Bread, dog treats and chicken feed.
How do you repurpose used grain?
- Thread starter Davevjordon
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Davevjordon
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I feel like I drink and brew too much beer... or I need a couple hundred acres of yard.
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Davevjordon
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- #43
Feed them the grain, get them fat....I feed it to my chickens , they love it .
That fried chicken looks pretty tasty tho
.....then give them more grain! [emoji899]
Anybody else remember Raw Bits? One of Garrison Keilor's imaginary sponsors for the Prairie Home Companion radio program. Made of oat hulls and wheat chaff, you had to send in a resume to prove you were tough and rugged enough to eat it. I used to have an 'I Qualified For Raw Bits!' tee shirt.
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Davevjordon
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The chicken was good, and the grain works well with it, really. I just need to be better at frying.I feed it to my chickens , they love it .
That fried chicken looks pretty tasty tho
If you can fry chicken and make it crispy, you can probably make this incredible. It added a different flavor. I really liked it. I just need to get better at frying.
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Davevjordon
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You’ll love the granola bars, I promise.
I have to go back and edit that. Forgot to mention: I also toasted almond slices. And toast the oats by coating lightly with olive oil, toss in the oven on a cookie sheet.
After a couple trials, you’ll figure out how to toast those things. The oats are simple. Almonds... you don’t want to overdue them. I recommend in a dry pan on the stove so you can flip them and keep an eye on them. To toss them: just pour into another container and pour back into a pan! (I had enough bits of almonds bouncing onto the stovetop)
Sesame seeds, definitely in a pan, stirring constantly.
Thanks again. Now I'm hungry.
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Davevjordon
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- #48
I feel like I brew enough IPA’s that I could make enough granola bars to feed the town every week.
I’m not gonna brew less, or drink less beer, so I need uses for all this grain.
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Davevjordon
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That’s pretty awesome. I’ll ask my neighbor tomorrow when he’s gonna get some goats.
I fell asleep on my front porch one summer day. Woke up with a goat in my lap, one eating my popcorn, and another chewing on my paperback. Make sure your neighbor has good fences.
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Davevjordon
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Wet grain, hulls and all. As I recall, I still used some flour, and liquid ingredients had to be skewed because there was liquid in the grain. Sorry I don’t have a recipe. I found one online and went with it.
Dog treats....the day before brew day, my "co-brewer (my beautiful wife) posts on the neighborhood website that we are brewing and stop by to pick up a bag of spent grain for making dog treats. I put 4 cups of spent grain in each zip lock bag and my wife prints off copies of the dog treat recipe for those who want to bake the biscuits. Brew day is like a neighborhood get together. Now if I can only get them to help me clean the brew equipment afterwards....;-)
That's enough info to get started. Thanks again.
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Davevjordon
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That’s a really great idea!
I’ve seen the dog treat recipes, but I’m talking about sharing with neighbors!
Our dog is diabetic [emoji849] so I’m not going to walk on those eggshells. But I would totally share with the neighborhood! Thanks!
jordankempp
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Wow! What a great idea! I’m trying to figure out a way to make dog treats in a greater scale as my two love them!
Search around here, I think I've been a part of at least 3 or 4 threads about spent grain that went on for several pages.
I usually throw it in a low oven right after I finish sparging, run it through the food processor, and use a little bit when I make pizza dough, waffles, any bread product that sounds good that you add sauce (or syrup, I guess) to help moisten things up.
I usually throw it in a low oven right after I finish sparging, run it through the food processor, and use a little bit when I make pizza dough, waffles, any bread product that sounds good that you add sauce (or syrup, I guess) to help moisten things up.
so you can just dry them in the oven and use them for baking afterwards??
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Davevjordon
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Sure can! For longer term storage, you have to either dry or freeze the grains. You just want to make sure they’re fully dry so they don’t mold.
And the dried grain tastes great!
I also recommend (if you make the granola bars) take any of the crumblies you end up with, and toss them on top of some yogurt.
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We make dog treats and gave sample bags of treats out to friends a couple months ago. Had one friend ask if I ever have extra spent grains to let her know so she can make her own dog treats. I do like the idea of letting people know of your brew schedule ahead of time.
BTW, my wife tells me when I need to brew when the dogs start running low on treats
Northern_Brewer
British - apparently some US company stole my name
More than a bit biased, they're trying to make people afraid so they forgot to mention this reality check in the original Reuters article :
It's easy to scaremonger that something causes cancer, but if it's only present in tiny quantities then the actual risk is minimal, and far less than the risk of crossing the road. Things like chilli peppers and beans would fail modern food safety tests, but we accept the "dangers" because the benefits outweigh the risks. People who are worried about glyphosate, should be more worried about hydric acid, which kills many more people than glyphosate and is present in homebrew at much higher levels, even when it's brewed with organic barley.
Going back on topic, I generally put my spent grains around the bottom of the bird table, it soon seems to go. I know someone who is a sporadic pig keeper, I'm waiting for them to get a new litter in as the one thing better than grain for eggs is grain for bacon!!!
