August 19, 2014 - 9:43am
Malt powder vs. Malt extract power
Hi
Where I live, only one manufacturer produces malt related stuff, and they have two (well technically three) different types of barley malt:
The first one is labeled as Malt Extract, which is lucky honey, I think it would be called Malt Syrup worldwide.\
The second one is Malt Extract Powder, which is made from spray drying the Malt Extract.
And the third one is Malt Powder, which I don't know how it's made, and its cheaper than the other two
Now I'm wondering which one of these would be the right ingredient for bread (especially Bagels and Kaiser rolls)? and which one of these would be right for adding to the flour (to get malted flour)?
Thanks !
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The malt extract/syrup can be diastatic or non-diastatic. If the label doesn't say, you may need to contact the manufacturer for the answer. If the former, it contains active enzymes that will convert starches to sugars; in which case, it can perform the same function in dough that malted flour would do. If the latter, the enzymes have been deactivated by higher temperatures and the syrup is purely a sweetener. In this form, it can be used in place of other sweeteners and it can be used in the water for boiling bagels, where it promotes a shiny crust.
The malt extract powder is almost always non-diastatic but, again, check it out instead of assuming. The same information as above applies.
Malt powder is flour ground from malted (sprouted) grain. More often than not, it is diastatic but is sometimes not, depending on the temperature at which the grain was dried before it was ground. While effective in breads, you wouldn't want to use this for boiling bagels.
Note that diastatic malt is used very sparingly with flour. I don't remember exact amounts but think that is less than 1.5%, maybe even less than 1%, by weight. Too much diastatic malt will lead to too much starch conversion and gummy, wet bread.
Paul
Wow, thanks a lot for your information Paul!
Contacting manufacturer is like asking a rooster to lay an egg... seriously...
That said, in their website, it states that the malt syrup converts starches to sugars, so i have to guess its diastatic...
For the malt extract powder, it states that, used in flour, it increases the fermentation, so i don't really know what that does...
And in the website nothing is sad about the malt powder!!
So, in conclusion, I didn't understand what type of these to use for bagels...
.6 of 1% added diasttic malt to my home ground flour if it is whole grain and 1% if I have sifted it to 80% extraction. I have heard that millers used .6 of 1 % for their white flour, don't know if that is true but heard it on TFL, but since my malts are home made and probably weaker, I put a little more in without any problems. I also like to put red non diastaic malt powder in the mix to color and flavor the bread and use up to 2.5% of that..
Happy baking
Thanks! That's helpful information!