Document Type

Other

Publication Date

8-1-1993

Keywords

distiller's dried grain, corn, baked goods, corn distiller's grain process

Extension Number

ExEx 14030

Department

Consumer Sciences

Description

Distiller's grain is produced during the process of making ethanol from corn. This very complex process is simplified as described in the adjoining diagram. To make ethanol, corn is cooked with starch-degrading enzymes. This process breaks the starch in the corn to sugar. Yeast is then added to the mixture. As the yeast ferments the sugar, carbon dioxide (CO2) and ethanol are produced. The CO2 is vented off, and the ethanol is removed from this slurry. The slurry that remains can be separated into distillers wet grain and a thin liquid called sweetwater. The wet distiller's grain may be sold "as is" for animal feed or it may be dried and sterilized into a foodgrade product and sold as distiller's dried grain (DDG). This by-product of ethanol production is an excellent dietary addition to baked goods.

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