The world is upside down and I’m, like no doubt many South Africans and people across the globe, extremely anxious. But apparently my creative factory is powered by angst, so over the last couple of weeks I’ve been brewing, baking and blogging again.
Look for the recipe and not the blah-blah-blah? Harsh, but fair. Click here to skip to the spent grain bread recipe for the Mellerware Bread Maker.
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A couple of years ago I was on quite the bread-baking streak. There’s more traces of this on Instagram than on this site. I dare say I had my spent-grain bread recipe down pat, before it started requiring more time than I had free.
7 months ago, after reading too many bread labels, I figured a bread maker would be the happy medium between controlling the ingredients in my bread, but without having to spend much time on making it. I knew nothing about bread makers, have never used one, and so settled on the Mellerware – Ma Baker Bread Maker. That turned out to be a mistake, but that’s another story.
A bread maker is essentially a self-contained mixing bowl in a tiny oven. Add your ingredients to the bowl, press 3 buttons, and walk away. 3 hours later *poof* bread. It comes with a handy recipe booklet, most of which work out-of-the-box, but tends to result in an awkwardly tall, tight-crumbed bread. It takes quite a bit of tweaking to get the bread just the way you like it.
(Craig, the Sourdough Starter, in the background)
Before the lockdown we baked maybe 4 loaves a month, but since lockdown started we’re baking one about every 3 days. Only in the last month have I managed to consistently produce the exact shape and texture that I like.
And then I had to go and brew.
Brewing leads to spent grain, and spent grain begs to baked with it. I outlined the challenges of using your own spent grain for baking bread when I started back in 2015, but with a bread maker (and 5 year’s worth of experience, I guess) things are lot easier.
Finally, the spent grain bread recipe for the Mellerware Bread Maker
It should also be said that the recipe works equally well without spent grain too (literally just omit the spent grain, everything else stays the same). Check out the pics for what it should look like. A wide-crumbed, crusty bread that’s about half the bowl high, makes it easier to slice and better sized for sandwiches.
Ingredients
| 1? cups | tap water (yup, that’s 1 + slightly-less than cup) |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 3 cups | cake wheat flour (10.2% protein) |
| cup | spent grain, mostly dried |
| 1 tsp | brown sugar |
| tsp | baker’s yeast |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
Method
Before you start, make sure your dough-hook is in place, then add the ingredients in this order:
- Add the water (I take it straight from the cold-water tap)
- Add salt
- Add flour, sprinkle evenly over surface of the water
- Add spent grain
- Add sugar, sprinkle evenly over surface of flour
- Then add the yeast
- Press start to set the program running
- Once the bulk has been mixed, but not yet entirely combined, add the olive oil
Mellerware Ma Baker Settings
| Program | 1, Basic |
| Color | Dark |
| Loaf | 700g (smallest) |
Tweaks
I add about tsp of pepper and 1 tbsp of rosemary together with the salt in the beginning. Turn a very ordinary white bread into something quite special, but it’s less prominent with the spent grain though.
And there you have it, spent grain bread recipe for the Mellerware Ma Baker Bread Maker.
I hope you’re keeping safe and sane. If you make this bread based on this recipe, ping me on Twitter with your results, tweaks and feedback.