Finding a use for things

If you’ve read my previous posts you’d know that I like to brew my own beer. I use a process called all-grain brewing which means I use malted barley grains which are soaked for a period of time and then discarded.

I’ve always felt that there must be some way of finding a use for these grains as it seems to be such a waste to throw them away. If I had a compost heap I could chuck them there, or if I had chickens I could use them for feed. But I don’t have either of those. So after a quick browse of the Internet I found this recipe for dog biscuits. I don’t have a dog, but my parents, brother and sister do, so now I have a way of being able to re-use my spent grain!

One thing you’ll notice is that the website with the recipe uses cups as a measurement and I always find that way of measuring a bit ambiguous. So I’ve converted them as best I could into metric.

Here’s my take on it –

Ingredients:
340g spent mash grain
136g whole wheat flour
340g natural peanut butter
2 eggs

Method:

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/356 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 4.
  • Add the ingredients into a bowl and  mix until a thick dough forms. If the mixture is too sticky add more flour until it is better.
  • Next liberally flour the worktop and roll the dough out. Use pastry cutters to cut out the biscuits, I may invest in some bone shaped ones for next time.
  • Now place them on a baking tray and place in the preheated oven.
  • Bake at 180C/356F/Gas 4 for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 110C/230F/Gas mark quarter(1/4) and continue baking for an hour. Cooking them the additional time at the lower temperature will help ensure they dry completely

I turned the oven off and let them sit in there until cold. I put them all in a ziploc bag and then in an airtight container. The recipe said they will keep for two weeks, or a bit longer if you put them in the freezer.

From the recipe above I made double the amount in the pic below. My oven burnt them a bit, but I’m sure the dogs won’t mind!

 

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