How To Remove Grit and Sand From Your Quinoa

Cooked Quinoa

I am new to eating Quinoa and I am loving it for it's taste.  It can be eaten like a hot cereal or used in any number of ways as a side dish. I mostly enjoy it for breakfast with a little butter, sweetener and milk.  It is very tasty.

 But I especially enjoy Quinoa for it's nutritional value.  Quinoa is being touted as a super-food.

Not only is it high in protein and fiber it is low in fat.  Quinoa also has a long list of important minerals that it supplies to our bodies.

Here are a few of the additional nutrients provided by Quinoa

 

 Unfortunately I came across a "small" problem when eating my Quinoa......sand  or grit.  Yuk.  I would be happily chewing along and then hit a piece of crunchy sand.  Not a good feeling.  Continuing to eat the quinoa was like walking on egg shells.  Not a pleasant experience.  I hear from others that they have the same problem although some claim there are other brands without the grit.  But I did not want to pay upwards of $12.00 a pound to get the "grit free" quinoa.

And here is the problem.  The grit pieces in the quinoa are the same size and weight as the quinoa seeds.  There is no way to sift them out.

But I was determined to find a way. 

And I did!

Laying in bed one night it struck me.  The quinoa is three times larger AFTER it is cooked.  Making it larger that the sandy grit.

So here is how I remove all traces of grit from my quinoa.  I hope it is helpful to you.

First of all I rinse the quinoa to remove any tiny foreign material.  This can be done with a very fine metal strainer ( one that the seeds cannot go through) or by using the lid from a cheese container (see picture) screwed onto a regular mouth mason jar.

 

 The lid needs to be screwed on fairly tight and then the jar can be filled 1/2 full of water with the seeds, swished around and then turned sideways in a bowl to drain.  Water will drain out leaving the seeds.  As you can see, the water that is draining out is cloudy.  You will want to rinse the seeds using the above method 4 to 5 times until the water drains clear.

 At this point, I usually let the quinoa sit for 36 hours to sprout.  Although this step is not necessary, I sprout the quinoa to enhance the nutritional value even more.  If you decide to sprout the quinoa, rinse the quinoa  approximately every six hours using the same method as before (you don't have to rinse 4 or 5 times though, once or twice is sufficient) during the 36 hour period.  The quinoa is sprouted when little "tails" are growing out of the seeds.

After rinsing ( and sprouting if you choose) the quinoa is ready to cook.  I prefer to cook the quinoa in a rice cooker. I use 1 part quinoa seeds to 2 parts water.   There was a problem with this though.  Do you ever have a problem with your rice cooker boiling over?  I sure do whether cooking quinoa or rice.  I hate the mess all over the counter and I hate losing the quinoa that boils over the top with the water.  

But there is a solution to this too!

I found this Video which shows a quick and easy solution to the boil-over problem using chop sticks.  Simply break two chop sticks to a length that fits inside the small lip of the rice cooker under the lid.  The lid still needs to be able to cover the pot somewhat tightly.  And guess what?  It works.  It really works!!  No more boil-overs!

So your quinoa is now cooked.  Here is how you remove any remaining sand or grit from your quinoa.  

Take the cooked and now larger quinoa about 1/2 cup at a time and lower it in a strainer ( a larger strainer than the tiny meshed one you might have used to rinse with) that is sitting in a pot of hot water.  (Make sure the water goes up to a level that submerges the strainer at least 1/2 way into the water) Gently swish the strainer from side to side and up and down completely removing it from the hot water a time or two for a total of 6 to 8 times.  Now when you remove the quinoa the smaller sand particles will have floated out of the strainer down into the pot of water and the larger cooked quinoa will stay in the strainer.  You may lose a few of the "tails" in the process,  but that is a small price to pay for a pleasant eating experience.  Repeat this process until all of your quinoa is strained.

You should now be able to enjoy your quinoa with no trepidation of crunching down on a bit of sand.

I hope this is helpful information for those who love quinoa - but not the grit.

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