Victorio VKP1013 Round Three-Tray Kitchen Seed Sprouter
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List Price: Our Price: $10.00 You Save: $9.95 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Victorio VKP1013 Round Three-Tray Kitchen Seed Sprouter
Customer Review: To be recycled
Summary: 2 Stars
I have used this sprouter a few times. I had my doubts before buying it but it's not very expensive so I gave it a shot. Each of the little trays has an outlet port that sits up a little bit from the bottom of the tray. Water that collects in the bottom of the tray is wicked by capillary action into the outlet by a special little plastic cap that fits over the outlet port. Ingenious, but If you lost one of these little plastic pieces you'd have a problem. If you get a sprout that grows up under the capillary cap then it doesn't work as well or maybe even at all. Every time you need to rinse your sprouts you have to pour off the water collected in the bottom tray, fill the top compartment, then put the thing back together again. The plastic lid for the top tray was coming apart after just a few uses.
I prefer the jar method. Faster, simpler, easier, better. You get to really swirl the sprouts around and rinse them well which you can not do with this sprouter. I also bought a few of the plastic screened lids that fit wide-mouth canning jars and that's all you need and some quart or gallon jars and you're in business.
Customer Review: Works well
Summary: 4 Stars
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This works very well for larger seeds and beans. It comes with a good size sample of Alfalfa seeds.
My tips: Alfalfa seeds are too small for this sprouter, they would not have the chance to dry out enough because they would stay soaked in the grooves (see photo) and would be more than likely to get moldy. Use a sprouting jar for alfalfa seeds instead. Since sprouts should get air and do not get too much in this (or any?) sprouter, I spread the trays out over night and in the daytime when I need the room, I stack them again, leaving the top tray exposed. This is probably not necessary, though. We eat a lot of sprouts and I stack 2 of these sprouters on top of each other.
If the water does not drain, I press the white siphon down firmer, and then it drains. When all the water has drained, I tilt the trays a little and let more water drain out.
I am happy that I bought it and use it all the time.
Customer Review: First time sprouter
Summary: 4 Stars
I've found this very easy to do, and this is my first time growing sprouts. The three layers give you plenty of space, and if you fill them all, you'll have more sprouts than you know what to do with most likely. I like to pipeline them: start seeds in each tray about a day or two apart. That way, you've always got fresh product. Much more cost effective than buying sprouts in the store, and the fact that the water drips down from one to the next is great - would be more work I think doing the same amount of sprouts in 3 different jars.
My only complaint thus far, and maybe it's user error, but I don't think so, is that sometimes the siphon dripping from one tray to the next seems to get clogged. So if you fill it up with water and walk away thinking you're done, you can sometimes come back a couple hours later to find one of the trays full of water. It's easy enough to fix, but mildly annoying. Maybe with experience I will work around it.
A big perk of this product in my mind: it is MADE IN THE USA! Can't say that too often anymore.
Customer Review: Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this sprouter after having one that required you to put the water in and dump it out two to three times daily and the holes on the mesh top weren't small enough and the seeds fell through or you couldn't get all the water out and they rotted. This one, however, drains beautifully; although you need to keep an eye on it to make sure that all the trays drain properly.
One of the other reviews said something about the sprouts taking too long to reach a good length. The way we solved that problem is to keep the sprouter on the top of the fridge. The heat from the motor is just enough to speed up sprouting and to somewhat dry the trays out to prevent mold. If one of the trays doesn't drain properly, just give it a little shake and dislodge the seed that is blocking the drainage hole.
I love this thing and it makes it very possible to get cheap, healthy food in my town. Fresh fruits and veggies are very expensive here, esp. in the winter. So, any way that I can find to lower that bill is a good thing.
Customer Review: Works well with a few caveats
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this sprouter for years. The idea sounds logical: pour water in the top tray, and it will percolate through the lower trays into the bottom. However, this has never worked properly in my experience. The plastic flanges that go on the holes of each tray would have to be perfectly placed for this to occur. Even if drainage did happen, after a couple of days the roots would block or push the flange so that the water could not drain. As another reviewer mentioned, puddled/undrained water has the potential to cause mold or rot.
My solution was simply to toss the flanges, place the seeds on the trays and mist with water a few times a day. Works perfectly.
Why purchase this instead of just using a mason jar (the cheap/free alternative)? I like the ability to grow different types of sprouts on each layer, and they grow in a nice "mat" similar to store-bought.
I would recommend. Not something I use every day, but is attractive and durable.