Uses for spent grain?

So far, mine have been going to the compost bin, but I wonder if bread made with them would be any good..

See if there's a local farm that will take them to feed their pigs or the livestock. I've also heard you can make dog biscuits out of them.

Do a google search for "Spent grain recipe" and you'll find a lot of results for how to use them in cooking.

put them in a compost...

Yep, bread, dog biscuits (as long you don't have any hops in it), grain bars, food for chickens, etc.

There are lots of good uses.

I threw them on top of my garden and my green beans shot up so high! But after like a 2 week period they, the grains got stinky and flies flocked to them until I buried them.

Dog treats! I just made some for a few people I work with since I don't have a dog anymore. Also cookies, bread, pizza dough, compost, bird feed. Search bar in the upper left corner is your friend. You find quite a few threads about what to do with spent grain. I'm still looking for a good granola bar recipe.

mrrshotshot said:

See if there's a local farm that will take them to feed their pigs or the livestock. I've also heard you can make dog biscuits out of them.

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I made some rockin' dog biscuits out of some spent Caramel 20 steeping grains. They were so good my wife ate most of them before the dog even got a chance. No, really, I'm not joking - she loved them.

cmiyc said:

Dog treats! I just made some for a few people I work with since I don't have a dog anymore. Also cookies, bread, pizza dough, compost, bird feed. Search bar in the upper left corner is your friend. You find quite a few threads about what to do with spent grain. I'm still looking for a good granola bar recipe.

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Here's what I do:

Recipe:

two cups spent grain
one cup flour
one cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 big tablespoons of honey
one egg
pinch of salt

add 1/2 cup of each ingredient you want to add:
almonds, coconut, chocolate chips, etc.

Roll with pin to flatten out, cut into squares/bars

Bake at 225 for 1 hour
flip, bake for another hour

Will my dog need bean-o if I feed him these?

Airplanedoc said:

Will my dog need bean-o if I feed him these?

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Most dog kibble carries a lot of grain so it shouldn't be a problem unless your dog is on a selective diet like mine.

Awesome thanks for all the ideas. So, I did some bread recipe searching and I noticed that some of them call for different things, namely:

1. drying the spent grains first vs. using them wet

2. grinding the spent grains more finely vs. not

I'd think the grinding step to be important for mouth-feel, but maybe the high heat softens the husks? Any pros, cons for this?

evrose said:

I made some rockin' dog biscuits out of some spent Caramel 20 steeping grains. They were so good my wife ate most of them before the dog even got a chance. No, really, I'm not joking - she loved them.

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Here it comes the joke.

...Your wife must be a btch!

I know when using the wet grains in bread, you have to be careful about too much moisture, so your bread will not be doughy. I have tried just tossing some grains in a standard whole grain bread recipe and it failed, but I have also followed recipes on here and they came out great. I would think dry would be easier to handle overall

Airplanedoc said:

Will my dog need bean-o if I feed him these?

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My dog needs bean-o when he eats anything... Even when he doesn't eat. It's a bit of a problem in our house...

+1 on the garden, mix it in right away and it aerates the soil as well as adds nutrients and water holding capacity (I think on the last one, it's what I was told anyway). I guess it depends how much you brew. Probably don't want to do it more than once every few months.

I put some in the compost bin and take the rest to a chicken and goat farm...

Very important: if any of your grains come into contact with the hops (I'm not sure why they would, unless they got mixed together during cleanup), do not use it for dog treats. Hops can make dogs very, very sick or even kill them.

ztexz said:

Very important: if any of your grains come into contact with the hops (I'm not sure why they would, unless they got mixed together during cleanup), do not use it for dog treats. Hops can make dogs very, very sick or even kill them.

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Also, I noticed the "chocolate chips" in a recipe for dog treats earlier. Everyone should take not that chocolate is also toxic to dogs. Only add the chocolate chips if your wife will be eating them all.

OP, Ive tried making cookies, bread, pretzels, granola, veggie burgers, etc with the spent grain and it usually turns out pretty well. I typically dehydrated my spent grains and store them for later use. My favorites so far have been the bread and granola!

"I can make a hat, I can make a brooch. I can make a teridactyl"

LOL

C'mon... That's funny

If the grains have had a ton of their carbs converted and drained, is there much for nutrients besides helping you keep regular?

SGFBeerBuzz said:

Also, I noticed the "chocolate chips" in a recipe for dog treats earlier. Everyone should take not that chocolate is also toxic to dogs. Only add the chocolate chips if your wife will be eating them all.

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I think if you read the post again you will see the recipe was for granola bars, not dog treats. Still good advice, though.

My wife adds about a cup of spent grain to a regular bread recipe and it is great! We compost the rest

I like the bread idea!!!
Then invite me over to have some.

DirtyOldDuck said:

I think if you read the post again you will see the recipe was for granola bars, not dog treats. Still good advice, though.

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Ah. My bad.

There's a brewpub in San Francisco that blends the spent grains into a veggie burger. Working on a recipe of my own, will have to share when I get it right.

I make dog treats every time I brew. I usually take them to the dog park and give them away to people (I like). Every dog literally goes nuts for them. My dog lays in front of the oven when I bake them. I found a recipe on here but I don't really follow it to a tee. I just throw in a bunch of grain, a bunch of peanut butter, and flour until I get a good consistency. I can get 2 full gallon sized ziplocks of treats off very little grain. They are always a hit.

rhoop said:

If the grains have had a ton of their carbs converted and drained, is there much for nutrients besides helping you keep regular?

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Yea they are pretty much tasteless and have very little nutritional value. Don't rely on them for any sweetness.