How to Process Sunflower Seeds: Harvest, Brine, and Roast with Wisdom Preserved
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- Nothing says summer like a huge, beautiful, bright yellow sunflower. When I first began planting sunflowers, I just planted the little ones for the birds to snack on.We teach you how to process sunflower seeds: harvest, brine, and roast.
Eventually, I found our family liked snacking on them too and switched to the mammoth variety. Sunflowers are fun to watch grow and open. There is almost a daily change. The kids like to play beneath them in the garden as it makes a fantastic wonderland. When the sunflowers are done growing our family then gets a tasty treat.
Sunflower seeds need to be harvested when the back of the flower changes from green to yellow. After cutting the flower I like to either hang it upside down or place it upside down on a wire rack. Do not overlap them as mold can occur if there is not enough airflow for the sunflower to dry out.
After the seeds are dry it is time to extract all of the seeds out of the head of the flower for our use. First, brush off all the dry old petals and leaves so they don't end up in your seeds. Next, a bucket with tall sides is a good idea for this project as seeds go flying everywhere. My tools of choice are a butter knife and a spoon. The hardest part is getting it started. I usually pick a spot near the middle, insert my knife between the seeds and turn it 90 degrees. This will create a small empty spot. I then work around that empty spot with a spoon using the same motion as this area will now provide less resistance. If you push the seeds towards that empty spot they usually pop right out. The seeds in the very center are usually too small and immature to work well so I leave those in the head and give it to my chickens or set them out for the birds.
Now that the seeds are available for use it is time to soak them in a brine. A mild brine would be 8 cups of warm water and 1/2 cup of salt. If you are wanting a saltier seed add up to another 1/2 cup of salt. After you have brined you can check the saltiness by tasting one and add some salt to the top as you roast, but it is not as effective as brining. Mix the salt in well and add the seeds. You will need to find a way to keep the seeds under the brine. They tend to float. A plate with a weight or a few soup cans works well. (I used a glass plate so you can't see it very well in this picture.) Some of the seeds may pop up around the plate but it is not a big deal. The next time you stir they will get trapped under the plate and have their turn in the brine. I stir them a few times in the next 24 hours but otherwise, they are just absorbing the salt.
After the brining process is complete, it is time to roast the seeds.
You will need a roasting pan or other tall-sided pan that can go in the oven. Heat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and place the pan of seeds inside on a rack in the middle of the oven. I check on them about every 30 minutes, stirring to move the wet seeds from the bottom to the surface where they can dry. This will take multiple hours to completely dry out the seeds, so just plan on it being a half-day-long event. When all the seeds are dry, try one to see if they are dry and crunchy on the inside as well as the outside. Usually, it needs a little longer but sometimes I am surprised and it will be done.
Store them in an air-tight container in a cool dry place.
If you have any questions or comments please place them below.
Music:
Porch Swing Days - faster Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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What Are the Lost Arts? Lost arts are the basic skills for self-sufficient living that have been forgotten or replaced by modern technology. --- WISDOM PRESERVED
Intro: (0:00)
What we are making: (0:11)
How to Harvest Sunflower Seeds: (0:20)
How to make a brine for Sunflower Seeds: (07:12)
How to roast Sunflower Seeds: (09:40)
Outro: (16:10) - Навчання та стиль
Wow I like that
Me too. We are just getting ready to do this years batch.
Best instructions, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks so much for this info video. Harvested our fall giant sunflowers and let dry out over winter. Needed this video for the brine and baking. Thank y’all so much !!
Glad it was helpful!
Alors
❤❤❤❤
Fantastic video. I really hope to put your lessons into practice in the fall. This is the third year I have tried to grow mammoth sunflowers. The first two years my sunflowers were knocked down and uprooted by strong winds. This year my mammoth sunflowers are fastened to a wire trellis.
Thank you. Each area is so different. We have had some massive winds this year but I have had more damage from my pooch than inclement weather.
I wonder if cookie sheets would work better? Have you tried that and if so, was there any disadvantages? Thank you.
Cookie sheets work very well for small quantities. The problem is the low sides. They make it hard to stir without spilling.
Thank you! So interesting ,I want to know about sunflower butter?
