Cooking with Sorghum 101

Introduction

Sorghum is the grain of the month in this series on Whole Grains 101.

What is Sorghum?

Sorghum is a small, gluten-free ancient grain in the grass family.

It is the grain of a very drought tolerant plant that grows well in areas where other more popular grains such as corn or rice will not thrive.

Names for Sorghum

If you haven’t heard of sorghum, perhaps you have heard of “milo”, the name often found on wild bird seed packages.

Depending on what part of the world you live in, other names for sorghum include great millet, jowar or kaoliang.

History of Sorghum

Traces of cultivated sorghum dating back 5,000 years have been found in northeast Africa.

From there, its cultivation spread to the rest of Africa, the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and Asia via trade routes.

By the middle ages, it had reached Europe.

Finally, sorghum is believed to have crossed over to the Americas with the slave trade.

Today, sorghum ranks as the 5th most cultivated grain in the world, after corn, wheat, rice and barley.

Today, the United States is the largest producer and exporter of sorghum, with its cultivation concentrated in the Midwestern “Sorghum Belt” States.

Types of Sorghum

Sorghum plants are often divided into four groups: grain, sweet stalk, forage grass, broom corn.

Grain sorghum is used in cooking, baking, brewing and also for animal feed.

Grain sorghum comes in a range of colors from white, tan, yellow, red, brown and bronze.

Sweet (stalk) sorghum is grown for its sweet stalk which is transformed into sorghum syrup, fermented beverages and also used as a biofuel.

Forage grass sorghum is used for pasturing.

Broom corn sorghum stalks traditionally were used for making brooms though the grains can also be used in cooking and baking.

Grain Sorghum Nutritional Value

Per the USDA, the sorghum grain is 72% carbohydrates, 3.5% fat and 10.6% protein.

It is rich in B vitamins, especially thiamine, niacin and B6.

It also contains some folate and vitamin E.

In terms of minerals, sorghum is a good source of manganese, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, selenium, iron and zinc.

Whole grain sorghum has a reported glycemic index of 62 while sorghum flour has a glycemic index of 70.

Sorghum is also one of the few grains that are lectin-free, the others being millet, fonio and teff.

According to some research, sorghum has cholesterol lowering properties.

Culinary Uses of Sorghum

In this post we will cover the culinary uses of grain sorghum as well as provide some background on sweet sorghum.

Warning: Sprouted Sorghum

While most of my whole grain 101 posts include a section on eating sprouted grains, sorghum is one grain that SHOULD NOT BE SPROUTED for human or animal consumption.

While mature grain sorghum is safe for human consumption, sprouted sorghum releases cyanide (dhurrin) at levels that can be fatal to humans and animals alike.

Likewise, sorghum shoots are highly toxic.

Apparently, it is still safe to use sprouted sorghum for malting because the cyanide is concentrated in the rootlets which are discarded.

Nevertheless, it looks like malting sorghum is best left to commercial brewers as explained in this post.

Boiled Whole Grain Sorghum

Whole grain sorghum is a slower cooking grain that keeps its shape when fully cooked.

Soaking Sorghum Grain Prior to Boiling

Soaking whole grain sorghum overnight will help to soften the outer bran layer, make the nutrients in sorghum more bioavailable and slightly reduce the cooking time.

To soak sorghum:

• Cover whole grain sorghum with at least an inch of water.
• Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per cup of grain.
• Soak overnight in refrigerator between 6 and 8 hours.
• Drain sorghum grain and proceed to cooking.

Notes:

• Because of the warning provided on sprouted sorghum, you will want to immediately proceed to cooking your sorghum grain after soaking.
• While soaking is typically done at room temperature, the refrigerator is recommended here to minimize germination.

Stovetop Boiled Sorghum – Pasta Method

A foolproof way to cook sorghum is to use the pasta method which calls for a large quantity of boiling water relative to grain.

1. Bring 8 times volume of water (relative to grain) to a boil.
2. Add sorghum and a teaspoon of salt per cup of grain used.
3. Reduce heat to medium high and boil uncovered for 50 minutes until grain is tender (40 minutes if presoaked)
4. Drain water.

Instant Pot Sorghum

1. Use a 3 to 1 ratio of liquid to sorghum grain
2. Add a pinch of salt per cup of grain used.
3. Set to high pressure, 30 minutes (20 minutes if presoaked)
4. Allow to natural release for 10 minutes then vent remaining steam if any.
5. Drain off excess water.

Boiled Sorghum Uses

Thanks to its mild flavor, boiled sorghum is a great substitute for rice, bulgur, couscous or any other small grain in recipes.

