The taste of wheatgrass can vary tremendously. Sometimes it is awful and bitter tasting, and other times it is sickeningly sweet. Many people just dismiss wheatgrass as a disgusting drink that tastes like lawn clippings, but here is my guide to having smooth, sweet wheatgrass juice:
The secret lies in when you cut it, or if you buy it from someone already cut, when they cut it.
If you pick it too early, it will be really, really sweet. In addition to being sweet, the grass hasn't reached its nutritional peak yet.
If you wait too long to harvest the wheatgrass, it will taste really bitter, and it is hard get down the hatch.
The best tasting wheatgrass juice comes from grass cut when it about 6-10 inches tall. In cool wheather it grows slowly, but can grow longer before you need to cut it. In hot weather, it matures quicker, so you need to cut it sooner. Here is what it should look like when you cut it:
You need to wait until the grass has a little stem on the bottom and 2 leaves coming out. In hot weather, it will start to wilt and turn yellow on the top when it gets too old, so make sure you cut it before or as soon as you see that happening.
In the summer, the whole tray usually gets ready at the same time, so I will cut the whole tray and put the grass in a bag in the refrigerator and juice from that. It will be fine for a week or so in the fridge. If you leave it out to grow, it may take 5 days before you finish the tray, and by the last day it will be really bitter! Of course, there is always the possibility that you just don't like the taste of wheatgrass juice. I personally like it, but I know there are some people out there who won't like it no matter how sweet and tasty you make it. If this sounds like you, your best bet may be to mix it with other juice. Look at some juicer recipes to get an idea of the things you can mix wheatgrass with.
5 comments:
Hello. This may be a really stupid question, but how and where do I cut the wheatgrass in order to make juice? Do I use the white part at the bottom near the original seed or do I cut higher up and use only the green part? Can I use the whole thing including the seed/root if I wash off the dirt? Is there any benefit to doing this?
Thanks for your help. Jan
There's no such thing as a stupid question. Well maybe there are a few, but yours isn't one of them.
The concensus seems to be to cut just above the seed, since lots of nutrients are down there at the bottom. If your seeds have mold growing on them, cut them jut above that. I've never heard of anyone consuming the roots and seeds with the grass, and I don't think I would try it myself. If you do try, let me know how it turns out!
thanks for the tips!
When you say "You need to wait until the grass has a little stem on the bottom and 2 leaves coming out."
Is there any way you can post a close-up of what that exactly looks like? I tried to zoom in on your picture, but could not see anything that looked like a stem and 2 leaves. By "leaves" are you talking about blades of grass? I have been cutting mine at about 7 inches, and have not seen anything resembling a stem with 2 leaves.
Can you re-grow from the same seeds you cut from??
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