November 19, 2011 - 7:43am
Has anyone used the Bob Mills Malted Barley Flour?
From what I have been able to find out it's diastatic malted barley powder just under a different name, if you have used this product what were your results and how would you rate it?
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I have a 1# bag in my freezer. Sometimes I put around 0.1% (sometimes more, but sometimes even less) in loaves I'm making. It works great for me. I've experienced "too much", with everything from a little gummy residue on my slicing knife to whole loaves feeling like they should have been baked another half hour.
You're right that it's one of the few exceptions to the usual rule that if it doesn't say "diastatic" it's not. It indeed doesn't say "diastatic" ...but it is. The detailed usage description on the bag leans in that direction. And the behavior is most definitely "diastatic".
That 1# bag will last the rest of my life for sure. Bob's Red Mill sells six 1# bags together; that's ludicrous for a home baker, unless you can resell five of the bags (that's how I got mine - thank goodness for Paypal to other individuals:-).
Just for the record, the description on the website explicitly states the product is "Diastatic Malt".
http://www.bobsredmill.com/malted-barley-flour.html?&cat=5
Actually sold in a case of four 20 oz. bags. Being a "malt lover", I have just about gone through three 1 lb bags of diastatic malt "powder" of a different brand from nybakers.com. Most of it is home roasted/toasted to make it non diastatic. It is delicious.
My next purchase will probably be a case of the Bob's brand(from Amazon, free ship.). Hope it is as good as my other stuff.
Rats....I thought Bob's was non-diastatic and just used some tonight in a loaf proportioned as non-diastatic which means I will probably have gum by morning....and to top it off awhile ago I ended up buying a bag of non-diastatic - labeled as such...from KAF for a lot more than what I paid for the Bob's at my local health food store....and now to find I already had a supply and local to boot....
Janet
for diastatic malt, I have called or visited every health food type store within about a 50 mile radius of where I live and I can't find the stuff anywhere.
Of course what really bites about the stuff is that the S/H usually costs as much if not more than the actual product.
I am thankful :-)
Postage isn't so bad if you order from KAF and purchase other goodies too.....coupons help.
Janet
mrfrost,
A question about how you roast/toast your diastatic malt since I now have 2 bags of the identical product and would like one that is non-diastatic....
Do you just pour some into a non stick frying pan and let it heat up while stirring?
Once you have turned it into non-diastatic - how do you use it in your bread recipes? By taste or do you have some kind of guideline based on percentages?
Thanks,
Janet
Hi Janet,
I have roasted/toasted the diastatic malt powder that I ordered from nybakers.com. From my research, many of these diastatic malt "powders"/flours are not exactly the same. Bob's is apparently pure flour, where some are actually blends of the malted barley flour, plus wheat flour, plus dextrose, a type of sugar(KAF, Barry Farms,etc). And then there are the powders that are made from malt extracts, which undoubtedly are sweeter than those, and probably totally dissolve in liquids moreso than these flours.
I am not exactly positive of the composition of the nybakers/AB Mauri malt powder. As no ingredients are listed on the label, and the fact that it has a "raw flour but sweet" taste, I tend to think it is just the malted barley flour. Anyway, I am very pleased with it, used raw, or toasted.
To toast, I get the best result using a stainless steel skillet, but also got great results using a little cast aluminum skillet(originally it was non stick, but all the coating has been stripped off).
I start off toasting it on my stove top burner over medium low heat. While "virtually" continuously stirring, when I see it getting a little color(browning) and wanting to stick to the bottom, I move it to the 350°F oven. Check and srir thoroughly every 2-3 minutes or so until it reaches your desired amount of browning. In the middle of the oven, it doesn't seem to want to stick on the bottom, and it actually browns more from the top. ps: once it's toasted a little, any that seemed to be sticking will have released from the bottom of the pan. I don't believe a non stick pan is needed.
A pretty long winded explanation, but it's really pretty simple and "common sensical". Very similar to toasting seeds. You just have to be sure and watch things closely. Once the browning starts happening, it can probably go to "burnt" pretty quickly. I'm sure it can also be done solely on the stove top, or solely in the oven. The method I described is just my own self taught method.
I usually just use the powders as directed in recipes, but in some of my own variations, I will add about 4% - 5%(baker's math) of the "non diastatic" malt to recipes that don't call for a sweetener that I want to sweeten up a little.
Good luck.(below are images of my malt powders). The toasted is the browner stuff on the left in each image.I just did another batch recently that I toasted a little browner than that shown.
mrfrost,
Thanks for this. I have ss pie pans that I use for roasting seeds that will work perfectly....Think I will do the stove top burners....too much energy to heat up my oven with my baking stones in them :-)
Will see how the texture changes in my loaves.
Janet
With S/H included it was $9.48 if I remember correctly ... and I agree a 1 lb bag should last me a very long time as well.