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Best hemp?

Steve Roffey

Senior Member
Just run out of my last sack and noticed Maltbys offering 25kg at a good price, anyone comment on the quality of their seed. Had some from GW Titmuss once before that was very poor so don't want to risk another bad batch that won't split
 
The quality of hemp from any supplier seems to have gone down the pan in recent years. What's called giant hemp looks pretty standard to me, and standard seeds seem tiny. Getting any hemp that splits is very hit and miss, mostly miss. Fortunately, I've never found a fish that turned its nose up at small and unsplit hemp. Good job too!
 
Had quite a bit from CCMOORES ( not the cheapest, but it is good stuff ), its always been top quality. I did buy a sack of the giant stuff once, it was very large, however, it was a bugger to try and split, and i did try a few different methods. Boiling for yonks, soaking for days, bicarbe of soda etc. I don't get out now as much as i used to, so now i just buy the ready prepared stuff in the tins.

 
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Ah, the old non-splitting hemp.....
I think it’s down to a couple of things. It could be old stock or a crop harvested just a tad too early if I remember rightly.
I used to work for an animal feed manufacturer (mentioned already!), several years ago and one of my lines of production was the preparation and packaging of Chinese hemp.

A 20ft shipping container would arrive and it was all hands to the deck to offload the hessian sacks, many of which would weigh well in excess of 50kgs or a hundredweight in old
money. Some of the sacks would have been recycled by the Chinese and would often be in various states of repair. Patches sown on by a needle were very common and each sack would have had the top stitched by hand. Occasionally, these sacks would be picked up from the port and transported by one of the animal feed lorries that the firm used to run. This was reversed over a pit and the tailgate opened. I would then don some overalls, gloves and most importantly a decent mask (which believe it or not my boss used to baulk at paying for); and some goggles. Then with a new blade in my Stanley knife I would shear each sack straight down the side. Every so often I would start the lorry and raise it up a bit as I got further back. It was a fine balancing act getting it right! And so bloody dusty, you wouldn’t believe!

Fag packets, bits of glass, whole bottles, stones and once a finger tip flowed with the seeds into the pit.
Next job was setting up the Linde dressing machine. One of only 2 in the country and already worn out by the time it found its home in a disused cattle shed! Sieves exchanged, aspiration chambers set up, elevators and conveyors running I would then let it flow into the dressing plant. Often my boss would pop along and wind down the intake on the primary aspiration chamber because he was unhappy with the amount of green immature seeds coming out into the rubbish tote bin. When he went I would reset it again! Quality was my game. Once I was asked to set it and let it run after I left for home so that he could adjust it ‘to suit. When I came back in the morning about 5 ton lay on the floor having over spilled due to my boss trying to work it too hard!

We used to have about 15 - 17 ton delivered every month during the late spring to autumn with about half being sold for fishing. I used to promote this when on the banks and the firm has built a fair reputation over the last 3 decades.
Many anglers used to swear by this ‘brand’ of hemp. No one knew of the secret though. For each 2 ton bagged in 20kilo sacks I would add 2 litres of cod liver oil and give it a spin in the mixer! Not only did this make it appear super clean it helped keep this dust down too, as well as possibly being the most attractive hemp in the UK! You won’t be surprised to know that my boss never, ever gave me a sack for myself.......
Personally, I now use G & M Growers as it’s a very short drive away, the quality is generally superb and a terrific price! Remember though that although retail outlets may sell the stuff, they sure as hell don’t grow it!
 
Of the three 10kg sacks of Hinders stuff I’ve purchased over the last year or so, all have been a decent grain size and two have split well, the other not so good, but not a complete disaster. There’s probably another thread or two about cooking, but I always find a 12 hour soak and over night in the slow cooker works a treat, adding any salt/bicarbonate/flavours after cooking but when still hot.
 
