Name: Mashing of Malt
Ingredients: 100 grams ground malt; 2 cups water (500 c.c.) at 140°F (60°C)

Mashing of Malt

Ingredients

100 grams ground malt
2 cups water (500 c.c.) at 140°F (60°C)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 140°F (60°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Mash

Mix ground malt with water in a large beaker.
Weigh the beaker and its contents, then place it in a water bath at 140°F (60°C).
Stir occasionally and test for starch using iodine solution.
When the iodine shows no blue reaction, wipe the beaker's outside and weigh it again.
Add distilled water to replace any lost by evaporation until the weight is the same as before.

Filter and measure

Filter the clear solution and cool it rapidly to 59°F (15°C).
Measure the density using a hydrometer.

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

Ground malt: Supplies the starch and enzymes that convert starch into fermentable sugars during mashing.
Water: Hydrates the malt and carries the dissolved sugars that the mash extracts.

The step that matters

Holding the mash at 140°F (60°C) and testing for starch. Enzymes in the malt work best within a narrow temperature range. Holding the mash there lets starch convert fully to sugar, and the iodine test confirms conversion is complete before you stop.

“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.