Question re Using Beer in Bread Making

15 years ago

Kitchens and Home Decorating forums have both had OT posts on bread baking recently.......must be the chill in the air & the economic downturn combining to make us all want to punch dough and then enjoy that comforting "all seems well with the world" aroma in our homes.

Anyway, in Kitchens coffeehaus posted a recipe for her No-Knead bread that was adapted from NYT & Cook's Illustrated versions. I am giving it a try. Dough is rising as I type.

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of beer. Since I don't drink beer, and DH isn't around to enjoy it, I'm wondering if I can save what's left in the bottle to make dough several days from now.

Don't know if part of what makes it work in the recipe has a lot,or everything, to do with the fresh fizz.

Comments (11)

dottieq
15 years ago
I've made beer bread....hate beer but the bread is delicious. Don't have an answer to the fizz question but how about making two loaves and freezing one.
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
some bread recipes I've come across ask for flat beer..so why not save it. :)
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cynic
15 years ago
Put a cover on the beer and it'll probably be fine. Seal it as tight as you can. It should hold its fizz quite well. If it's a bottle with a screw-off cap, you can put it back on and it should seal quite tight, but wouldn't hurt to put a piece of plastic and a rubber band around the top too. Some recipes want flat beer, some want it freshly opened shall I say? Some don't care. I've had recipes that want flat beer and I didn't have any so I used a fresh one and it was fine.

Soooooo, how'd it turn out? If it's good, be sure to share the recipe! What the heck, share it anyway, please!
lindac
15 years ago
Fizz has nothing to do with it...I have saved the dregs of a keg lots of times and made bread out of it for a couple of weeks.
I love beer bread! I don't do that no knead thing, but just use beer instead of water in a basic 4 ingredient bread. It has some sugar, some yeast a bit of malt....and it works very well in bread!
Linda C
ruthanna_gw
15 years ago
You can also use the rest of the beer as part of the broth for ham and bean soup. I like to add about a cup of beer per large pot as my "secret ingredient" in bean or lentil soups. It gives the soup an extra unidentifiable depth of flavor.
amck2
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the responses. The dough has a 12-18 hr. first rise time, so it's still doing its thing. I'll bake it off later this morning and hope to try it with lunch. Will surely let you know how it turned out.
jessyf
15 years ago
You can use the remaining beer in a marinade, like below (source), or I would make 'beer can chicken' - put a whole, seasoned chicken, propped upright, on the grill, 'sitting' on a partially filled beer can (put two more church-key holes in the can).

Beer Marinade & Barbecue Sauce

Yield: 3 3/4 cups

2 med. onions - minced
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 cup ketchup
2/3 cup beer
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls. lemon juice
2 Tbls. red wine vinegar
2 Tbls. Dijon mustard
1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
-Combine all ingredients and coat your favorite meat with marinade; allow to stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours or in refrigerator overnight.
-Remove meat from marinade; set aside.
-Bring marinade to a rolling boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened.
-Use as sauce for basting or serving with grilled meat.
amck2
Original Author
15 years ago
jessyf - Thanks for the recipe for the marinade, it sounds delicious.

Just want to report to all who were wondering that the bread came out great! I served it with Roasted Butternut Squash soup and a salad of baby mixed greens with apples, walnuts, goat cheese w/ apple cider dressing. The meal was perfect for a cold autumn night.

I will definitely be making this recipe again. Soon!
coffeehaus
15 years ago
Amck...I am delighted to read that your bread was a success!! Your menu sounded wonderful! As for the beer, I use a bottle of homebrew and since I only bake every 2 weeks (2 loaves each time and freeze one), a bottle of beer lasts about a month or more. It's OK if it goes flat. Just keep it sealed as best as you can to prevent "stray" yeast from entering. Welcome to the "No-Knead Nation".
sally2_gw
15 years ago
Now that sounds like my kinda eating!

Sally
annie1992
15 years ago
I don't like beer, but I've used leftover flat beer for beer bread. I have to make beer/cheese bread, or I can still taste the beer.

I also have a chili dog sauce recipe that specifically calls for flat beer. Everyone else loves it, but to me, it still tastes too much like beer. I wonder what I could use in that instead, now that you've got me thinking...

Annie

Question re Using Beer in Bread Making

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