Can you post a picture of a sporadic pig? Never seen that breed. [emoji16]
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Davevjordon
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If I just put my grain out there, it’ll go to bunnies and fox’s.
SleepyCreekBrews
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Sadly, Laying hens aren't good eatin'
Dog treats. We call them Brewscuits. The neighbour's chocolate lab goes nuts over them. Although, truthfully, she is a Lab.... and will go nuts over most food. We don't own a dog, so the Brewscuits get doled out to friends who have dogs. Kinda liking the idea of giving them grains and the recipe though. [emoji4]
My sister has chickens, so sometimes there is an egg/grain swap. The rest goes to. The compost pile.
My sister has chickens, so sometimes there is an egg/grain swap. The rest goes to. The compost pile.
Those look great any particular recipe you follow?
I use a recipe I found at the AHA site.
Here's the link. Not sure if it's gated though.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/peanut-butter-banana-spent-grain-dog-treats/
Cheers!
Chris
GHBWNY
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Unfortunately, I cannot do anything with the spent grains inside the house. "Someone" in our household does not like the smell of the mash, much less the boil. Which is why I do both outside. A lot of good ideas here for using them, though. Gotta think of some way to sneak them into food we eat without her knowing.
Thinking of using spent grains in bread reminds me of when I used to make the kids' school lunches when they were little. On tuna sandwich day, unbeknownst to them, I would mix a half cup of rolled oats in with a can of tuna, which after mixing in the mayo and putting it between two pieces of bread, looked and tasted enough like the 'real thing' that they never caught on. I could squeeze out 3 whole sandwiches from just ONE can of tuna! And still do to this day. They never knew. Until, that is... 10 years post-high school, one of my daughters was at our house to have lunch with us and since she hadn't had one in ages, I secretly made her one of my 'special' tuna salad sandwiches. She took a bite, stopped chewing, looked over at me with a frown and said very adamantly, "DAD!! What. Is. In. Here??!!" I said, "Whadaya mean, 'what's in there?'" She just sat there staring at me, half-angry and half-frightened with a huge immobile bulge in her cheek until I 'fessed up. When I did, she spit it out on the plate, screamed and jumped up from the table and ran to the sink to wash out her mouth! When I told her she had been eating that for all her life, she said, "DAD!!! that is SO GROSS!!!" Boy, talk about ungrateful!
Thinking of using spent grains in bread reminds me of when I used to make the kids' school lunches when they were little. On tuna sandwich day, unbeknownst to them, I would mix a half cup of rolled oats in with a can of tuna, which after mixing in the mayo and putting it between two pieces of bread, looked and tasted enough like the 'real thing' that they never caught on. I could squeeze out 3 whole sandwiches from just ONE can of tuna! And still do to this day. They never knew. Until, that is... 10 years post-high school, one of my daughters was at our house to have lunch with us and since she hadn't had one in ages, I secretly made her one of my 'special' tuna salad sandwiches. She took a bite, stopped chewing, looked over at me with a frown and said very adamantly, "DAD!! What. Is. In. Here??!!" I said, "Whadaya mean, 'what's in there?'" She just sat there staring at me, half-angry and half-frightened with a huge immobile bulge in her cheek until I 'fessed up. When I did, she spit it out on the plate, screamed and jumped up from the table and ran to the sink to wash out her mouth! When I told her she had been eating that for all her life, she said, "DAD!!! that is SO GROSS!!!" Boy, talk about ungrateful!
This is a cut and paste from a recipe I found online years ago. I couldn't attach the word doc so I'll just leave the whole thing here. This stuff is always a hit. You have to plan it out a day or two ahead of time but it's worth it. While it comes out great with any grains, I have preferred the results using grains from stouts. For a nice twist, put cheese on it in step 3 before you roll it. If you happen to have some left in the morning, pan fry it with some buttah or bacon grease for breakfast, especially the stuff with cheese in the middle.
It doesn't take much grain for this though. Most of mine gets fed to the wildlife and I have also made dog biscuits. I never thought about giving them to someone with chickens. That's a great idea!
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*Note that you can freeze spent grain, and then thaw it out again before using in this recipe. It’s best to bring it up to room temperature before you start baking.
Sponge:
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (not rapid rise)
3/4 c water (room temperature)
3/4 c spent grain from brewing, still damp and at room temperature
1 1/2 c bread flour
Dough:
4 cups bread flour
1 cup water (room temperature)
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
For the Sponge:
Mix the yeast into the water in a medium bowl until it’s dissolved. Mix into the flour and spent grain with a spatula and create stiff, wet dough. Cover and let the sponge sit at room temperature for at least five hours, if not overnight. I let mine sit for 24 hours.
For the Dough:
1. Mix the water, honey, flour, and the sponge in the bowl of a mixer, using a spatula. Mix the dough with your dough hook attachment on a slow speed for about 12 minutes, then add the salt. Continue mixing with the dough hook for another 3 minutes.
