Name: Malt Extract
Ingredients: 100 parts coarsely powdered malt; 500 parts water (100 parts at room temperature, 400 parts heated to 30°C)

Malt Extract

Ingredients

100 parts coarsely powdered malt
500 parts water (100 parts at room temperature, 400 parts heated to 30°C)

Directions

Make the malt liquor

Combine 100 parts of coarsely powdered malt with 100 parts of water in a suitable vessel and let macerate for six hours.
Add 400 parts of water heated to about 30 °C and digest for one hour at a temperature not exceeding 55 °C.
Strain the mixture with strong pressure.

Concentrate and store

Evaporate the strained liquid rapidly using a water bath or vacuum apparatus at a temperature not exceeding 55 °C until it reaches the consistency of thick honey.
Store the product in well-closed vessels in a cool place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Coarsely powdered malt: Supplies the enzymes and starches that break down into sugars, giving the extract its sweetness and body.
Water: Dissolves the malt's sugars and enzymes so they can be extracted and later concentrated.

The step that matters

Evaporating at no more than 55 °C. Malt enzymes are damaged by heat, and sugars can darken or scorch if the liquid is overheated. Keeping the temperature at or below 55 °C and evaporating quickly protects the enzymes and colour while the extract thickens to honey consistency.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.