Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 06, 2012 Common Stock [Member]	Mar. 06, 2012 Common Class B [Member]
Entity Registrant Name	BioFuel Energy Corp.
Entity Central Index Key	0001373670
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	biof
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			104,573,689	18,622,944
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Entity Well-Known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 17,731,000