Human food product produced from dried distillers' spent cereal grains and solubles

A process for recovering a food product suitable for human consumption from cereal grain residues containing component, consisting essentially of:

• suspending a starch-containing grain in water to form a suspension;
• liquifying the suspension with a first enzyme to partially convert the starch content of the grain to dextrins;
• adjusting the pH of the suspension to 4.0-5.0 by adding acids which are selected to produce an organoleptically acceptable product, thereby producing an acidified suspension;
• saccharifying the acidified suspension with a second enzyme to complete the conversion of substantially all starch to sugar;
• fermenting the suspension with yeast to convert substantially all of the sugar into alcohol;
• removing the alcohol from the suspension by distillation, thereby producing a dealcoholized suspension;
• adjusting the pH of the dealcoholized suspension to greater than about 5.0 by adding a base selected to produce an organoleptically acceptable product;
• and
• drying the resulting suspension to about a 5%-10% moisture content such that the temperature of the suspended grain does not exceed 170.degree. F., producing a dried product which is organoleptically acceptable for human food use and which contains a soluble component from the cereal grain.

A dried food product suitable for human consumption consisting essentially of a mixture of:

• cereal grains having substantially all starch removed;
• solubles from distiller's dried grains;
• and
• an organoleptically acceptable salt, wherein said salt consists of an anion and a cation produced from an organoleptically acceptable acid or acids and an organoleptically acceptable base or bases in a concentration exceeding approximately three times that found naturally in the grains.

A dried food product suitable for human consumption consisting essentially of a mixture of:

• cereal grains having substantially all starch removed;
• solubles from distiller's dried grains;
• an organoleptically acceptable salt produced from an organoleptically acceptable acid or acids and an organoleptically acceptable base or bases in a concentration exceeding approximately three times that found naturally in the grains;
• and 0.17 millimoles of an anhydrous organic acid per 100 grams dry weight of dried product.

In a process for recovering a food product for human consumption with a soluble component from spent cereal grains wherein the cereal grains are used for alcohol production by:

• suspending a starch-containing grain in water to form a suspension;
• converting substantially all starch to alcohol with enzymes, yeast and acid;
• removing the alcohol from the suspension to produce a dealcoholized suspension;
• and
• drying the dealcoholized suspension to form a dried food product;
• the improvement consisting essentially of the use of an organoleptically acceptable acid or acids in the converting step and by the addition of a step prior to the drying step of adjusting the pH of the dealcoholized suspension to about 5.0 to 8.0 by adding a base or bases which are selected to produce an organoleptically acceptable product and creating a food product which contains a soluble component.

In a process for recovering a food product suitable for human consumption from cereal grain residues containing a soluble component by:

• suspending a starch-containing grain in water to form a suspension;
• liquifying the suspension with a first enzyme to partially convert the starch content of the grain to dextrins;
• adjusting the pH of the suspension by adding acids to produce an acidified suspension;
• saccharifying the acidified suspension with a second enzyme to complete the conversion of substantially all starch to sugar;
• fermenting the suspension with yeast to convert substantially all of the sugar into alcohol;
• removing the alcohol from the suspension by distillation, thereby producing a dealcoholized suspension;
• and
• drying the resulting dealcoholized suspension;
• the improvement consisting essentially of the use of an acid or acids which are selected to produce an organoleptically acceptable product, and the addition of a step before the drying step of adjusting the pH of the dealcoholized suspension to greater than about 5.0 by adding a base selected to produce an organoleptically acceptable product and which contains a soluble component form the original cereal grain.