Friends of Erre4m, good morning and welcome to this new post. Today we are talking about MALT.
The fact that this ingredient is useful, if not indispensable, for certain types of dough, as we will see in this post, is not something everyone knows.
The main functions of malt in bread doughs, and in some cases in cakes too, are to ease the fermentation of the dough itself and to improve its flavour, aroma and the colour of the crust.
Malt is an ingredient obtained from the germination of cereal grains. By far the most suitable cereal is barley. The process of transforming cereal grains into malt is called malting and consists in germinating the grains, which have first been left to soak in lukewarm water to trigger the growth of the germ. The grains are then dried, separated from the seedling and finally ground.
When the cereal grain begins the germination process, numerous chemical reactions take place inside it that support the nourishment and growth of the seedling. The main one among these chemical reactions is the saccharification of starch, that is, its transformation into maltose thanks to the action of the enzyme diastase.
As mentioned earlier, the main conditions for the germination of the grains are, first of all, hydration, but also the presence of oxygen. By creating a warm, humid environment, all the enzymes present in the cereal are activated, including the diastases. The greater part of the cereal's chemical components consists of starch, and through its saccharification a considerable amount of maltose is obtained.
Germination is allowed to continue until the maximum maltose content is reached within the grain. The subsequent drying and grinding of the grain produces malt flour, which, besides maltose sugar, also contains the enzymes, among which (as we have seen in previous posts) the amylases are of considerable importance. That said, malt is not only a source of sugars but also of enzymes, primarily alpha and beta amylases.
Yeast feeds on sugars, whose abundance in the dough favours fermentation activity. To achieve this result, the sugar, whether it be maltose or sucrose, must not simply be added to the dough but has to be continuously produced by the saccharification of the starch in the flour through the work of the amylases. The activity of the enzymes present in malt is precisely the property that determines its value.
Various types of malt are commercially available for professional work:
- Malt flour, which, as we have seen, is obtained by grinding germinated cereal grains. It is easy to use compared with the malts we will look at later; it has a high diastatic power but, on the other hand, contains little maltose.
- Malt extract in syrup is obtained from the saccharification of malt flour and has a high diastatic power and a high maltose content. On the other hand, it is very sticky and viscous.
- Concentrated malt extract in syrup is a concentrate of the previous malt, with entirely similar physical characteristics but a higher content of diastatic power and malt.
- Powdered malt extract is obtained by drying malt extract in syrup. It contains a great deal of maltose, but the drying process halves the diastatic activity.
For non-professional use, sourcing malt is quite easy and the choice is very wide. Large supermarkets, but above all organic food shops, are normally well stocked with it, and especially with the syrup type.
Let us now look, from a practical point of view, at the merits this ingredient brings to the dough:
- it produces a more active fermentation of the dough
- the bread has a more intense taste and aroma, produced by the Maillard reaction, which binds the sugars left after rising with the amino acids to form fragrant volatile compounds
- the product has a more developed crumb structure and is consequently lighter and more digestible, thanks to the more active fermentation
- a more golden colouring of the crust, thanks to the caramelisation of the residual sugars from rising.
Using malt is generally always recommended, but it becomes indispensable in doughs prepared with the indirect method, because after so many hours of fermentation of the pre-ferment the amount of sugars is low.
In conclusion, this ingredient, little known in the amateur world, is always present and widely used in the professional environment, since it brings all those improving qualities described above. So, if you are bread enthusiasts and have not yet used malt, my advice to you is: TRY IT!
Blog by Enrico Gumirato, pastry chef and trainer