I was having a sort-out/rearrange in my garage last year when I found an old aquarium in a tea chest that hadn't been touched since 2001, when I'd moved house. It was covered with just a piece of plywood and was filled with hemp, which I must have bought in the mid-90's (as I took a break from fishing from 1997-2002 : Uni etc) So I did my usual : I quarter filled an insulated picnic box (esky) with hemp, half filled it with boiling water, and left it for 3 days. It came out perfect : black and ~85% split.
Now that hemp must have been open to the air for 20 years, so make out of that as you may ;)
 
Maltbys are one of the top seed and pellet suppliers, if you go on their web site you can order say a kilo to check the quality. I have always found it very good.
 
Many years ago i was trying to make a particle mix similar to Hinders Partiblend that a mate used. I took a sample to G W Titmuss and we matched it to canary conditioner mixed with Budgi conditioner. The Old boy who worked there thought it was one of their own products but when told it was Hinders said 'we supply them with particle'. As Julian explained earlier here are only a few importers in the UK that can deal with Hempseed in baulk from China. They distribute down a chain and you pay a higher markup the further down the chain you go. You get good years and bad but its all from the same source. I found my way to Titmuss about 30 years ago, the company i bought from left the small Titmuss label on the sack ( 20kg hempseed sack was £8 direct a saving of £4). Personally you should not care whether they split or not the most important thing is that they do not float. If you are fishing Hempseed on the hook then its a different matter.
 
Over the years I’ve bought some rubbish hemp from cheaper suppliers, which tends to suffer from any of the following: tiny grain size, doesn’t split (dead seed) or its absolutely crawling with bugs (minging).

Now tend to spend the extra and buy it from CCMoore or Hinders, splits every time. I’m also considering trying Haith’s where I get my birdseed delivered from, as the quality is top notch.
 
Titmuss stopped making cage bird seeds over 20 years ago and commenced importing all seeds and mixes from Holland, including hemp, pre packaged in 20 kilo bags. I assume this is still the same today.

The quality, to my knowledge, has never surpassed those days when I cleaned, ‘mixed’ and bagged it in the 1990’s.
 
Titmuss stopped preparing cage bird seeds over 20 years ago and commenced importing all seeds and mixes from Holland, including hemp, pre packaged in 20 kilo bags. I assume this is still the same today.

The quality, to my knowledge, has never surpassed those days when I cleaned, ‘mixed’ and bagged it in the 1990’s.
 
Like Alex, I am a slow cooker fan. Soak overnight then 6 - 8 hours at the low setting. That gives me a good split rate.
 
Steve, it takes in some water during the process, but not a huge amount, so you still have 1kg or perhaps 1.1. You also have the liquid you cooked in which is great for mixing groundbait. To get best results give the hemp a good wash to get rid of dust and grip. Soak overnight then discard that water. Now use one and a half times more water than hemp by volume and cook. When finish drain off the hemp, bag it and freeze till required. If you want to flavour the hemp, add to the water before cooking. Bicarbonate of soda makes the grains black, but I have never found it necessary.
 
I’m another fan of slow cooker for hemp....and if you haven’t gout one they are also great for curry making! So double reason
For small amounts up to a pint I have done similar to Terry but used a large thermos flask
 
thanks mike, i use hemp nearly every trip, but just haven't prepared any for ages.

I'm puzzled why the uncooked hemp is so expensive when sometimes monster particles (i think) sell prepared hemp for £1 per kilo in their sales
 
Can't really answer that Steve unless it has been stored for some time and they want to get rid of it. What you have to remember is that the price drops dramatically if you order larger quantities, and even better if you collect rather than have delivered. A company buying 100's of kilos is probably only paying 20p per kilo and cooking in bulk would not cost a lot.
 
I use Monster Particles (www.monsterparticles.com) for cooked hemp- if you time it right you can get the hemp for £1 per KG (comes in multiples of 5kg) + £6 delivery

Another vote for this company, perhaps it's being 60 plus but my times a bit more precious nowadays, so rather than soak/boil I buy from here.....if you phone up and are passing through you can grab it from the factory unit in walsall. I've still got 20kgs in my chest freezer that needs using up.
 
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