Roasted some millet

I roasted some millet.



I rinsed the millet by putting it in a big bowl, filling it with water, stirring it up a bit, then draining, and repeated until the water was basically clear. Then I spread it out on 2 pans, a regular cake pan and the 'airbake' pan above.

I started it out at like 170 or something, whatever the lowest setting my oven could go, and after the grain seemed dry, I started ramping the temperature up (stir, raise temp on over 25 degrees, come back in 20 minutes to half hour). Not much seemed to happen until I hit 300, then it started to smell like I was baking something. At 325, my wife said it smelled like cake. At 350, it started to smoke, but without really smelling 'bad'.

Here's a comparison result:



Clockwise from the top: raw millet, millet from the 'airbake' pan after being at 350 for about half an hour, millet from the cake pan after 350 for an hour.

I left the airbake in for about half an hour longer than the cake pan, trying to get it to the same darkness, but it didn't happen before it was time for bed, so I've kept them separate.

So, what do you think I've created?

Oh, and just for fun:

Anyone more familiar with specialty grains got an idea how 'dark' of a roast I've created?

These are general guidelines I found for roasting malted millet.

Vienna - 120 min - 210 F
Munich - 120 min - 300 F
Chocolate - 120 min and up - 350 and up

I'm guessing you were somewhere in the munich range with a higher temp but less time but I have not started doing this myself.

I was aiming for 'pale chocolate' on the one, so I think I may have hit that...sweet.

cstarner said:

These are general guidelines I found for roasting malted millet.

Vienna - 120 min - 210 F
Munich - 120 min - 300 F
Chocolate - 120 min and up - 350 and up

I'm guessing you were somewhere in the munich range with a higher temp but less time but I have not started doing this myself.

Click to expand...

I just roasted some millet last night and got to 425 using the 25 degrees every 30 min method. Looks great and can't wait to use it in a batch in a couple weeks.

On a side note, anyone ever roast amaranth? I have some soaking right now and I will roast it tonight but I'm worried about burning it since it is such a tiny grain.

No_Party said:

I just roasted some millet last night and got to 425 using the 25 degrees every 30 min method. Looks great and can't wait to use it in a batch in a couple weeks.

On a side note, anyone ever roast amaranth? I have some soaking right now and I will roast it tonight but I'm worried about burning it since it is such a tiny grain.

Click to expand...

My millet was really smoking at 375, so I never pushed beyond that point.

When it quits snowing here, maybe I'll give it another run and have the windows open and put the hood vent on F-18 mode instead of 'low'...

The one in the upper left looks like 20L to me.

DKershner said:

The one in the upper left looks like 20L to me.

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Cool, I put the 'middle' batch back in and got it to about the same level as the 'upper left'.

I also roasted some quinoa (which sprouted after an hour in the water) but it looks...less appetizing. I think partly because some of the grains sprouted, got transparent, and then turned quite dark in the oven, while others still look very pale.

I'll try to grab a picture, and roast another half-pound after just rinsing.

I forgot to take a picture of my roasted millet, but here is a picture of some roasted amaranth I did on Thursday. I got to 375 and pulled it out.

where do you get your amaranth from and how much is it?

im so proud of everyone :tear:

ill be roasting some grains eventually, i wish i had more free time.

x2

2 questions about this

i wonder how much them roast color compaison cards are.

and does the grain get darker from the time you end the roasting session till when it cools and wafts. i think ive noticed it get darker after i pull it out and let it sit, but i just thought i was crazy

andrewdell19 said:

where do you get your amaranth from and how much is it?

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I got this at a local grocery store called the Turnip Truck, but they have it at the Whole Foods here in Nashville as well.

DirtbagHB said:

i wonder how much them roast color compaison cards are.

and does the grain get darker from the time you end the roasting session till when it cools and wafts. i think ive noticed it get darker after i pull it out and let it sit, but i just thought i was crazy

Click to expand...

Comparison cards would rule.

I haven't noticed if they get darker or not. When I open up the bag to use it I will pore it back out onto the cookie sheet and take a picture to compare.

Man, I need to get some pictures of my buckwheat, I realized I've roasted some of that stuff and used it without ever snapping a pic...

What I can't believe is how much darker the buckwheat got, and it never smoked, as compared to the millet.

No_Party said:

I just roasted some millet last night and got to 425 using the 25 degrees every 30 min method. Looks great and can't wait to use it in a batch in a couple weeks.

On a side note, anyone ever roast amaranth? I have some soaking right now and I will roast it tonight but I'm worried about burning it since it is such a tiny grain.

Click to expand...

Amaranth is too expensive for me to roast. I'll stick to millet and buckwheat for that.

dorklord said:

Man, I need to get some pictures of my buckwheat, I realized I've roasted some of that stuff and used it without ever snapping a pic...

What I can't believe is how much darker the buckwheat got, and it never smoked, as compared to the millet.

Click to expand...

I've had great success roasting buckwheat and you're right, it didn't smoke like the millet did. I've also noticed that the roasted grains got darker as they wafted. Not a whole lot darker, but noticeably so.

BBBF said:

Amaranth is too expensive for me to roast. I'll stick to millet and buckwheat for that.

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It was $2.39/lb. More than millet but less than quioa.

I have been roasting millet for three years as I'm gluten intolerent and it will still turn darker 1-2 Lovi after its out of the oven as the heat is stored inside the grain until it cools in the air. I always measure the color after its cool. If your trying to control the color reduce the time by 10 mins to allow for this heat soak color change while out of the oven. Im not a professional maltster but have been malting and roasting millet for some time and have alot of experience with millet.