Barley Malt Extract

[ZekeTheCat]

Anybody ever use Barley Malt Extract in crusts ?  I recently bought a small can of it from a place that sells beer making supplies for home brewers. I'm curious about what it does and how much to use in crust ? Thanks for any thoughts or idea's.

[Pete-zza]

ZekeTheCat,

I'm sure our beer making experts will know the answer, but is it diastatic malt or non-diastatic malt, and in either case, is it dry or liquid?

Peter

[Wazza McG]

Pete,

The malt I bought was the stout (dark) malt variety and the home brew shop did say it was diastatic, however, it was in a sealable plastic bag and there was no official information on the packet - there was just a label saying Dry Malt (dark).   It may well be non-diastatic, do you know of a way I could prove or disprove what  it is.?   I am just trusting that the counter salesperson did sell me diastatic.  So it seems possible that home brew shops could be selling both diastatic and non-diastatic malt.

I was considering making a mix of flour, water and the malt I purchased to see if it would ferment - shouldn't it?  What do you think?

Wazza McG

[Pete-zza]

Wazza,

It's important to know the difference because the two forms of malt perform differently. Both will provide sugar to feed the yeast and contribute to crust browning but do it in different ways. For example, the diastatic malt provides additional amylase enzyme to help extract more sugar from damaged starch. The non-diastatic malt has no enzyme component and is just like any other sweetener that you might add to the dough. You might like the crust color a little better or the crust flavor, but that will be about it.

Some flours that come from the mill already are malted, so adding more diastatic malt is not a good idea and can result in a slack and gummy dough. Adding the non-diastatic malt to such a flour will just make the crust sweeter or provide additional food for the yeast over a long fermentation time.

In my case, the diastatic malt I have on hand is dry and the non-diastatic malt is liquid. So, I can't get confused. In your case you could doublecheck with your retailer, or possibly you can do a Google search of the brand, if it is a standard retail product. I once found a telephone number on a package of malt and called the manufacturer to ask whether the malt was diastatic or not. Without knowing what you have, you will have to experiment and see what happens. There may be another way of telling the difference, but I don't know what it is.

Peter

[ZekeTheCat]

The stuff  got is a very thick light colored viscous liquid - about like STP that you put in motor oil. The can doesn't state whether it's diastatic or not . I'm just now trying some in a recipe for Russian dark rye bread and will try it this weekend in my next pizza attempt.

[Fio]

If you have dry malt extract or malt extract syrup, it is non-diastatic.    It is produced by mashing malted barley, which IS diastatic, with roasted barley in hot water(heated to the precise enzymatic activation temperature), to create an extract of barley sugar (maltose).  The extracted maltose is collected in a barley soup and boiled.   Instead of cooling the soup (called wort) and adding yeast to make beer, the barley soup is then dried into a powder or syrup.  Hence, malt extract

Thus, malt extract is no more than maltose.  It has no diastatic properties.   It does convey all of the benefits of sugar, honey, or molasses, in feeding the yeast.

Be careful that it is not hopped malt extract.  If it's flavored with hops, then it could be bitter.

Cheers,

 - Fio, home brewer

[Pete-zza]

Fio,

I assume you are referring to the stuff used in brewing. When I researched the subject some time ago I discovered that malt for baking purposes, both diastatic and non-diastatic, can come in both dry and liquid form.

Peter

[Fio]

Fio,

I assume you are referring to the stuff used in brewing. When I researched the subject some time ago I discovered that malt for baking purposes, both diastatic and non-diastatic, can come in both dry and liquid form.

Peter

Interesting.  I have some "dry malt" at home, which appears to be malted barley flour.   I would guess that if it is, it would be diastatic.

Since Zeke is using malt from a brew shop, I am pretty sure it's the standard malt extract used for brewing.

Wazza wants to determine if his dry malt is diastatic.  If it comes from a brew shop, I'm virtually certain that it's non-diastatic.  It is meant to be mixed with water to create beer wort, so there is no utility in having enzymes in it.

Of course, I could be wrong, but I think all homebrew malt extract is non-diastatic.

As you observe, the best thing to do is experiment.  Flour is cheap!

Cheers,

- Fio

[Fio]

Here's a great article I Googled about the topic.  I hope it clarifies things:

http://www.beercook.com/articles/bakebeer2.htm

[ZekeTheCat]

Thanks for all the great replies. I've come to the conclusion from the replies and Flo's web article that what I have is non diastatic extract . Will continue to experiment with it and am going to get some diastatic dry malt extract from a health food store if I can find it and give it a try too - experimenting is always fun.

[Furo]

You might also check out any Amish or Mennonite bulk stores. I found diastatic malt a couple of years ago at a Mennonite store in Kidron Ohio. They no longer had it last year when we went back east to Pittsburgh but might have it again in the future. Their bulk stores are a great resource for baking supplies. They also have very fair pricing.