Are Steeped Grains Edible??

[CoffeeBean]

I have been wondering if steeped grains used in brewing are safe to consume. I want to basically reuse and save the large amount of grains for munchie food if possible...

[BrewDog]

Welcome to the site.

Yes, absolutely. They are edible. Search for the word "bread" here on this site. There are recipes for bread and other goodies using the spent grains (especially those from All Grain batches where there is a LOT more grain).

[danno]

yes, but not for very long. I would only use them the same day I brewed...

[paulcgi]

the biggest thing with the grains is that they are saturated with water. they will mold very quickly. I usually take a few cups and try to get as much water out as I can, then I line a cast-iron pan with foil, fill it with the grain and put it on low heat. this will help drive moisture out (obviously) and will kinda toast some. makes GREAT bread, gives a sort of sour-dough flavor

[BrewDog]

Now that I think about this a little more, you'll want to bake them or something. The grains do have a lot of bacteria in them. This is safe because we boil the wort. Baking them into bread or some other food would kill the bacteria. I wouldn't eat them "raw" after too long.

[barleyburps]

I have frozen spent grains and reused them in making bread.

Use a very small proportion in bread making as they make a very dense, coarse bread.

[CoffeeBean]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I will be careful to zap the bacteria and then do what I can with the spent grains. I was thinking of using them to make something like energy bars or something since they are sweet...

cheers!

[Beerbilly]

Hopefully not too sweet ;)

Please let us know how you do with this, I would also like to make some granola based bars using some spent grain.

[Carl762]

Energy bars, eh. I've never thought about making them. Would be awesome for camping, fishing trips.

Next batch of brew I do, I'll attempt a brewbread in the machine.

Now, to search for the recipes.