December 7, 2019 - 10:43am
Diastatic Malt
Hi Everyone.. how long do you want the sprouts to grow out when making your own diastatic malt powder? Just until you begin to see the sprout emerge, or let the sprout grow out half an inch / centimetre ? Thank you!
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This site says to grow them about as long as the berries - https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/making-your-own-diastatic-malt/ , though I don't know if the length of the sprout has much of an impact, other sites say just until you see the sprout. The temperature at which you dehydrate will dictate whether you end up with diastatic or non diastatic
I don't have dehydrator so I think I'm going to dry them in my proof box set to 80F. That should keep the temp well below one that could negatively impact the berries and sprouts. It's winter in Canada so warming them outside isn't an option.
Still not sure about the length that is optimal..
Thank you!!
When malsters make malt they let the shoot, or acrospire as it is properly called, grow to a good length - probably the length of the grain, as Barry says, or just under. This ensures that the malt is well modified with good diastatic activity.
This is different to sprouted grain, where you want the grain to just "chit". If you used a large quantity of well developed grain in your bread, it would turn to mush, because there would be too much amylase there.
Drying at 80F may not be hot enough - the grain will continue to grow while there is sufficient moisture and mould might also be a problem.
Lance
Lance - great information - thank you for this.
I'm attempting to sprout wheat grain to create diastatic malt powder to add to bakes. I bought some "diastatic malt powder" but after testing it, it wasn't. So I'm soaking 250g of wheat grains for the rest of the day as a test and will get them to sprout to the length of the grain - as you and Barry suggest - over the next few days.
Maybe I'll just let it dry on parchment at room temp for a week and then turn it into a powder in a cuisinart. I could grind it in a mortar and pestle if that's better.
Many thanks - frank!
As to drying, I don't know if parchment paper would work. When i was sprouting for sprouted grain, I found that they would continue to sprout so long as there was moisture in the grain - so I think they will keep sprouting if you just set them on parchment paper. I would try putting them on something elevated that would allow airflow, and then point a small fan so that they will dry out faster then just sitting on parchment paper. A anti spatter screen https://smile.amazon.com/Grease-Splatter-Screen-Frying-Pan/dp/B01GFQFGFQ/ref=sr_1_3?ascsubtag=1ba00-01000-a0047-win10-other-smile-us000-gatwy-feature-SEARC&keywords=anti+spatter+shield&qid=1575809134&sr=8-3 on a wire rack would work, if you don't have one of those, you can use a plastic mesh that they sell for needle pointing https://www.michaels.com/plastic-canvas--14-mesh--white--11-x-8.5-inches/D056196S.html I don't know if this is the right size, you want a pretty fine mesh - I use it to line the trays of my dehydrator - and just looked at the selection in Michaels until I found the right size mesh -
Good point about them continuing to sprout if I don't dry them out quickly enough.. will figure something out.. thanks!
Once the malt starts to get dry you could finish it off in a low fan/convection oven.
Professional malsters sit the developed wet grain on a perforated base and blow air up through the grain bed. They start with a low air temperature and gradually raise the air temperature to dry out the grain completely.
Lance