August 25, 2017 - 7:01am
What percentage of Diastatic Malt
What percentage of Diastatic Malt should be added?
King Arthur states 1/2 to 1 tsp per 3 cups of flour. I called and spoke with a lady at KA and unfortunately she was not experienced in that area.
Here's where things get unclear.
1. I use KA bread flour so I assume there is ample malt there. Or would I benefit by adding more?
2. I mix a recipe that calls for 33% Whole Wheat flour. I grind the berries at home so there is no diastatic malt added. How much should I add the WWF?
I've read that adding too much can be very detrimental to the bread.
Thanks,
--Dan
Share
Some pics of what too much can do you be surprised - it turns bread to mush. best thing would be to start even lower than the amounts you sited (they seem a little high) and then work up. Don't expect too much it's job is to help the crust and does a good job but to the detriment of the crumb so more than anything it's a balancing act that you really need to figure out as you go. Good luck !
I'm more concerned with using the diastatic malt to increase the bulk fermenting and bulk proofing times.
You may have solved something for me. I just baked bread using 1 teaspoon of diastatic malt. The total flour weight was 641g. 75% King Arthur bread flour and 25% home milled Hard Red Wheat. I did notice that the crumb was very slightly "damp" (maybe mushy). I chalked it up to too much hydration, even though I did bake the bread to 207°F internal.
I've noticed the damp dough in previous bakes.
Do you think there was too much diastatic malt in the mix?
--Dan
It is my understanding that millers like King Arthur add diastatic malt to stabilized the falling number factor, and not to add color or flavor to the flour. Each milled lot may have a little more malt, or a little less malt, or enough to insure that the falling number is equivalent to the last lot. Much is written on the subject and a web search will expand on what I have noted here.
I add diastatic malt in some of my formulas and in my case it serves two purposes. If I push the percentages of levain and/or poolish in order to produce more flavorful bread, that also means that less raw flour is available in the final mix. That flour serves as nutrition for the active LAB and yeast, and is needed to create additional flavors and gases during the final fermentation and proof. Diastatic malt introduces sugars (maltose) and enzymes (amylase) to the mix. Lactobacillus are able to process the maltose and a byproduct of that metabolism is glucose. Yeast cannot metabolize maltose but can metabolize glucose so it is a win-win for the active levain in our breads. Diastatic malt acts as a nutritional booster in formulas that otherwise starve the levain of nutrition.
The other benefit is that the residual sugars create a reddened hue to the crust (carmelization).
I hope this helps in your understanding of why diastatic malt is used in bread baking. In my formulas the added diastatic malt is generally 0.3%. A little goes a very long way. Too much messes with the bread, making the crust very red and the crumb grey.
Jim
or need diastatic malt added, since the enzymes weren't stripped off and discarded with the bran and the germ in the milling process. If you are using malt-added bread or all-purpose flour, along with home-milled whole grain flour, then I wouldn't think that you would want / need to add more malt (enzymes) to the dough.
Personally, I use either home-milled whole grains, or plain AP flour with no mill-added diastatic malt. If I am using 50% or more of AP (pretty rarely), and want a faster fermentation / slightly higher rise, then I'll add 0.2 to 0.5% of diastatic malt. If I'm just looking for additional flavour / food for the yeast, then I'll add up to 2% non-diastatic malt (which is essentially just a flavoured sugar).
I suspect that KAF can recommend such high levels (0.55 to 1.1%) of their own "diastatic malt powder" because it is a mix of their malt-added flour, some sugar, and then some extra malt --- but likely has significantly less enzymes than a straight milled diastatic grain malt. Your results will surely be very different if you used that much of pure diastatic malt purchased elsewhere.
http://www.wildyeastblog.com/?s=diastatic+malt
A dash of diastatic malt can help get a sourdough starter going, say 1/4 tsp to 1 cup of flour. It won't necessarily prevent the leuconostoc phase, but it does seem to help. A little goes a long way.
I find this thread interesting, here in Tasmania our flour doesn't have malt in it at purchase. However the recipes that I have used it in the past I find 1% malt works well.
about 2% by weight.
Because I'm challenged, I use 1.8% for salt and malt so I don't have to remember different percentages....