Using a grill to roast your grains

Just a little background here- being a gluten free brewer I obviously can't get any specialty grains and have to malt/roast them myself.

So...

Has anyone ever used their grill to roast some grains? My living situation has changed and I don't think my girlfriends family would appreciate the smell of the roasted grains.

I am thinking that I can put these on a piece of aluminum foil or get a cheap tray that will fit in my grill to use for this purpose. My grill has a thermometer on it so I would be able to monitor the temperature...

you would have to be really careful of hot spots.

I tried smoking my grains (not in a zigzag smartasses) and after a bit they started popping like popcorn. So, in my experience, the grill was a dud.

But, by all means, give it a try. You might consider wetting them first. Look up on the brewing wiki how to do this.

Well, I guess with a 5 gallon bucket full of grains I have room to experiment here. Maybe I'll fire it up this weekend and see what happens.

Yeah, use the tray method to distribute the heat. And make sure if you have more than a single layer to move them around to share the love. Although you won't have 100% of them being the same grade, unless you do small batches on the pan, then each batch will be different, but closer to the same as a big clump trying to roast.

You have to wear a smoking jacket to do it properly

Boerderij_Kabouter did a thread on smoking your own grains

Maybe you could use a rotisserie attachment with a metal coffee can to roast them.

I'd love to give this a shot, but my nice grill finally bit it and I am now stuck with a POS that will collapse if I put too much meat on it (it was free tho).

My grill is able to hold pretty even temps, so depending on your grill it could work well. As to the odor, the smell of roasting grain should be pleasing to most people as long as you don't burn it. What's the worst that can happen? Kick you out.

lcasanova said:

I am thinking that I can put these on a piece of aluminum foil or get a cheap tray that will fit in my grill to use for this purpose. My grill has a thermometer on it so I would be able to monitor the temperature...

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I would just make sure to continue monitoring the temperature and not walk away. Ovens temps can vary 50F+, but a BBQ can easily change by 200F+ if you walk away for a couple minutes. I would also see if you could elevate it off the bottom by an inch or two to minimize direct heat.

This: http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com/c..._your_barbecue_-_standard_model_-_gen2_design Would be perfect, although it is a bit pricey. (Gleaned from my home malting thread originally posted by P-lay)

What about using a "Whirly Pop" on the grill or, even better, on a LP burner outside? Home coffee roasters use these regularly to roast coffee. You get a suprisingly even coffee roast due to the constant agitation. I don't see why it wouldn't work just as well for grains. You can drill a hole in the top to insert an instant read thermometer to get the air temperature inside without opening the lid.

I find roasting coffee in 1lb batches works best. You'd have to experiment to determine what size batches work best for grains.

COLObrewer said:

This: http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com/c..._your_barbecue_-_standard_model_-_gen2_design Would be perfect, although it is a bit pricey. (Gleaned from my home malting thread originally posted by P-lay)

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Very cool.

passedpawn said:

I tried smoking my grains (not in a zigzag smartasses) and after a bit they started popping like popcorn. So, in my experience, the grill was a dud.

But, by all means, give it a try. You might consider wetting them first. Look up on the brewing wiki how to do this.

Click to expand...

Popping like popcorn. The fancy name for that is "Torrification"


In order to roast grains appropriately build yourself a barrel oven. This is done by constructing a perforated barrel (if you will) with a heat source below it. The control of the heat source is somewhat critical if you desire consistent results... Modifying a rostiserrie oven with a barrel insert probably would be the most efficient.

The smoking jacket is the key. Without one your grains are doomed.

I don't know about roasting grains in a grill; methinks you will be making a smoke beer after you put your grains in the grill.

Anyway, instructions for how I smoke grains can be found in my Smokey Boggart smoked porter recipe in my drop-down. I have done the same thing twice and got awesome results both times.

Thanks fellas.

I'm really liking this one here, but it is a bit pricey, I agree

COLObrewer said:

This: http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com/c..._your_barbecue_-_standard_model_-_gen2_design Would be perfect, although it is a bit pricey. (Gleaned from my home malting thread originally posted by P-lay)

Click to expand...

Maybe I'll have to try a few things with one lb of grain at a time, if I get a smoked grain so be it! :fro:

Did this last night and it was a success.

I roasted 2 lbs at a time in a tray and it took the same amount of time as it would in an oven. Once I was able to get the temperature to stay where I wanted it at 400-F it was a walk in the park. Stirring every 20 min or so to keep it moving and to keep the grains from burning helped too.

I'll try to post pictures tonight.

Result- In a bind, yes, you can use your grill to roast your grains.