It is an excellent meal prep grain because it will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator and it also retains its shape after freezing.

Nixtamalized Sorghum

Botanically, sorghum is closely related to corn and just like corn, it benefits from being nixtamalized.

Nixtamalization is the process of steeping a grain in an alkaline solution.

Traditionally, in the Americas, corn was nixtamalized using wood ashes or lime and then eaten as hominy or wet milled into masa harina flour used for corn tortillas and other food preparations.

Nixtamalization makes the nutrients in the grains more bio-available, especially niacin, and can add other minerals depending on the alkaline solution – i.e. lime (calcium hydroxide) adds calcium.

According to this Food and Agriculture Organization link, nixtamalized sorghum has been used in Latin America to make tortillas.

Instructions below are adapted from the FAO link:

1. Bring 1 liter ( a little over 1 quart ) of water to a boil.
2. Carefully stir in 5 grams of pickling lime using a wooden spoon. (lime is caustic)
3. Stir in 300 grams of sorghum (1.5 cups) to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and let steep for 4 hours.

You could wet mill the sorghum as is traditionally done when making masa harina dough.

If you don’t have a wet mill, the other option is to dehydrate the sorghum using a food dehydrator set to 125° F for about 4 hours, or in the oven at lowest setting (mine is 170° F) for a couple of hours.

Once the nixtamalized sorghum is dried, you can then dry mill it. (For more details on milling options, please see this post.)

Just like masa harina, nixtamalized sorghum flour will have more binding power than plain sorghum flour.

For more details on nixtamalization, please see this post.

Popped Grain Sorghum

Grain sorghum will pop in a similar way to popcorn.

The kernels are smaller than popcorn kernels but taste very similar.

Generally, about half of the sorghum will pop.

Unlike popcorn:

1. Unpopped sorghum kernels are not as hard as popcorn and are commonly eaten.
2. Sorghum kernels do not have hulls that could get stuck in your teeth

While there are seed varieties grown specifically for popping sorghum, I have had good luck simply popping regular grain sorghum.

You will want to make sure you have whole grain sorghum and NOT pearled sorghum which will not pop.

Microwave Popped Sorghum

The easiest way to pop grain sorghum is to use the microwave as there is less risk of burning.

You will need a brown paper bag.

• Add up to 1⁄3 cup of grain sorghum to a brown paper bag.
• Fold bag a couple of times.
• Lay bag, folded side down on microwave glass plate.
• Set microwave to high for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
• Carefully open bag, keeping your face away to avoid steam.
• Scoop out popped kernels.
• Pop remaining kernels for an additional 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

Stovetop Popped Sorghum

When popping sorghum on a stovetop, there is a greater risk of burning the kernels.

Be sure to remove from heat promptly.

To pop sorghum on stovetop:

• Preheat deep sided pot to medium high heat for 5 minutes.
• Pour sorghum kernels into pot, no more than one layer deep.
• Cover pot.
• Set timer to 2 minutes.
• Shake pot occasionally.
• Once timer rings, remove from heat immediately and promptly transfer kernels to cooler container.

Popped Sorghum Uses

Popped sorghum makes a great, higher protein replacement to popcorn.

Popped sorghum can also be used as part of a granola mix or to top off soups and salads.

Cracked or Broken Sorghum

Sorghum can be coarsely ground into cracked sorghum.

For optimal freshness, it is best to grind your sorghum at home using a high speed blender or a grain mill.

Cracked sorghum is quicker cooking than whole grain sorghum and it is ideal for making sorghum porridge.

Many traditional African sorghum recipes call for fermenting the ground sorghum at room temperature over several days which results in a sour but very nutritious porridge.

Since most western palates are not used to very sour food, an entry level fermented porridge option is provided below.

Stovetop Cracked Fermented Sorghum Porridge

Recipe below is for 1 cup of cracked sorghum which make 4 servings of porridge.

Sorghum Starter

• Combine ½ cup of cracked sorghum with 1 cup of water.
• Cover and leave to ferment at room temperature overnight (mildly sour) or up to 4 days (very sour).

Sorghum Porridge

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil with a pinch of salt and stir in the fermented sorghum mixture.
2. Stir the remaining ½ cup of cracked sorghum.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add sweetener and toppings of choice and enjoy!

For a faster, non fermented version, skip making the starter and simply follow instructions for main sorghum porridge, using 3 cup of water (or plant milk) for 1 cup of cracked sorghum.

Fine Sorghum Flour

Grain sorghum can be ground into fine sorghum flour.

