Mid South District
Recipe of the Month
April 2008
Fred’s Treber Brot
(Fred’s Spent Grain Bread)

I grew up in a small town in Germany (Reitscheid/Kreis St. Wendel/Saarland) in the 1950’s. This was a time when people had great difficulty obtaining bread flour; in fact it could be nearly impossible. Consequently, several small towns convened and built their own flour mills. In addition to the difficulty finding key ingredients, electric mixers were unavailable at the time, and all kneading was done by hand. As you can see it was a more complicated process than the ease of today with our access to ingredients and mechanics if we choose.

The local brewery, PAQUE, was located near by (approximately 10 miles). Several men from the town, including my father worked at the brewery. I remember Dad would bring home several pounds of dry spent grain, which was distributed to local families to bake their TREBER BROT (spent grain bread). Our bread was baked in an outdoor stone oven my parents had which was used for grilling and smoking meat as well. Thus my love for TEBER BROT began...

In the baking of TREBER BROT as well as most breads, yeast is the most important leavening agent used and may be wild, or cultivated. At the time, my mother had no source for dry baker’s yeast, so the dough would be placed outside on a table to collect/cultivate wild yeast, which would be used over and over. This is the process we know as sourdough. To this day, I still sometimes use the collection of wild yeast by placing my starter out doors.

Now, let’s review my version of TREBOR BROT.

Let’s start with the cornerstone of bread baking – flour. There is a variety available for your use, including white, whole wheat, barley, buckwheat, corn, oat and rye.

Today, bread flour may be purchased from the shelves of your local grocery. I however, like to mix different styles of flour and experiment with my ingredients. I also like to use soft wheat flour, which has lower gluten content. Next time you purchase a loaf of bread, take a look at the ingredients listed on the package – this is why I bake my own bread.

Some bread has a minute addition of ascorbic acid, which creates strong dough, and adds volume. Flour treated with potassium bromate (bromated white flour) is also used to toughen the dough.

The spent grain can be dried using a microwave oven, by spreading the wet grain on a microwavable plate, and heating on high for three minutes; turn the grain over, and repeat the process for three more minutes.

I prefer “untreated”, unbleached flour, which is organically grown. My basic TREBER BROT recipe is as follows: Following find my basic spent grain bread recipe:

Now you have already a “starter”, if you want, for your Beer Dinner. Another great starter for your Beer Dinner is a Spent Grain Sour Dough. You can order sour dough starter from the internet.

I prefer classic sour doughs, such as the Original San Francisco, which is a wild yeast from San Francisko, and believed origins approximately 100 years ago. The wild yeast will make the dough rise, and the bacteria will produce the flavor. The wild yeast was originally classified as a strain of saccharomyces exiguous, called Torulopsis holmii. It has been classified as Candida milleri and again reclassified as Candida humilis. The bacteria in this mixture is Lactobacillus sanfrancisco. Both organisms thrive in a symbiotic relationship that has protected the culture from contamination from other yeasts and bacteria for over a century of baking. It is this symbiosis that will prevent contamination from organisms in the environment you are baking.

Before I bake my Sour Dough Spent Grain Bread, I have to activate my starter cultures. The wild yeast and bacteria are in a dormant stage, and must first be activated before being used in the recipe. I place the whole content of the package in a jar (one quart wide mouth jar), adding ¾ cup flour and 1 cup warm water at 75 – 85°F, mix well and store at room temperature for at least 24 hours.

You have to keep the starter warm, as rapid acid production by the bacteria is a deterrent to contamination from organisms in your flour. The whole mixture must be stirred several times during this period.

After all of the this, I follow all the steps as above in my basic spent grain recipe.

One can make a sourdough starter himself.

Have Fun………………………FRED