Spent Grain Bread

Spent grain can be a potential pain in the rump. It is heavy, hot, wet and will ferment on you before you even realize it. The methods of disposal I covered in this post mentioned using the grain in food. The following recipe is my favorite way to get rid of a small amount of spent grain.

Spent grain bread is hearty, delicious and a great way to reuse your grain, reduce your waste and keep from buying bread with loads of preservatives and other weird stuff! I have modified this recipe I found a while back on beeratjoes.com to meet my needs and taste buds. I encourage you to follow my recipe then make your own through experimentation and share it here!

Ingredients
2 cu all purpose flour
2 cu whole wheat flour (or Spent Grain Flour)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry active yeast
3 cu spent grain
¼ cu, scant of honey
¼ cu olive oil
1 egg
1 cu, scant of milk

Procedure Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then mix in the wet to combine and make a fairly mush ball using a wooden spoon or large spatula.

Once the ball has taken up all the flour in the bowl, transfer it on to a floured surface to kneed. You will need extra flour for this, slowly adding a quarter of a cup at a time until the dough reaches a somewhat uniform elasticity, lightly sticky texture and holds its shape in the form of a ball.

Place the dough ball in an oiled container and allow to double in size in a warm and moist place. I recommend Alton Brown's trick of putting it, covered with a towel, into your inactive stove along with a pot or tray of boiled water. This will keep the temperature and moisture levels just right for an hour or so. Ambient temperature, yeast age and water quality will all effect the rising rate of your dough but it should take between 1 and 3 hours.

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Once doubled in size, lightly knuckle down the dough, reform in to a ball and cut in to two equal size pieces. Place each piece in a bread tray and allow to double in size once more. Use the same strategy as above to speed up the process.

When ready, bake the bread in a 350F oven for between 30 and 40 minutes. Check the bread by looking for a golden brown crust and internal temperature of between 200 and 210F, do not let it get higher! No matter how great it smells, how hungry or impatient you are – you must wait at least 20 minutes before cutting the bread! It is like a nice steak, always let it rest to reap the rewards.