandwich bread that is soft and squishy, yet is sturdy enough to make a sandwich that is filling and satisfying, I have a recipe that works, and I use my sprouted wheat flour in this recipe. It is called Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread, and she gives versions for making it in a mixer and baking in your oven and also for making in a bread machine. I don't use a Zojirushi bread machine like she does, just a standard one with a whole grain setting. You can find the recipe at her website, UrbanHomemaker dot com/index.php?article=83. Where she calls for dough enhancer, I use diastatic malt that I made myself by sprouting wheat until it had 1/4" sprouts, dehydrating, and grinding into powder/flour. You only need a very small amount per loaf, and it makes an amazing difference in the texture of the loaf. The recipe also calls for vital wheat gluten, which I use.

    Which brings me to my question: Is vital wheat gluten something we should be using or not? I don't see any references to it in NT book. I'd appreciate any information you can provide.

    Reply
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