Name: Malt Extract
Ingredients: 100 parts coarsely powdered malt; 100 parts water; 400 parts water (heated to about 30°C)

Malt Extract

Ingredients

100 parts coarsely powdered malt
100 parts water
400 parts water (heated to about 30°C)

Directions

Prepare the malt extract

In a suitable vessel, combine 100 parts of coarsely powdered malt with 100 parts of water and let it 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 sugars that give the extract its sweetness and body.
Water: Dissolves the malt's sugars and enzymes so they can be extracted and concentrated.

The step that matters

Evaporating at no more than 55°C. Heating above about 55°C can destroy the malt enzymes that convert starch to sugar, and fast evaporation at high temperature can scorch the sugars. Keeping the temperature low and the evaporation quick preserves the enzymes and gives a clean flavour.

“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.