November 7, 2011 - 12:01pm
Question for those in the know concerning diastatic malt powder
Is it worth using (does it really make that much of a difference in taste and texture?) and for those that do use it what types of bread to you bake using it?
Share
...but a lot of difference in colour; in fact, that's really all I use for these days: to see what colour crust will result if I use Caramel Red No. 5, etc.
It's generally used for retarded breads (or ones that undergo a long, slow fermentation).
If used in large(-ish) quantities, then its flavour comes through; but, it does something to the dough (I want to say it dries it out) that I don't like very much. Makes it mealy? No, that's no quite right either. Someone help me out here.
Here's Hamelman, Bread, p. 364:
This gummy quality might be the same as what I mentioned above, although I'd call it more of a mealy quality than gummy.
I ran into difficulties with regards to bun production.
Straight dough, fermented overnight was giving me an uneven bake.
Looking at my flour ingredients, it stated that it “may contain amylase” so I figured...
hmmm...maybe there’s not enough amylase.
I switched flours yet continued to have pale and uneven colour although not bad as with the previous flour.
Adding diastic malt, I found that ratios of 2 to 3 percent addition mostly corrects the problem making white wheat buns. Whole grain buns seem to require one percentage more dia malt.
When I bake loaves of bread, I add only 1 percent dia malt.
There are days when I do some large numbers (4000 buns scaled at 40 gm each) so the pale
and uneven colour was a concern which has now been mostly corrected.
Once again; my doughs are mostly all straight dough, overnight ferment.
I make the products one day, retard and then bake the following day.
It’s a system that is working out well for me and gives me a life.
As for your bake, If you’re happy with how things are turning out , then I wouldn’t change or add a thing.
in white wheat breads. Even more so when it is diastatic malt (which starts an enzyme chain reaction.)
Now my taste buds are rather advanced and so is my nose's sense of smell. Runs in my family. My husband can also taste the differences (doesn't run in his family.) When I don't have any form of malt for flavour, the closest I can come to substitutions is brown cane sugar. It's not the same, but a slight improvement over not using anything. Diastatic malt with its enzymes will certainly speed up fermentation and relax stiff gluten protein bonds. Perhaps adding a short cut flavour note often tasted from long preferments. As I said, it is more noticable in white wheat and bleached wheat flour.
May I suggest that the asker use the search function on the upper left of any TFL page. I do believe your answer and more is there.