A new member just came on board and she does a pretty cool thing - she uses up a member-brewer's spent grains in baking crackers and other things. So timing is nice, since I'm doing something similar as I write.
I do a lot of German and French sourdough baking and am just literally finishing up a run of altbrot (actually, technically today, röstbrot) and fleur de levain as I write this. For those who may not know, altbrot-röstbrot is a way to use up the butts or stale pieces of dark rye breads (typically). Altbrot is just old bread that is cubed and allowed to dry completely, whether air-dried or in a very low oven. I tend to prefer röstbrot - I cut the crusts off and cut them into 1"ish cubes, then dry-roast the cubes in the oven at 325F for about an hour. They have to dry completely. Then I grind them to a fine powder in my blender and freeze the powder. It allows bread doughs to retain more water (hydration) with the beneficial effects on the finished loaf. It also lends a deep, complex character to the bread.
Fleur de Levain is a way I learned to use up old or tired sourdough starter (there's always a ton left over after refreshing the starter). I hydrate it to the consistency of a pancake batter and then brush it in a thinnish layer on a silicone baking pad and dry at 200F x 90 minutes or so. It can then be broken off in chunks or ground to powder. Purely a taste addition - some sour and other flavors for bread baking. It adds no leavening so can be used alongside levain starter or cultured yeast without any adjustments.
I do a lot of German and French sourdough baking and am just literally finishing up a run of altbrot (actually, technically today, röstbrot) and fleur de levain as I write this. For those who may not know, altbrot-röstbrot is a way to use up the butts or stale pieces of dark rye breads (typically). Altbrot is just old bread that is cubed and allowed to dry completely, whether air-dried or in a very low oven. I tend to prefer röstbrot - I cut the crusts off and cut them into 1"ish cubes, then dry-roast the cubes in the oven at 325F for about an hour. They have to dry completely. Then I grind them to a fine powder in my blender and freeze the powder. It allows bread doughs to retain more water (hydration) with the beneficial effects on the finished loaf. It also lends a deep, complex character to the bread.
Fleur de Levain is a way I learned to use up old or tired sourdough starter (there's always a ton left over after refreshing the starter). I hydrate it to the consistency of a pancake batter and then brush it in a thinnish layer on a silicone baking pad and dry at 200F x 90 minutes or so. It can then be broken off in chunks or ground to powder. Purely a taste addition - some sour and other flavors for bread baking. It adds no leavening so can be used alongside levain starter or cultured yeast without any adjustments.
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