Hemp Not Splitting

[Anderoo]

Short answer - you're not doing anything wrong, it's just poor quality hemp. The raw hemp I have (and it's years old now, a great big sack full from an online bait shop for very little money) splits after about 45 minutes of boiling - no soaking beforehand.

[arbocop]

Short answer - you're not doing anything wrong, it's just poor quality hemp. The raw hemp I have (and it's years old now, a great big sack full from an online bait shop for very little money) splits after about 45 minutes of boiling - no soaking beforehand.

 

 

What does the bicarbonate do to the brew then?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Read the flipping thread....

 

Adding bicarb makes the hemp black and shiny, which to be honest, serves no purpose that I can see. I seem to recall an article suggesting the black sheen made the split hemp resemble water snails.

 

It was there all the time....

 

...Andy...

[Anderoo]

I never add anything to hemp - I went through a stage of adding salt, chilli and other stuff but it didn't seem to make any difference so I stopped.

 

The similarity to snails is just coincidental in my opinion. Bream eat a lot of snails but aren't that bothered about hemp. Many experienced bream anglers reckon that in large quantities it repels more than attracts.

 

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to give the fake hemp a proper go for tench this spring. Should be interesting!

[Andy Macfarlane]

The similarity to snails is just coincidental in my opinion.

 

See, I thought so too, which does beg questions in that case.

 

Why add bicarb?

 

What IS the benefit of making your hemp black and shiny?

 

Does it alter the flavour?

 

Does it become more visible against a muddy/silty bottom?

 

Is it just something we've been led to believe is the done thing?

 

I've added bicarb perhaps 3 times and yes it looks nice and dark but the advantages??....hmmm. Therefore, it's something I've never reapeated. I think cooked hemp is cooked hemp.

[Anderoo]

I agree Andy, I can't see any advantage in it!

[bingo]

I've tried the old thermos trick in the past and I found it worked ok. They didn't all open but enough did. I didn't even soak it. Just put the hemp in and added boiling water and left overnight. Amazing smell the next morning.

 

I've been buying tinned/plastic jars since but I think I'll do back to the thermos.

[Anderoo]

I've tried the old thermos trick in the past and I found it worked ok. They didn't all open but enough did. I didn't even soak it. Just put the hemp in and added boiling water and left overnight. Amazing smell the next morning.

 

I've been buying tinned/plastic jars since but I think I'll do back to the thermos.

 

I've never tried the thermos method. Is there a way to do it in larger quantities? I'm banned from boiling hemp in the house - I can't understand why, it's the best smell in the world! - so the thermos trick would be great, if I could do enough at once.

[ayjay]

I remember some stuff that was available a few years back called *Parrot Hemp* (there was a shortage of hemp at the time) this would never split no matter how long it was soaked, boiled or whatever.

[Tigger]

If your not in a rush for your hemp you could just soak it in cold/warm water for 12 to 24 hours, drain it off then rinse it once or twice a day to keep it moist and it should split as it sprouts to grow over a day or two. Older seeds will take that bit longer to germinate.

I sometimes do this with pulses before feeding them to my parrots as when the seed swells and germinates it produces high protein etc.

You could do it this way and just freeze it ready for your next trip then you've always got a ready supply.