Baking with Spent Grains

[Ward Chillington]

So I have been saving my spent grains and have been using them to make bread and crackers. I went looking for a waffle recipe today and noticed something... most all of these and many of the bread recipes use only a small bit of spent grains to new flour almost like adding an accent to the finished product. I'm looking for a good 1:1 ratio AT LEAST!

So let me ask the forum; any bakers out there that can point me to any recipe's with all spent grain? I got lots of it! Cracker's? Bread? Pretzels? And oh yeah...Waffles!

 

[ChicoBrewer]

Sounds interesting but how do you get rid of the hulls?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the best not the easiest way is to dry and grind into flour but remember there will be no sugar and will taste very bland unless enough sugar and salt are added

 

[jdwebb]

I use the grains whole ( not ground to flour). Adds a nice texture to wheat bread and my sourdough.

 

[Ward Chillington]

the best not the easiest way is to dry and grind into flour but remember there will be no sugar and will taste very bland unless enough sugar and salt are added

Yeah, there is that bland factor but if you use a Rye, a decent whole wheat flour and some other UMMPPHH adding seasoning like Rosemary or Garlic for Crackers or Caraway seed or Molasses for bread you get past that pretty well. And Chico....Hulls = Fiber!

 

[ChicoBrewer]

Hahahaha. Sierra Nevada uses some to feed beef for their restaurant.

 

[KC]

There are several issues with using too much spent grain

• ~90% of the fermentables are used up and the dough won't rise without additional sugar.
  • Added sugar absorbs extra water and slows yeast
• Gluten content is very difficult to measure
  • There's a narrow window of protein % where the rise isn't too loose or too tight
• Spent barley is always darker than milled wheat which can sometimes look unappealing.

I dry and mill spent grains in small batches and use it no more than 10% in dough, usually <5%. I vastly prefer using DME as a baking ingredient.

The only thing I've seen use 100% spent grain is dog biscuits

 

[Ward Chillington]

~90% of the fermentables are used up and the dough won't rise without additional sugar.

Roger that KC, yesterday's loaves were a 50/50 that I used an extra teaspoon of yeast and a heaping tablespoon of honey in and 2 rise cycles to get a loaf the size I wanted. I really don't care about the dark and rustic appearance, I actually like that, the crackers were great and the bread makes some killer toast.

What I really need is a neighbor with Chickens and I could swap eggs for grain!

 

[rolandblais]

Here you go. And a Basic Bread Recipe from the AHA. I've made bread, dog treats, and pizza dough all with good results.

 

[Yooper]

I make dog treats, or give the spent grains to a friend for her donkeys and chickens.

The dog treats are great- my dog loves them. I just mix the grains with peanut butter and eggs to form a dough, then drop them onto a cookie sheet. I flatten them a little into a rectangle shape, and bake in a moderate oven until set. Then I turn off the oven and let them sit in there to dry out. He goes crazy for them.

 

[Ward Chillington]

HEY THANKS ROLAND! Lotta good stuff here and after looking at the recipes, it's a 50/50 mix at best for what I am looking for or a additive at least. I made some waffles with about a 1/2 cup of mash last night and they were a nice, hearty fall diversion for a Friday night meal.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I make dog treats, or give the spent grains to a friend for her donkeys and chickens.

The dog treats are great- my dog loves them. I just mix the grains with peanut butter and eggs to form a dough, then drop them onto a cookie sheet. I flatten them a little into a rectangle shape, and bake in a moderate oven until set. Then I turn off the oven and let them sit in there to dry out. He goes crazy for them.

I just made some for my dog but with flour and eggs, it took 3 hours from the wet mash and he's abscessing over them now, nothing else matters but those treats, I think I found my 3 hobby

 

[rolandblais]

HEY THANKS ROLAND! Lotta good stuff here and after looking at the recipes, it's a 50/50 mix at best for what I am looking for or a additive at least. I made some waffles with about a 1/2 cup of mash last night and they were a nice, hearty fall diversion for a Friday night meal.

Happy to help. I've got some grains from last Saturday's brew session... time for dog treats and pizza!