Are brown sesame seeds (with hulls) always raw, or does some sort of processing sometimes occur?

Hi. I think when they're toasted the color is a darker brown as a opposed to a greyish color. I think they're raw when they look like that. (greyish.)

With unhulled (brown) sesame seeds, there is no processing except for drying (same as with most truly raw seeds or nuts).

If you like, you can try sprouting them. Unhulled raw sesame seeds will sprout, because they're alive. Roasted/toasted seeds will not sprout, because they're not alive.

If they sprout, they're raw.

Brown sesame seeds sprout fairly easily, although you might not prefer to eat them that way. Some people prefer to eat them soaked (not sprouted). But sprouting is a good test for confirming that they're raw. Often, they will sprout if they're just thrown into a potted houseplant.

Much of the calcium content in sesame seeds is in the hull, a fact that makes the unhulled (brown) sesame seeds a better choice than the hulled (white) sesame seeds.

Unhulled (brown) sesame seeds have been a staple in my diet for over 20 years; and actually, I've never found any that didn't sprout. Sometimes I thought they seemed a little old or maybe had bugs in them (if I had them for a very long time). But still, when I threw them outside, they sprouted.

Truly raw nuts (as opposed to sprouts) will often not sprout, if they're in a dormant stage.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2011 07:36PM by suncloud.

Agree with rawalice and suncloud; I have raw sesame that were quite dusky upon purchase but it is the hulls that are dark--they definitely taste raw and sprout. You really can't know unless you try sprouting them.

I was recently suprised to find that the store bought blanched almonds that I was soaking for something not raw started to sprout after a few days in the fridge(almonds sprout at cold temps). I was sure they'd been heat processed to remove their skins, you know, boiled to death, but here they were, alive and well and growing!

Wow, that's trippy Tamukha! I wouldn't have thought that would happen.

And I didn't know they sprouted at cold temperatures. Hmm. I'm hungry. A handful of raw almonds would taste good!

coco,

Yeah, I was surprised at how pleased I was, like in childhood when I got a really nice present for St. Nicholas Day

I ended up using the sprouted almonds to make a couple of servings of raw "Ranch" dressing, with lemon juice and lots of fresh organic herbs left over from Thanksgiving. Yummy!

Ha, Tamukha, you called me coco I think. I'm flattered!

Ha-ha, suncloud--scrolled a bit to far up and down in re-reading these messages before posting a reply!

I CAN keep you two straight, though you are two of my favorite people here and both so articulate in your responses