Spent Grain Bread

Day 1: Put wet spent grain on a rimmed baking sheet and dry it for 8 hours or until dry in a low heat oven around 200 F, with door ajar. Six cups of wet grain will yield more than you need but it doesn’t always shrink exactly so I prefer to have too much than too little. Just save the rest of the dried grain in an airtight container. You’ll need 1 1/2 cups of dried grains for the recipe.
Day 2: In a large bowl mix the 1 1/2 cups dried grain, 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups warm water, one tablespoon of yeast and the 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix well and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Let it pre-ferment overnight, or 8-12 hours in a dark warm area.
Day 3: Activate the second tablespoon of yeast in a large bowl by placing it in 1/8th cup warm water and a few pinches of sugar. Add the rest of the flour, the salt and the pre-fermented mix. Put dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead bread and add extra flour if needed. You’ll want to knead it for 5-10 minutes or until dough is elastic. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes.

Form dough into 3 loaves by separating into 3 equal parts, place them on a large cookie sheet and let dough rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 500 F.

Once doubled in size, make 1 inch cuts in the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with a bit of water.

Place in hot oven and immediately turn temperature down to 325 F. Every 5 minutes, sprinkle the top of the loaves with a bit of water for first 35 minutes of baking. (I use a squirt bottle with fresh water.) Then finish baking the bread. Bake time varies from 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until golden brown.