Want to know how to prepare your own hemp ready for fishing? I’ve put together a list of 4 different ways to turn that bag of uncooked hemp into one of the UK anglers favourite particle bait ready for loose feeding or on the hook.
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1. Cook the hemp in a pan of water
2. Cook the hemp using a THERMOS flask
3. Cook the hemp in a Pressure Cooker
4. Cook the hemp in a Cool Box
The advantages of cooking your own hemp over tackle shop bought is that it is cheaper (look for it in pet shops as it is sold as bird food) and your fully in control of the end result, allowing you to flavour the hemp as you wish, be it with garlic, chilli, sugar or plain old salt.
1. Cook the hemp in a pan of water
Take a big pan or pot, large enough to hold at least four to five pints of water. Add the uncooked hemp to the pan, for every pint of hemp, add approximately three to four pints of cold water. Allow the hemp to soak overnight (depending on time I have often left it soaking for 24 hours). Once the hemp has soaked place the pan on a hob,add some bicarbonate of soda (one teaspoon per pint of hemp) and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally and then turn down the heat once you see the first signs of the hemp splitting and simmer until all of the hemp seeds have split (you will see little white shoots start to appear), once this happens remove the hemp from the heat and strain under a cold tap using a sieve. This is to cool the hemp down and stop it from continuing to cook. After straining the hemp two or three times, put the hemp back in the pan and top up with cold water until it is at least two to three inches above the hemp and leave for an hour or so to ensure the hemp has completely stopped cooking. Drain the water and use it to mix your groundbait (if you wish).
2. Use a Thermos flask to cook the hemp
This second way of preparing uncooked hemp ready for fishing is a favourite among many anglers as it smells considerably less when compared to cooking hemp in a pan. It’s also possible to prepare a batch of hemp the night before a session, however it’s downside is that you can’t prepare a large quantity at a time (dependent on the size and number of flasks that you use). Simply fill a Thermos flask half full with uncooked hemp, fill the remainder of flask up with boiling water, put the lid on tight and leave overnight. In the morning you should have perfectly cooked hemp with hardly any smell. Don’t forget to add bicarbonate of soda if you want the seeds to turn a dark black.
3. Use a Pressure Cooker to cook the hemp
Soak the hemp overnight in cold water, add the hemp to the pressure cooker and fill to 2/3rds full, top up with water (approximately two inches above the hemp) and boil for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before straining the hemp in a sieve under a cold tap.
4. Use a Cool Box to cook the hemp
This is an excellent method of preparing uncooked hemp read for fishing, especially f you want to cook off large batches and again is very simple. Fill the cool box to 3/4 full with the hemp seed then add boiling water, ensuring that it covers the hemp seed by at least two or three inches, allowing room for the hemp seed to expand. Put on the lid and leave for at least 18 to 24 hours. Resist the urge to keep checking its progress as you will let all the heat escape. Some people wrap the coolbox in a sleeping bag or old duvet to help keep the heat in but I personally haven’t found this necessary. Once enough time has gone by, open the lid and check the seeds have split, if not top up with hot water and check again in a couple of hours.
Here are even more tips to get the most out of preparing your own hemp seed
- Add bicarbonate of soda to the water to turn the hemp seeds a dark black
- Experiment with different flavours by adding to the water (try garlic, chilli, paprika, salt or sugar)
- Make up batches and freeze the hemp in handy pint sized bags and defrost the night before it is needed