Hemp hype

Hemp is booming! However, the crop’s market potential has not yet been fully exploited. Top 5 hemp products in focus.

Hemp is very popular. As the oldest useful plant in the world, which has always been processed and used by cultures in many different ways, it is not only used as an intoxicant and medicinal product. The female hemp plant is used for this purpose. Other options include processing hemp into flour and oil, drinking it as tea, weaving it into textiles, weaving it into ropes, using it for thermal insulation and as an industrial lubricant, processing it into paper, cosmetics and cleaning agents and using it as a bio-fuel. Most of the cultivation takes place in China and India. Europe is following. The largest acreage in Europe was in France in 2020. There, hemp was grown on 16,880 hectares. But there are also hemp plantations in Germany, Austria and Lithuania. We present some exciting products.

1. Hemp flour

Taste: Slightly nutty, rich in vegetable protein and fiber.

Herstellung: Hanfmehl wird durch die sorgfältige Vermahlung der Saat gewonnen, dadurch ist es besonders gut aufgeschlossen und die Inhaltsstoffe somit sehr schnell für den Körper verfügbar. Hanfmehl entsteht bei der Herstellung von Hanföl.

Production: Hemp flour is obtained by carefully grinding the seeds, which means that it is particularly well exposed and the ingredients are therefore available to the body very quickly. Hemp flour is produced in the production of hemp oil.

Use: In muesli, desserts, baking and cooking; to refine sauces, with honey and butter as a spread, as a protein additive for athletes.

Consumption information: Gluten-free, recommended daily amount max. 15 g per day. Freshly ground, it will keep for three months if stored refrigerated.

2. Hemp oil

Production: Cold-pressed from hemp seeds in an oil mill, never heated above 40 to 60 degrees.

Taste: Slightly nutty, lemon-green color.

Use: Not suitable for cooking, for the preparation of salads, for intensifying the taste with ready-made vegetable dishes. It accentuates their taste without becoming too dominant and gives a nice shimmer. Addition to smoothies, especially with avocado, banana or green vegetables.

Storage: Store refrigerated after opening.

3. Hemp seeds

Taste: Aroma of sunflower seeds, while their consistency is more like that of cashew nuts.

Use: As a decoration, as a smoothie ingredient, sprinkle over yoghurt and muesli, process in biscuits or muesli bars, for salads or dips.

4. Hemp powder

Production: It´s not hemp flour, even if it is obtained in a similar production process as the flour. Hemp protein powder is made from the “cake” left over from hemp oil extraction. This remainder is ground again at very low temperatures to break down the fiber and concentrate the protein.

Taste: nutty.

Use: As an addition to smoothies.

5. Hemp milk

Production: From hemp seeds, in-house production from hulled or unpeeled hemp seeds possible.

Preparation with peeled hemp seeds: 100 ml of water, sweetener (rice syrup, coconut blossom syrup, maple syrup) and fine-grained salt, mix in a blender to a creamy liquid for each tablespoon of peeled hemp seeds. Can be kept chilled for up to three days.

Preparation with unpeeled hemp seeds: 200 g unpeeled hemp seeds, 1 l water, sweetener (rice syrup, coconut blossom syrup, maple syrup). Mix the hemp seeds and water for three minutes, then add the sweetener and mix for one minute. Filter the liquid through a cheesecloth or cheesecloth. The remaining hemp puree can be processed into a pesto.

Use: As a 1: 1 milk substitute. Therefore ideal for shakes, smoothies, ice cream.

Note: Free from lactose, milk protein, soy, cholesterol and gluten.