Sorghum flour is popular as part of gluten-free flour mixes to replace wheat flour.

You can buy sorghum flour online but fresher results will be achieved by milling your own.

A high speed blender can be used to mill sorghum but finer results can be achieved with a home mill.

( For tips on grain milling, please see this post. )

Tips for Using Sorghum Flour

Sorghum flour is somewhat grainy and most people prefer to use it in combination with other gluten-free flours when baking.

For example, Sue Becker, in her book, The Essential Home Ground Flour, favors using half sorghum, half amaranth flour.

Sue Becker also mentions sorghum as being a great substitute for white rice flour.

In The Homemade Flour Cookbook, Erin Alderson, recommends combining sorghum flour with oat or buckwheat flour.

Because sorghum flour is gluten-free, it doesn’t have the elasticity and binding power provided by gluten in wheat flour.

Typically, for gluten-free commercial sorghum flour mixes trying to provide similar elasticity to wheat, binders used are: xanthan gum, cornstarch, guar gum or psyllium fiber.

You may also see arrowroot, tapioca starch or bean flours added.

The official promotion site for U.S. Sorghum growers, sorghumcheckoff.com, includes several helpful sorghum flour mixes including an easy cookie mix made from sorghum flour, chickpea flour and sweet rice flour.

If you are interested in simpler options, you will be happy to know that boiling sorghum flour helps to give it more elasticity.

This method appears to be popular in Indian recipes where there is a long tradition of cooking with sorghum.

For example, I found this excellent Jowar roti (sorghum tortillas) video using simply sorghum flour and boiled water.

Likewise, there is a video detailing a simple sorghum noodle recipe that can be found here.

Sorghum Syrup

Sorghum syrup is a thick, dark, nutritious sweetener made from the stalks of the sweet sorghum plant.

It has a pleasant, complex, sweet flavor – though less intense and less sweet than sugar cane molasses.

It is considered a favorite, affordable sweetener in the Southern United States and many individuals today are working to keep the tradition of making it alive.

To make sorghum syrup:

• The sorghum stalks are mechanically pressed to extract their juice.
• The juice is then boiled down into syrup.

On a small scale, some people have found ways to use a home juicer as shown in this video.

Traditionally made sorghum syrup can be purchased online straight from Tennessee or Kentucky.

If you want to grown your own heirloom sweet sorghum, seeds can be found online, including here or on Amazon.

Books about Sorghum

A plant-based book that includes sorghum grain recipes is Ancient Grains by Kim Lutz.

If you are looking for traditional sorghum syrup recipes, then the book Sweet, Sweet Sorghum: Kentucky’s Golden Wonder may be of interest to you.

Is Grain Sorghum GMO?

GMO crops are genetically modified organisms that have been modified to resist the herbicide glyphosate.

Glyphosate can be used in the growing phase of a plant, as a herbicide, or in the pre-harvest phase, as a dessicant.

Sorghum used for human consumption is not GMO, and glyphosate therefore is not likely to be applied during its growing phase.

However, per this agricultural document, glyphosate appears to be widely used as a desiccant for sorghum prior to harvesting.

Consequently, if you are trying to reduce your glyphosate exposure, you will want to purchase organic sorghum.

Where to Buy Grain Sorghum and Sorghum Flour

Grain sorghum can be found in many local grocery stores as well as health food stores.

If you are looking for organic grain sorghum, you can find some on Amazon.

Online Vendors

For larger quantities, this post on online sources of whole grains contains a FREE PDF download with 6 different organic bulk sorghum grain and flour providers.

Vendors with Drop Off Locations

If there is an Azure Standard drop off location near you, their price for organic sorghum is among the lowest I am aware of due to the drastically lower shipping costs.

Azure Standard is particularly competitive if you have many heavy organic bulk items to purchase and I am happy to count them as an affiliate partner.

Conclusion

Prior to doing research and testing for this post, I had never actually consumed grain sorghum though I had fed some to birds.

And I only had tried sorghum syrup recently, after purchasing it from an Amish market.

It is so ironic that many of us who live in the United States don’t even know about sorghum even though the U.S. is the largest producer and exporter.

Having tested out sorghum, including making some tabbouli with it, I do like its texture and mild flavor.

I’m looking forward to testing out more sorghum recipes and would love to hear your experiences with sorghum and any of your recommendations.

I never cease to be amazed at the abundance of grains we are blessed with.

So many grainlicious experiences to look forward to! 🙂

Disclaimer:  I am not a medical professional or a nutritionist.  This post is provided for general educational purposes. For a full disclaimer, please see here. 

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