I have plans to play with sunflower butter in the future but haven't gotten around to it yet. It's on my list but not at the top of my list yet.
Thank you for beautiful video. You can eat it without taking seed out of shell? Love and Peace.
You can eat the shell. But, I generally will open the shell with my teeth, eat the seed and dispose of the shell. (It is pretty fibrous.)
First time watching your channel!! I am a lover of “lost arts” too!! New subscriber!! Have you ever roasted a sunflower head or made sunflower butter?
We are so glad you found us. I have never tried either of those but I am intrigued. I will have to look into it. Thanks for sharing!
Do you not crack the hard outer shell to get at the seed inside?
Do you really eat the outside shell of the seed?
Some of my family will eat the outside but others will shell it in their mouth and dispose of the shell. This is really more of a way to make a sunflower snack like they sell at the store. If I wanted to put it in my salad etc. I would need to shell them.
Thank you for the video. It is august 29 2022. I live along the coast of California. Planted 2 mammoths one is drooping some leaves drying. Weather in 70s here for this past week. Nites are 50-60s. The seeds R still not ready to harvest. Back of flower istill green. Hopefully the end of September I canharvest. How long can i wait until harvesting.Blessing s toyou both n happy gardening
I usually wait until the back of the head is yellow and then I let it dry out in my greenhouse on a wire rack for a couple of weeks. It should be soon. If you notice the birds are starting to snack on it then it is probably ready. (They usually have a better sense for it than we do.)
Just grew my first sunflower circle and the flowers are drooping over and look like they are ready to harvest. Thanks for the info. On harvesting. Hope mine comes out ok. I grew 5 diff kinds so I’m curious to see diff in the seeds. Is there a certain kind of sunflower that is best for eating?
My favorite sunflower is the mammoth but that is mostly due to the size of the seeds being so large. Wait until the back of the heads turns yellow before cutting them off the stalk. Good job on the new harvest.
@@WisdomPreserved
Ok- thank you so very much
@@dnthrx This can be a normal variation for sunflower seeds. As long as they look healthy they should be good to eat.
I’ve grown dwarf sunflowers 🌻 for the first time this year , I know the seeds will be small but I’m going to try to save some to eat and some to plant next year. HOW DO YOU PRESERVE THEM WITHOUT ROASTING OR BRINED DO YOU JUST LET THEM DRY? Thanks great video really helpful
If I want to use them for planting next year, I place them in a thin layer on a baking sheet in a warm, sunny location like a window ledge. The important thing is to keep them dry so they don't mold. After they are 100% dry (a few days to a week), you can place them in an envelope or bag and store them in a cool, dark place to wait for the next season.
@@WisdomPreserved thank you 🌻
Two questions,
1) Would hanging the heads in the house work ok? We are in a rural area, and
have LOTS of squirrels and birds. Also many times have storms that knock the
flowers over before it's time to harvest. If they hit the ground, it's game over.
2) Seems like roasting on a sheet pan might be quicker. Is there a reason you
used a roasting pan?
Interesting video.
TYFS, Mark and Rosa
1) You could hang the heads in your house. I have them on wire racks in my greenhouse. The important thing is to wait until the back of the head is yellow to be sure the seeds have matured. Some people will place bags over the head to protect it as they are waiting for the seeds to mature before they have picked it. If you are using plastic bags, be sure it is not resting against the seeds or moisture will be held against them and they will mold.
2) You could use a shallow pan and it would go faster but you would have to do multiple batches. For me, it is just easier to do one batch and stir it multiple times throughout the day as I am multitasking with other things.
Thanks for the inquiries,
Marie
Can the tiny flowers be fed to chickens?
Yes. The nutrients in them are actually really good for chickens. We always have a few smaller volunteer sunflowers around our place. I just wait until the seeds are mature and harvest for them.
About how many hours did it take to roast this batch?
I just went back to our video footage and check the timestamps and it looks like we roasted the sunflowers for about 4 hours.
So I have a random question…I completely forgot about my brine *mom brain* for three day 😬 can I still roast them or is this a no go?
I think it will be fine. The worst that could happen in that time is it will absorb a lot of the brine and be salty.
Roast black oil bird sunflower seeds with garlic salt& white pepper
That sounds good.