During the course of this process, the dough should be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, but easily clearing the sides. Check about halfway through by pushing the dough off the hook and seeing how it sticks to the bowl. If it’s really gluey and damp, add more flour in 1/8th cup increments, mixing between each addition. You want a dough that’s smooth and tacky but not actually glue-like.
2. Transfer your dough to a big lightly oiled bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap that’s been greased. Let it rise about two to four hours, until it has roughly tripled in size.
3. Grease three 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Put your dough on a lightly floured surface. Working with floured hands, press it out into a rectangle, and use a bench knife to divide it into three equally sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a tight 9-inch cylinder and pinch the seam closed. Place the loaves, seam side down, in the prepared pans. Set each loaf into a greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with a cloth or greased piece of aluminum foil and let the dough rise until it almost doubles in size, about 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put a deep metal pan or cast-iron skillet on the lowest shelf of the oven. Heat your oven up to 450 degrees F. Heat up two cups of water (not quite to boiling) and keep it on hand for your baking cycle.
5. Cut two or three slashes on top of each loaf using a sharp serrated knife. Cut almost parallel to the top of loaf, not very deep, and without sawing or tearing. Put your loaves in the oven. Pour two cups of hot water into your pre-heated pan or skillet, to create steam.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, then, if the loaves are browning unevenly, rotate each loaf 180 degrees. Bake for another 5-10 minutes (or until tops of loaves turn dark brown) and test the temperature with an instant read thermometer — 205-210 degrees F is perfect.
7. Take your pans out, let them cool 10 minutes, then put loaves on a cooling rack for an hour or two. Voila! Serve with local honey and/or butter, or make delicious little sandwiches.
It doesn't take much grain for this though. Most of mine gets fed to the wildlife and I have also made dog biscuits. I never thought about giving them to someone with chickens. That's a great idea!
--------------------------------
*Note that you can freeze spent grain, and then thaw it out again before using in this recipe. It’s best to bring it up to room temperature before you start baking.
Sponge:
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (not rapid rise)
3/4 c water (room temperature)
3/4 c spent grain from brewing, still damp and at room temperature
1 1/2 c bread flour
Dough:
4 cups bread flour
1 cup water (room temperature)
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
For the Sponge:
Mix the yeast into the water in a medium bowl until it’s dissolved. Mix into the flour and spent grain with a spatula and create stiff, wet dough. Cover and let the sponge sit at room temperature for at least five hours, if not overnight. I let mine sit for 24 hours.
For the Dough:
1. Mix the water, honey, flour, and the sponge in the bowl of a mixer, using a spatula. Mix the dough with your dough hook attachment on a slow speed for about 12 minutes, then add the salt. Continue mixing with the dough hook for another 3 minutes.
During the course of this process, the dough should be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, but easily clearing the sides. Check about halfway through by pushing the dough off the hook and seeing how it sticks to the bowl. If it’s really gluey and damp, add more flour in 1/8th cup increments, mixing between each addition. You want a dough that’s smooth and tacky but not actually glue-like.
2. Transfer your dough to a big lightly oiled bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap that’s been greased. Let it rise about two to four hours, until it has roughly tripled in size.
3. Grease three 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Put your dough on a lightly floured surface. Working with floured hands, press it out into a rectangle, and use a bench knife to divide it into three equally sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a tight 9-inch cylinder and pinch the seam closed. Place the loaves, seam side down, in the prepared pans. Set each loaf into a greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Cover loosely with a cloth or greased piece of aluminum foil and let the dough rise until it almost doubles in size, about 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, put a deep metal pan or cast-iron skillet on the lowest shelf of the oven. Heat your oven up to 450 degrees F. Heat up two cups of water (not quite to boiling) and keep it on hand for your baking cycle.
5. Cut two or three slashes on top of each loaf using a sharp serrated knife. Cut almost parallel to the top of loaf, not very deep, and without sawing or tearing. Put your loaves in the oven. Pour two cups of hot water into your pre-heated pan or skillet, to create steam.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, then, if the loaves are browning unevenly, rotate each loaf 180 degrees. Bake for another 5-10 minutes (or until tops of loaves turn dark brown) and test the temperature with an instant read thermometer — 205-210 degrees F is perfect.
7. Take your pans out, let them cool 10 minutes, then put loaves on a cooling rack for an hour or two. Voila! Serve with local honey and/or butter, or make delicious little sandwiches.
Last edited:
JR_Brewer
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Compost, feed the birds/squirrels, or bake bread.
Nokt
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I did the dog treats. She liked them.
TripelDubbel
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Great thread. Need to try some of these options
This blog has some interesting recipes... https://brooklynbrewshop.com/blogs/themash/tagged/spent-grain-chef
nealm
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Made some dog biscuits for my daughter in laws dog. She asked me a week later to stop because they were giving the dog the trots. Oh well.
