Spent Grain "Cookbook" Thread

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Germelli1

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I am an very environmentally conscious person, so I strive to waste as little resources as possible. After figuring out how to be more efficient in water use during the brewing process, I turned my attention to the next biggest concern of mine: how can I reuse all these edible, nutritious spet grains I have left after a brew day!

I have been compiling a list of recipes as I try them out to help me use some of my grains. So whether you are an all grain brewer with 20 pounds of spent grains each brewday, or an extract brewer with 1 pound of grains, hopefully you can find some use out of this list!

This is a running compilation so if anyone has any recipes to share, please feel free to add it to the list!

NONE of these recipes are original or written by me, just what I have found on the internet! The link to the original source is included with each recipe. I originally did this in a .PDF but it is too big to attach!

Spent Grain Recipes

Table of Contents

I. Chocolate_Chip_Cookies
II. Vegan_Burgers
III. Welsh_Potato_Cakes
IV. Quick_Bread
V. Easy_Granola
VI. The_Brew_Burger
VII. Dog_Treats
VIII. Spent_Grain_Honey_Wheat_Bread_Machine
 
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 T. oil
1 cup Sucanat (granulated cane juice), or organic sugar
1/3 cup soymilk
1 tsp. vanilla
mix above ingredients smooth then stir in next ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup (or more) barley grains
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup nuts
If using wet grains, put enough flour so dough retains shape when plopped on pan. Do a test cookie to make sure consistancy is right. Bake on oiled cookie sheet at 425F for 8 minutes. Let sit on pan for a couple of minutes.
http://www.breworganic.com/recipes/Cooking-Recipes.html

 

Vegan Burgers

1 lb. Tofu
1 1/2 cup barley grains
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 purple onion (finely minced, I use a blender)
2 T. soy sauce
1or 2 T. thyme leaf
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 T. fresh basil (or 1tsp. dry)
2 T. flour (more or less)
Mix (I use my hands, it should not be too wet or dry) form into
1 -inch thick patties put on oiled pan and cook at 375F for 30 minutes.
Flip halfway through. Can also be pan-fried in a skillet.

http://www.breworganic.com/recipes/Cooking-Recipes.html
 

Welsh Potato Cakes
1 lb. Boiled potatoes
1 cup flour
1/2 cup barley grains
1 tsp. baking powder
2 T margarine
2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg (optional) or instead of egg, grind in a blender 1 T. flax
seeds very fine, like a powder and while blending (on a low speed) I
add 1/4 cup water and blend until the mixture thickens.
Mix all ingredients except butter. Melt the margarine and mix
thoroughly with the rest. Form into 1 inch thick round cakes. Bake
on hot griddle until brown.
http://www.breworganic.com/recipes/Cooking-Recipes.html
 
Quick Bread
1 T. Sucanat or unrefined sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 T. yeast
1 T. margarine
1 cup lukewarm water
4 cup spelt or whole wheat flour
2 cup barley grains
herbs (optional)
Mix together sugar, salt, margarine, and grains until crumbly (add
herbs if you want, I add thyme). Mix in lukewarm water. Add yeast
and most of the flour. Cover and let rise in a warm place about
10 minutes. Shape into a loaf and put on greased pan. Bake 450F for
about 25 min.
http://www.breworganic.com/recipes/Cooking-Recipes.html
 

Easy Granola
9 cup barley grains
1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
1 cup raisins
1 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup oil
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup of flax seeds (optional)
Blend together all liquid ingredients and add to dry ingredients,
until well distributed. Crumble the mixture and spread on to cookie
sheet. Start baking at 350F for 15 min., then lower heat to 200F and
bake (stirring occasionally) until dry. Store in covered jars. This
recipe can be made in smaller quantities.
http://www.breworganic.com/recipes/Cooking-Recipes.html


The Brew-Burger
Simply season and prepare your ground beef as usual then add in the grain, let the beef rest for at least 30min before forming into patties. Meanwhile in a small saucepan prepare a basting sauce using equal parts of beer and steak sauce. Simmer slowly to thicken. When grilling the burgers baste with the beer sauce during the final 2 minutes.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/recipes-spent-grain-30255/#post298451

Dog Treats

Original recipe:
4 cups spent grain
2 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter (all natural)
2 eggs


Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Press down into a dense layer on a large cookie sheet. Score almost all the way through into the shapes you want. Bake for about half an hour at 350 F to solidify them. Loosen them from the sheet, break the biscuits apart and return them, loosely spread out on the cookie sheet, to the oven at 225 F for 3 to 4 hours (or until they are really dry) to prevent mold growth. Store in an airtight container to keep them dry and mold-free.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/spent-grain-make-your-best-friend-cookies-87097/

Spent Grain Honey Wheat Bread

ala Bread Machine

Recipe for a large loaf:

1 1/8 cups water
2 1/2 cups white bread flour
1/2 cups wheat bread flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. dry milk
1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. fast rise yeast OR 3 tsp. active dry yeast
1 cup (or more, depends on you!) spent grains

Add all ingredients in the order above ( if your grains are particularly wet, you may need to add more wheat/white flour)

My bread machine has a large dark loaf setting, use something similar.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/spent-grain-bread-machine-recipe-85379/
 
I wish I could add some, but I've only made bread and dog treats so far, and the recipes are pretty close to yours. Printed for future reference.
 
scrambled eggs.

