Malted Barley + spent grain = delicious bread!

Recently I began adding malted barley to my spent grain bread recipe. When I have it I also add wort from the brewing process as well. This recipe is a variation of Dan Leader's Auvergne crown, found in his book Local Breads.

The proportions of flour, spent grain and malted barley are as follows:

• 2 1/4 cups of bread flour
• 1/2 cup of ground spent grain*
• 1/2 cup of ground malted barley*

If the malted barley  has a very strong flavor I have used 3/4 cup spent grain and 1/4 cup malted barley.

*The wet spent grain was dried in an oven at 170 degrees F on a sheet pan, stirring occasionally until the grain is completely dry. Then grind it in a blender until it is almost like flour. It won't quite grind down to a flour texture. The spent grain is 70% fiber and 20% protein. 

**The malted barley is the grain used to create the wort and ultimately beer. It has been partially germinated then roasted or kilned for varying amounts of time depending on what flavor is desired. The malted barley is also ground in a blender. It is more granular after grinding and very fragrant.

To make the bread begin by mixing the flour, grain and barley with 1 1/2 cups of water that is between 85 and 95 degrees F. If I have wort, I heat it to that temperature and sometimes use a combination of wort and water to equal 1 and 1/2 cups total liquid.

Mix the water and dry ingredients thoroughly so that all of the dry ingredients are incorporated and wet.

The moistened flour is covered and allowed to rest for 20 minutes.

The add the stiff dough levain (sour dough starter) and 1  1/2 tsp fine sea salt. Mix thoroughly with the flat beater of a mixer and then change to the dough hook to knead, or knead by hand for about 8 to 9 minutes. I use Dan Leader's recipe for a stiff dough levain from his book Local Breads. 

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl to ferment. Cover with plastic wrap or a top.

After one hour of fermentation take the dough out of the bowl to fold, placing it on a surface that is slightly wet to prevent the dough from sticking. This dough is not easy to knead by hand. With wet hands take each side and stretch it out, folding it back on the remaining dough, do this again from the other side and from the top and bottom. This helps develop the gluten and the structure of the dough without kneading it more.

Place the dough back in the oiled bowl for another 2 - 3 hours. At this point you could put the covered dough in the refrigerator for a slow overnight ferment. Peter Reinhart recommends this for many bread recipes to fully develop the flavor. If you do put it in the refrigerator, take it out about 2 hours before you want to bake it.

Now you shape the dough, place it on parchment paper, sift a veil of flour over the top, cover with plastic wrap and proof until it has risen 1 and 1/2 times the original size. For this recipe I like a large oblong loaf.

Place the baking stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F. With a serrated knife, cut 3 diagonal slits across the bread about 1/2 inch deep with the knife at a 45 degree angle.

After placing the dough in the oven (a pizza peel is really helpful), spray the sides and bottom of the oven with water to create steam, close the door and reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. My oven loses 50 degrees in this process so that is why I preheat to 450. By the time I have placed the bread in the oven and sprayed water, the temperature is about 400.

Bake for 35 - 45 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. I like an internal temperature of 205 - 210F. for this hearth bread. Sometimes this takes another 5 minutes of baking.

Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting.

Pictures of spent grain using 4 different malted barleys are in the next post.