Non-Diastic Malt Confusion

Hi Lyn! I'm not sure about King Arthur flour, because we don't have that here, but I can tell you that diastatic malt powder/flour is used to give a good rise and a nice brown crust. It's pale in colour and often included in natural bread improver, or you can buy it to add yourself, so it's most likely that's what's in KA flour. Then there's roasted malt powder, brand name TruMalt, that is very dark in colour and added for flavour and colour (mainly to wholegrain darker loaves, brown bread, etc), although I think it improves the crust too. The place i buy it from describes it as "naturally diastatic" but I'm not sure about that. Barley malt syrup is non-diastatic and added for colour, flavour and sweetness (but once again, I think it also helps achieve a good crust). To answer your question, I'm not sure what the ratio of malt is in KA flour, but depending on the size of your loaf, most time you only add between .5-1 teaspoon, so if it's in the flour already, you can probably skip it. :)

You might try dropping the term "non-diastatic" to find it, actually. Diastatic is usually specified as such. If you look up malt powder on Amazon, you'll find it. Breiss is one brand but there are others. You can cross-reference their website to verify how strong the flavor of the malt is. Brewing companies and even Wal-Mart are likely to have it online.

Non-diastatic malt is used for flavoring. Diastatic malt is a dough conditioner. They aren't the same thing.

Some bread flours already include diastatic malt, like you saw. Those flours do not need it to be added to help long fermentation doughs.

When I needed malt, both diastatic and non-diastatic, I purchased some from a local brewing supply shop.  You can google 'brewing supplies near me' to see whether there are any in your area.

The diastatic malts that I purchased were malted barley and malted wheat, still in their whole kernel form.  When I need to use some, I mill them with the other grains the recipe calls for.  If you don't have a grain mill, you can grind them to powder with a small coffee mill.

The non-diastatic malt I purchased is a liquid malt extract (LME).  The specific brand was Breiss but any brand will work fine.  Here's a picture of the container:

This might well be a lifetime supply for me.  You can sometimes find smaller bottles in health food stores.

Paul

Malted grain is any grain that has been wetted so it starts to sprout, then dried with heat to stop the sprouting process. When grain sprouts, it manufactures enzymes to break down the starch in the endosperm to release simple sugars to feed the germ. Remember, the "purpose" of grain is to reproduce to make more grain.

When malted grain is milled and/or made into syrup, it can be added to flour. If the enzymes are not de-activated, the malt is called "diastatic." Non-diastatic malt has the enzymes deactivated. Diastatic malt adds sweetness, a distinctive flavor and additional enzymes to your dough. The enzymes accelerate fermentation by turning starch from your flour into simple sugars that yeast can use more quickly. Non-diastatic malt just adds sweetness. Usually, small enough amounts are used so you don't get the malty flavor in your bread. Generally, if a recipe calls for non-diastatic malt, you can substitute an equal weight of a different sweetener - sugar or honey, for example.

Hope this helps.

David