diastatic malt powder

Diastatic malt powder is powdered malted grain, usually barley, but wheat, and rice may also be malted. "Diastatic" refers to the diastatic enzymes that are created as the grain sprouts. These convert starches to sugars, which yeasties eat. Maltose, a simple sugar that yeasties love is usually made in abundance by the enzymes.

True malt powder is usually made of barley. The process for producing the powder is to allow the barley to sprout for a short period of time, then to dry and finely grind the sprouted barley.

Malt powder or malt flour is present in numerous baked goods where it imparts a natural sweetness. It tends to make baked goods browner and shinier. Malt powder may be used alone to make malted milk shakes, a combination of ice cream, sometimes flavored syrups, milk and malt powder. Alone and uncooked, this flour can have a bitter aftertaste, which is usually not noticeable when it is mixed with other ingredients.

There are two types of malt powder available. Diastatic malt powder is allowed to develop enzymes, which digest starches into sugar. When diastatic malt is used in baked goods, it tends to result in sweeter, smoother, and higher rises. The extra sugar it produces helps feed yeasts used to make yeast dough, so less yeast can be used.

To use diastatic malt in bread, the key is to be sparing. You should plan to replace about one teaspoon of sugar in the bread with half a teaspoon of malt. The malt should be mixed in with yeast while it proofs. Malt is also used as a way to convert carbohydrates to sugar in beer. A lot of malt will give the beer a more alcohol taste. This is why it’s valuable to use a small amount in bread; too much can make yeast in bread overproofed, and the dough will be hard to work with. The final product can have a faint alcohol or sour smell, which is considered highly undesirable.

Diastatic malt powder is available in some health food stores as well as homebrew supply shops.

You can make your own: sprout a cup of wheat berries by covering them with water in a jar for 12 or so hours, dump out the water & rinse with clean water, and place the jar in a darkish, warmish, place. Rinse the berries every day with clean water and return to their place.

In 2-3 days they will begin to sprout. When the sprout is as long as the berries themselves, dump them out on paper towels, dry them off, and set on a cookie sheet in the sun for a day or so to dry out. Then put the cookiesheet in a 100F oven for an hour or three. Do not let the temp get above 130F or the enzymes will be destroyed.

Then grind the dried malted berries into flour, and use it in your favorite recipe at a rate of approx. 1t. per loaf.