Hello expert bakers!
I have been baking bread for many years, but generally nothing too fancy, though I have baked my fair share of sourdough-based breads as well as basic yeasted loaves.
I am interested in baking a regional Italian focaccia and the recipe calls for malt powder.
What is the role of malt powder in baking and do you have any recommended sources to locate it? I see King Arthur Flour has malt powder, but I've only been able to find it online, not in any of the grocery stores where I buy my other specialty flours.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
a home brew beer or hobby wine makers shop?
Do get stuck in there, there are lots of neat flours and whole grains there too! :)
Malt is assumed to be diastatic (containing diastase) unless it is called "non-diastatic." Over heated or roasted reduces its enzyme power. So watch out for the "non" labeling. Look for light colored liquid or flour.
A little goes a long way, most recipes will not use more than a teaspoon per loaf.
Hi,
I have been using organic diastatic malt from Breadtopia. You can purchase their product from Amazon or directly from their website. I think they are out of Iowa. There will be a shipping charge when ordering from their website for bulk orders, but you can get more product for less money by going this route.
-D
Hello Keaton
I’m not claiming to be an “expert baker”, but will attempt to be of some help. Over the past few months, I’ve been switching over to organic flour in many of my formulas and have been doing some fine tuning with diastatic malt. Malt is on my mind these days.
You ask: "What is the role of malt powder in baking”
Diastatic malt is produced by germinating grain, barley is most often used, this brings on a massive increase in the enzyme amylase. Amylase breaks down starch molecules which frees up fermentable sugars.
Amylase is naturally present in varying degrees in all flour, subject to growing/harvest conditions etc.
It’s common practice for commercial flour mills to monitor and adjust amylase levels in their products, this is usually not so in organic flours. In recent years though, it has become much easier for millers and bakers to source organic malt.
Amylase speeds up the rate of fermentation, enhances the Maillard reaction resulting in richer crust colour, a crisper, shinier crust and improved aroma. It is also said to improve the crumb structure, product volume and keeping quality of breads.
Caution must be exercised when adding diastatic malt, as it is very easy to overdose with it.
You won’t die but your dough might. A slight overdose of this malt produces an unpleasantly gummy crumb.
Larger doses can cause the dough to ripen extremely fast, rendering it unusable.
Using preferments, autolyse, long bulk fermenting times and extended final proofing pretty much rules out the practice of adding diastatic malt. It is though a tool that can be cautiously used to make a troublesome flour perform better.
Non-diastatic (inactive) malt is produced the same way but during the drying process is heated above 80c to de-activate the enzymes. This malt can be dosed much higher and finds plenty of use in the baking industry.
It is often used to darken the crumb in bread mixes that are heavy on white flour, thus fooling the consumer into believing they are eating healthy whole grain bread. These doughs, made largely with white flour, are much easier to process with machines and require less skill on the part of the baker.
Used in sensible small amounts it can bring improvements in aroma, crust colour etc.
Your freshloaf profile dosen’t state what continent you reside on, but I would say that if you use high quality flour you could easily make a fine focaccia bread with out further addition of malt, active or otherwise.
Happy baking to you
Daniel Strachan