drying spent grain?

Just out of curiosity, do people dry their spent grain before making bread out of it? If so, how?

In the past, I have been able to dry smallish quantities at a time by throwing it in the oven on low, spread out on a baking sheet. However for the amount of grain left after a full AG batch I consider that method insufficient. What would be better would be a rack/fan system like people use for making jerky or other dried foods.

Yep, I say a box fan propped vertically on something with a window screen below the grain and another on top. This sandwich will keep it together and allow circulation. Leave it a day or two and it should be dry. Put it outside in the sun and it should take a little over a day. Outside it is impossible to keep birds out of it without it being screened up. They love that stuff.

I personally have never dried the grains before using them.

me either.. but it makes it hard cause of the water in them.. i have had a lot of mushy bread.. think i may start to dry them

This may sound silly, but how do you make bread with the spent grains?

Just add the grain to the dough.

aekdbbop said:

me either.. but it makes it hard cause of the water in them.. i have had a lot of mushy bread.. think i may start to dry them

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If you add wet grain, you just have to adjust your ratios a bit. Don't add all the liquid in your recipe at once. Instead, add maybe 1/4 to 1/2 depending upon how wet the grain is, mix together thoroughly, then add the grain and mix together thoroughly again. You really want to make sure it's mixed together well. Give it a few minutes of mixing to let the liquids from the grain get worked into the dough completely and distributed evenly. After that if your dough is still too dry, add water a tablespoon or so at a time, being sure to mix thoroughly after every addition so the water is completely incorporated into the dough. If it's too wet, add flour a tablespoon or two at a time the same way until you get a good doughball.

I'm way late to the party on this one but thought I'd put my 2 cents in anyway. I have been drying the grain on a cookie sheet in the oven on low heat, and then throwing it in the blendtec blender to grind it. Some of the hulls can be pretty big and I think it helps with that.

If you have a convection oven, lay the grains on a sheet pan and set the oven to 175 degrees with the fan on low.

Check the moisture content after an hour and adjust the time accordingly. Grind the spent/dried gains into a fine powder.

Really? When I worked at Coors, they had to pay to get rid of the stuff

I dont dry my grains. I leave them in a colander for a while until most of the liquid leaves and then I freeze them. I probably have about 5 pounds of grains in my freezer right now. As for the water content, I've never had much of a problem with the grains throwing off my dough.

I've got a set of those stacking cookie-cooling racks that I line with "trays" of cut paper bags (the folded edges help keep the grain from spilling out and the paper helps to wick moisture out of the grains so those on the bottom aren't sitting in puddles). I'll "rake" the grain into rows to increase the surface area - then mix it up and re-form the rows every 6-8hrs or so. In front of a standard household box fan, they are dried through in 2-3 days (1-2 in the summer). I only have enough racks to hold about half of an all-grain 5-6 gallon batch (4 tiers @ 9"x14"). Once dry, I bag it up in gallon ziplocs, let rest for a few days to a week (to equalize any remaining moisture), spill them back out and run a fan over them (no need for special racking) for an hour or so to remove the last bits of moisture (and discharge static electricity).

From there, I've been throwing them into a blender. I fill it 1/2-2/3 full and run it tipped at a 45* angle so the grain gets tossed around more (and won't pack down and overheat the motor). The spent grain flour works great in any application that you'd use whole wheat flours for - it's a bit more flavorful and remember that you've pulled the sugars out, so remember to adjust for that in your recipe.

I just freeze the grain in ziploc bags of enough for one round of bread in each bag. Then when I make bread I just thaw a bag.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

I just freeze the grain in ziploc bags of enough for one round of bread in each bag. Then when I make bread I just thaw a bag.

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Ja, been there, done that....I want my freezer space for hops (oh, and food, I guess). The ground flour does not need refrigeration if fully dried and keeps just as long as any other whole grain flour (i.e. pretty much indefinitely if kept dry). It's also easier to give away.