Can I Ferment Dried Lentils?

[Sally PB]

I hate to have to admit it, but I have bags of several varieties of dried beans and lentils that have hibernated in my pantry since the American Revolution.

I have some that were in my MIL's house. The foundation of her house dates from the 1700s. The beans don't, of course.

 

[MROO]

I hate to have to admit it, but I have bags of several varieties of dried beans and lentils that have hibernated in my pantry since the American Revolution.

About the only dried legumes that don't gather dust around here are split peas. I do love me some split-pea soup! On the rare occasion that I have leftovers, my chickens like it, too, especially if I warm it up on a cold day. I did learn (the hard way) about giving it to my dogs. They love it, but feeding split pea soup to an 80 pound dog is like giving baked beans to Grandpa ... the aftereffects will clear a room in seconds flat!

 

[nuthatched]

I can sprout grocery store dried lentils? It never occurred to me that they would sprout! Do I just spread them out between wet paper towels, like I would regular seed-beans or is there a better method?

You can sprout bagged grocery beans! I didn't know until we had a javelina find and rip up a dropped bag of kidney beans, we had a big swath of bean plants in our driveway until the deer found them. Not paying $4 for little seed packets of bean anymore....

 

[Perris]

About the only dried legumes that don't gather dust around here are split peas. I do love me some split-pea soup! On the rare occasion that I have leftovers, my chickens like it, too, especially if I warm it up on a cold day. I did learn (the hard way) about giving it to my dogs. They love it, but feeding split pea soup to an 80 pound dog is like giving baked beans to Grandpa ... the aftereffects will clear a room in seconds flat!

my flock love split peas too, especially pigeon peas (which I just ferment, don't cook). Peas + grains make a complete protein. My flock also eats white, blue, green and maple peas (all fermented with the grains).

Although you're going to sprout the lentils, I hope you'll try fermenting one day - assuming you do it with unprocessed foods of course. (I don't see the point with processed poultry feeds.) Vinegar mother favours one set of gut-friendly bacteria, natural yogurt a different set, and sourdough starter another. The older a bird, and the more variety they get in their diet, the more variety they'll develop in their microbiome, and the current rule of thumb is the more variety, the better, so you can't go wrong really.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I have mixed together dried lentils and rice and fermented in for my flock as a snack. They LOVED it.