(I give my spent grains to a friend who has chickens and he gives me eggs)

That's probably one of the best uses for them, honestly. Every spent grain recipe that I've tried has either had so little that it feels like a "sustainable" sop, or it's enough to notice, which means that I'm picking husk out of my teeth.

If you can use them as animal feed, though, there's plenty of protein still left in the grain, and you can have eggs or steaks or bacon! Just don't let the dogs eat them...

I'll be watching this thread though- if I see a recipe that looks promising, I'll give it a shot. I might actually try that granola recipe above.
 
That's probably one of the best uses for them, honestly. Every spent grain recipe that I've tried has either had so little that it feels like a "sustainable" sop, or it's enough to notice, which means that I'm picking husk out of my teeth.

If you can use them as animal feed, though, there's plenty of protein still left in the grain, and you can have eggs or steaks or bacon! Just don't let the dogs eat them...

I'll be watching this thread though- if I see a recipe that looks promising, I'll give it a shot. I might actually try that granola recipe above.

The granola is AWESOME. I made it a few days ago for the first time and eat it with yogurt. That recipe makes A LOT so you might want to cut it in half. Next time around I think I will add some nuts and more raisins, but thats just for my personal tastes/nutrition. I will try and snap a pic tomorrow!

PS. I also dried my grains out before making the granolla. It took like 5 hours in the convection oven at 200 degrees!
 
Here is a shot of the granolla. This is about 40% of the above recipe!

IMG_5451.jpg
 
The granola is AWESOME. I made it a few days ago for the first time and eat it with yogurt. That recipe makes A LOT so you might want to cut it in half. Next time around I think I will add some nuts and more raisins, but thats just for my personal tastes/nutrition. I will try and snap a pic tomorrow!

PS. I also dried my grains out before making the granolla. It took like 5 hours in the convection oven at 200 degrees!

has anyone tried sun drying the spent grains? i dried some in the toaster oven and that worked great, but it's hot outside! i'd prefer not to heat my kitchen up any more than necessary this summer.
 
has anyone tried sun drying the spent grains? i dried some in the toaster oven and that worked great, but it's hot outside! i'd prefer not to heat my kitchen up any more than necessary this summer.

I started mine out sun drying, but my brew day ended around 3 PM. It definitely helped a TON, but I lost light/temp before they were finished. Two medium sized cookie sheets were EXACTLY 9 cups dried so it works out beautifully for the recipe!
 
I do a variation of this.

http://forums.morebeer.com/viewtopic.php?t=24437

Excellent if you heat up a pizza stone on the grill. Sorry if this link is a repost somewhere.

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, Once I try it out I will add it to the list.

So far my personal favorite has been the granolla. I don't know if it is the honey or just sugars/starches left in the grain but it is on the sweeter side!
 
Wow, spent grain granola, I bet that'll really "Get the train out of the station". I've got a few dog treat cookbooks I'll see if I can incorporate grains into some of the recipes and post if they work.
 
Irish Soda Bread

  • 4 c AP flour
  • 1 c spent grains
  • 1 ts baking soda
  • 1 ts salt
  • 14 oz buttermilk/kefir

Preheat to 425. Grease and flour cake pan.
Mix spent grains with a little water in a food processor. Mix with flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk/kefir. Dough will be very sticky.
Shape round and flat, cut cross into the top.
Cover and bake 30 min.
Remover cover, bake another 15.
 
I have been experimenting with making pasta, but do not have a processor that liquify the grains. I can roll out a pretty good, thick lasagna dough with it though.
 
Garlic Cheese Biscuits (similiar to R Lobsta, minus spent grain)

  • 2 c buttermilk bake mix
  • 2/3 c milk
  • 1/2 c shredded cheddar
  • 1/4 c melted butter
  • 1 ts garlic
  • 1/4 c spent grains

Preheat 450.
Combine mix, milk, cheese, grains until soft dough forms.
Drop spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 min until golden brown.
Mix butter and garlic, then brush onto biscuits while still warm.
 
I linked the pizza dough. The others are recipes I have adopted over time; I threw in some spent grains and it made the recipe better in my opinion. I tried hamburger once (not the same recipe already posted) and thought it was aweful. Char is great on a burger, terrible on grains.

I am a partial mash kinda fellow, so I only produce about half the amount as you hardcores. The do freeze/thaw nicely until you are ready to use them up.
 
My last batch was a VERY malty grain bill (sounds kinds obvious haha). I mean it used a pound of aromatic in a 12 pound grain bill so I saved all of the spent grains...interested to see how it will turn out in some recipes!
 
I havent eaten them myself but my horses love em. They come a runnin when its brew time. I dont do AG yet but the steeping grains we use are still yummy to my equine freinds. From the sounds of those recipes I've been wasting some really good grains. Arrgghhhhhh.
 
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