Roasting/Toasting and steeping unmalted grain

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dorklord

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I've got some grain I bought last spring. Buckwheat, millet, and quinoa I think.

I don't have the time/equipment to malt and mash any of these, but I was wondering about the possibility of roasting/toasting them and then steeping them.

Anyone got any tips? What sort of 'specialty grains' should I be able to replicate by just roasting raw grains?

I've done some searching online and found info for roasting plain barley malt, but I haven't much info on roasting unmalted grains, and especially on roasting GF grains.
 
Lately I've been roasting millet to varying shades of caramel. letting it waft for a week. Then Steeping it at 150f for 1 hour then adding tapioca syrup and using that as a base for my brews. I'm goin to experiment with toasting the grain then tryin to mash with adding an enzyme. But that's down the road.
 
I've been trying to roast, mostly been playing around with a popcorn popper to see if it's toastable that way like coffee is. I've been using gluten free oats and haven't tried the other grains yet (sorghum pops though so I can't use that right off, unless I want popped sorghum) I've steeped one (with no effect) and have the other brewing right now, I did toss some amylase in this last one. (but over did the water by 2 gallons and burned my leg so... well... we'll see.)
 
DirtbagHomebrew said:
Lately I've been roasting millet to varying shades of caramel. letting it waft for a week. Then Steeping it at 150f for 1 hour then adding tapioca syrup and using that as a base for my brews. I'm goin to experiment with toasting the grain then tryin to mash with adding an enzyme. But that's down the road.
Click to expand...

It's my believe that one of the plastic containers in my basement is some kinda millet.

So, I'm assuming the process is to put it on a pan and stick it in the oven at xx temperature, and check it and/or stir it often in order to produce the desired color.

Do I need to start a low temperature and slowly ramp it up, or can I start with say, 350 F, stick it in for 10 minutes, check it, etc.?

Do you soak the millet first, or put it in the oven dry?

Oh, also, do I want to crush/crack the grains at all, either before or after toasting?

I'm really a total noob when it comes to roasting/toasting grains. In fact, the only experience I've got in using specialty grains is reading How to Brew...
 
I usually start my grains at a low temperature (225-F) and ramp it up until I get the color I want. I also rinse my grains before I use them meaning I put wet grains in the oven. Stirring during the roasting should help the color come out a little more even since the grains at the edge tend to brown a little faster in my experience.

I don't think there is anything wrong starting at a higher temp, I've done that too without any problems.

Don't crush the grain before you roast, you can do this after if you want. Let them sit in a paper bag or something though after roasting- about 1 week ought to let the harsh aromatics waft off.
 
So, I'm guessing that color is the main indicator here, but is there any other comparison I should make against specialty grains?

Like toasted buckwheat ~ specialty grain type a
quinoa ~ grain type b

etc?

Or if I'm going for something like 'caramalt' or 'chocolate malt', do I just aim for roughly the same color and hope? :D
 
I was just at the grocery store, and I saw some sprouted quinoa and roasted buckwheat groats.

The quinoa was too expensive to use as a base malt, but I'm thinking I should be able to roast it for specialty malts, and I guess that may let me make some different kinds of specialty grains than un-sprouted.

As for the roasted buckwheat, I see online that they roast it in oil, so I'm not sure if it is a good idea to use it, or if I should just proceed with roasting the groats myself...
 
DONT ROAST ANYTHING IN OIL.

as far as roasting i think the most of us roast and hope.

my personal process is to put 2# on a brownie sheet ( deeper than cookie sheet but not as deep as a cake pan) (i generally do 4# at a time so thats 2 brownie pans, i use the largest ones i can get)

i keep my millet in the freezer. so straight fro mthe freezer to the oven. i start the oven around 150 or so. put the grain in for 15minutes.
stir it around, then ramp up the temp to about 200 for another 10 minutes
then i crank the oven up to about 350-400 and stir every 3-5 minutes. until i get the color i want (usually around 2-2.5hrs give or take .5hr).
dont be afraid of smoke and pull down the smoke detectors.
your wife/gf/ housemates WILL get mad.

**caveat** there is a fine line between 3-5 minutes in terms of color when you start roasting the higher temperatures. and when you start getting into the darker toasts it will smoke more and require more stirring.
 
DirtbagHB said:
DONT ROAST ANYTHING IN OIL.

as far as roasting i think the most of us roast and hope.

my personal process is to put 2# on a brownie sheet ( deeper than cookie sheet but not as deep as a cake pan) (i generally do 4# at a time so thats 2 brownie pans, i use the largest ones i can get)

i keep my millet in the freezer. so straight fro mthe freezer to the oven. i start the oven around 150 or so. put the grain in for 15minutes.
stir it around, then ramp up the temp to about 200 for another 10 minutes
then i crank the oven up to about 350-400 and stir every 3-5 minutes. until i get the color i want (usually around 2-2.5hrs give or take .5hr).
dont be afraid of smoke and pull down the smoke detectors.
your wife/gf/ housemates WILL get mad.

**caveat** there is a fine line between 3-5 minutes in terms of color when you start roasting the higher temperatures. and when you start getting into the darker toasts it will smoke more and require more stirring.
Click to expand...

I was sort of figuring that using pre-roasted groats wouldn't work. Nothing is ever easy...

So, now I've just got to determine if bin #2 in basement has millet or quinoa in it, and if it is quinoa, I'll try roasting a bit.

I'm still having a little trouble getting my head around the various types and colors of specialty grains.

If I want to make caramalt, it looks fairly light colored. But should I start with wet or dry grain?
 
I have roasted a lot of buckwheat for my GF brews and have had some pretty good brews with roasting to different colors. The lighter you roast it the more nuttier and even some citrus taste when seeped. The darker you go the more bitter like natural chocolate. Post some results I would be interested in your experiements. I have only done a few with millet in them.
 

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