Sprout Master Single Sprouter

My first batch of sprouts could not be harvested intact. They had plugged the drainage holes in the bottom of the tray. My second batch was started with paper toweling separating them from the drainage holes. The roots penetrated the toweling and plugged the drainage holes. My third batch was started with a cotton handkerchief separating them from the drainage holes. They penetrated the handkerchief and plugged the drainage holes. My fourth batch was started with Essentials® BPA-Free plastic wrap lining the sprouting chamber. The sprouts could not penetrate the drainage holes. Rinsing and draining the sprouts was possible, but, of course, time consuming.

I first tried sprouting with a jar with a drain lid. It was hard to drain the water all the way out, it was a pain to rinse the seeds, and my sprouts would rot, before they even sprouted. Air couldn't get to them, and I live in Nebraska, a very arid region.Then I got this thing. If you can't grow sprouts in this, just rinse them more. It drains effortlessly. The instructions are ridiculously easy to follow. You can grow tons of sprouts really fast. I grew, tall, strong, deep green, and super potent sprouts in a matter of days. They will not go bad if you keep them in here and keep rinsing them, I rinse about 3 times a day, but you could probably get away with once depending on where you live. You will basically have a living, growing food, that you can eat at your leisure.The smallest seed I have put in them so far is radish, but I'm sure smaller seeds could work, and you could always put a growing sponge on the bottom.During the winter I will get a second one because it will be one of the only ways to get fresh greens in my area, and I'm a vegetarian, so that is super important to me.These are made in the US.

The Sprout Master standard/larger trays in either single or stackable formats leave just a little to be desired in hardiness and instructions. They do the job of sprouting fairly well, but it may take a couple of tries to get exactly what you're looking for.Cons:If you're only making leafy green sprouts for one or two, halve the recommended seed amounts in the chart provided. You'll get better airflow, too. A damp lightweight dish towel over the top works better than the provided tray for moisture and air circulation. The construction is a little flimsy, with the tray lid and catch pan of the exact same design. This means you can buy a single sprouter and then buy a second, but keep a towel underneath a single or stack, because the trays don't have much of a lip and even fairly small amounts of water can end up on your socks. The sprouting trays just feel...delicate. I've already cracked one washing it with a scrubber brush. The trays do not seal well enough that I would be willing to hike with them, but with the lids inverted into storage containers, nothing leaks in the fridge. Also, they're not dishwasher safe.The provided instructions leave just a little bit of doubt about whether the lid should be used during sprouting, under which conditions, or reserved for the crisper function. In our 72-degree home, it actually works better with the lid lightly overtop a lightweight dishtowel. They still stack that way. The trays also make it difficult to flush seed hulls from the sprouts, so instead of following their directions, I rinse my sprouts in a colander to get rid of the hulls before I put them back in the tray to green.Pros:The instructions come with a guide for the amount of seed to use in a whole tray, half the tray with the divider, and with the two mini options as well as the amount of time various types of seeds should take to sprout and how many days of light they should have for greening up. It also includes the good advise of trying the seeds every day once they've grown out some, to find your perfect sweetness level. The trays seal well enough for the fridge, but not really for a backpack, as the mini is advertised to do. The dividers allow you to stagger "crops" and grow different types of sprouts. Because they're modular, you can buy a single, then decide you're into it and buy a triple and stack those, scale back down to one or two trays, and interchange the lids/catch pan between all the trays, presuming you buy all mini's or all standard/large sized trays. They more efficiently use counter space and fridge space than round designs, and they seal better in the fridge than the two sets of round trays I have. I use the divider even when growing the same seeds, because the partition increases the stability of the trays and makes them more resistant to cracking when a flat of eggs ends up on top of them in the fridge.Bottom line, they're nice for the money, versatility, and size considerations, but they're not the sturdiest and some clarity in the directions could really boost the nice set of sprouting guides that come with them.

This is my first sprouter, so I have no basis for comparison. I looked at a lot of products when I was purchasing this one, and I feel that it's the best tray sprouter on the market for the price.Pros:-Easy to use-Allows for nice aeration-Tray system works well as bottom or lid (I switch top & bottom after every rinse to minimize bacteria & mold growth)-Great size, perfect crop size for two people. If I get really in to sprouting I may purchase another large size and have the crops rotating.-Holes are small enough that very few seeds get stuckCons:-Small seeds can get stuck in holes-Sprouts will grow through holes and can be hard to pull out without breaking the roots-Not dishwasher safe, and needs to be bleached each time-Not the sturdiest plastic, so I doubt it will last more than 2 years without crackingI have only had one failure so far, buckwheat groats. They rotted, and I suspect that I did not rinse them voraciously enough. All other crops (salad mixes with primarily alfalfa & radish, some lentils) have been absolutely perfect with very little maintenance.

So I open the sprouter, which was much anticipated, and a peice immediately chips off. Right off the bat terrible cheap plastic. Second, I try contacting them, and get no response. So I try using the broken sprouter. I come to find my alfalfa seeds go right through the holes into the sink, and it was an incredible waste. Worst product ever! Do not buy! Worst product experience I have had on amazon!