Re: Removing husks from Sunflower seeds?

Burton, David (JISS) wrote:
> 
> Hi, all.
> 
> I have about a thousand or so sunflower seeds and would like to use them in
> cooking. Is there an easy way to remove the husk (or is it hull?) from the
> seeds?
> 
> If not, I'll just save a few for future plantings and feed the rest to the
> chooks.
> 
> David Burton (Adelaide, South Australia)
> Email: Burton.David@saugov.sa.gov.au
> 
> (Unless explicitly attributed, the opinions expressed are personal and not
> those of JIS Services or the South Australian Government)


If you have a flour mill you can set the stones at a certain width (the
smallest dimension of your typical seeds) and run them through.  A large
percentage of the seed will be hulled.  Put the seeds, hulls and
unhulled seeds in a container and shake it until the hulled seeds settle
to the bottom.  Then remove the unhulled seeds and hulls until only the
hulled seed are left.  Clean them by dropping them into water.  The
seeds will sink and the trash (bits of hull) will float and can be
poured off.

You'll have to experiment to get it right.  Also, if your seeds' sizes
vary greatly then you may have to start with a wider setting and run the
unhulled seeds back through on a narrower setting after removing the
hulled seeds from the previous step.  When you've got all the seeds
hulled that you expect to reasonably get, throw the remains out for the
birds and they'll pick through the hulls for the leftover bits.

With a little pratice it's fairly easy.  Steel stone work better than
natural.

Steve  (Maritime...)
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