Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 20, 2013 Common Stock [Member]	Mar. 20, 2013 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			5,443,292	795,479
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Entity Well-Known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 8,528,000