having trouble malting corn

[Kreoman]

i'm trying to stay with 100% corn bill , and since i cannot find malted corn anywhere , i bought whole corn from the feed store,put it in a bulap sack ,then into a plastic 5 gal. bucket filled with water , changed water 3 times daily ( once or twice i missed the three times daily and got real funky smell ,but kept changing water for over 5 to 7 days, but no signs of sprouting. any advice out there on how to get the corn to sprout.
in the mean time i ordered some 6 row pale malt (that i used on my first run that worked so well) so i can keep making runs ,until i figure out this malting thing.
on another note i also purchased some cracked corn from feed store instead of the very exspensive flaked maze from the brew shops and a hand crank grinder (man thats alotta work grinding corn)various readings tell me the starch content / sugar conversion wont be as good ,and grinding is a must to open the whole kernel up for conversion. is there any electric motor powered grinders out there, cause im trying to figure out how to hook up a motor to my hand grinder.

[Kifi]

Don't malt the corn - just buy a handful of barley malt (say 1.5 lbs) and there will be enough enzymes there to convert the corn starch as well. Or, screw the malting entirely and buy some alpha amylase and gluco amylase enzymes, wait for the mash to drop to 65 degrees C, then stir in the alpha and gluco and 2 hours later, your wash is sweet and ready for fermentation.

[Bayou-Ruler]

i'm trying to stay with 100% corn bill , and since i cannot find malted corn anywhere , i bought whole corn from the feed store,put it in a bulap sack ,then into a plastic 5 gal. bucket filled with water , changed water 3 times daily ( once or twice i missed the three times daily and got real funky smell ,but kept changing water for over 5 to 7 days, but no signs of sprouting. any advice out there on how to get the corn to sprout.
in the mean time i ordered some 6 row pale malt (that i used on my first run that worked so well) so i can keep making runs ,until i figure out this malting thing.
on another note i also purchased some cracked corn from feed store instead of the very exspensive flaked maze from the brew shops and a hand crank grinder (man thats alotta work grinding corn)various readings tell me the starch content / sugar conversion wont be as good ,and grinding is a must to open the whole kernel up for conversion. is there any electric motor powered grinders out there, cause im trying to figure out how to hook up a motor to my hand grinder.

I believe you are supposed to keep it moist and in a warm dark place, not submerge it completely in water............. BUT I could be wrong............

[Prairiepiss]

I thought you were suppose to soak for a day. Then pull it out set in a warm dark place and just keep it moist from that point on till it sprouts.

[Bayou-Ruler]

I thought you were suppose to soak for a day. Then pull it out set in a warm dark place and just keep it moist from that point on till it sprouts.

That sounds right

[Kreoman]

thanks i did order some more malted barley and some amylase enzime, but i was really tring to stay true to 100% pure corn liquer and to learn how to do this with out the need to keep ordering stuff of the internet. im even thinking about growing my own sweet whitecorn too.the whole thing is so gratifing i love it! this hobby rates at the top of most of the other things i like to do, it is educational ,challenging and rewarding

[Kreoman]

well , i'll try soaking only one day , maybe thats where i went wrong. the ian smiley book said soak until sprout,but that did'nt work . so i'll try your suggestion and see

[Tater]

Might of save you some time and ya wouldn't have to wonder if other newbies responses were what was known or just was thought .Had just tried a search here and parent site. http://homedistiller.org/grain/wash-grain/malting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[islandrunner]

Your corn may have been through a corn dryer to get the moisture down. Your corn should of spouted roots in 3 days.

[still crazy]

If you want to spout your corn for malting.
Go to a grain store ask for "seed" corn.
Some corn is irradiated which keeps it from sprouting.
This is usually used in food or as feed corn.

So it's Seed not feed.

[Kreoman]

huh, after i through that stinky corn in the garbage canday before yesterday, i went to take garbage to street for pick up and some kernel had sprouts after 2 days in garbage can. but they still stunk reral bad. i'm startin over steep a day then burry under some leaves in burlap and see

[Kreoman]

thanks tater , thats some good reading, how do i fine that other than the link you provided on the post, most of the time i do look on the board index to find the topics that i may have questions about , but i did'nt see these articles. i'm very new to this site , so thanks for directing me.

[Kreoman]

i especially like the 2 bucket aerator thing

[rubber duck]

Malting corn isn't rocket surgery but you have to do a little reading.

Try it this way, get 2 buckets and use it like a false bottom, in the bottom bucket put an air stone for fish tanks on a small air pump and fill the top bucket half full with corn and water. With the air stone you only need to change the water once a day. After 3 days spread your corn out on a plastic tarp and turn it twice a day. Once it sprouts to the level you want just mash it with a 4x4 post and use it green, that way you don't need a grinder.

One problem some folks have is that the sprouting creates a lot of heat,( not good for malting) I don't have that problem because of where I live so I can't help if that's an issue.

[Tater]

thanks tater , thats some good reading, how do i fine that other than the link you provided on the post, most of the time i do look on the board index to find the topics that i may have questions about , but i did'nt see these articles. i'm very new to this site , so thanks for directing me.

Its called the parent site linked at top near center right of page.

[Kreoman]

ok great i m starting to see and explore , this place is awesome. i saw the article wiki useit, and register , dont quite know what that is yet, i'm not a big computer guy, but it sounds cool. anyway thanks again i'm starting to find my way around the site.

[Kreoman]

ok,gonna try the double bucket aerator way. i did put some whole corn in a burlap sack after soaking for a day and after afew days they did sprought , dont quite know how to recognize a acrosphire ,although i think it must be the larger of the two ,one being a thin root looking string and the other like it may be the beginning of the corn stalk. anyway i now know that the whole feed corn will germinate.so the bucket method seems to be cleaner and c02s wont be stinking up the stuff.and thats next along with a germ tray or two that will also serve as a kilm with a bath room vent fan and a variable heat trace strip. thanks.

[Kreoman]

oyeah, just finished building kilm shown in ian smiley book, made with cypress, still have to incororrate heat and fan, it's beautiful,also go my aquarium aerator and stone, bout to have a corn malting setup. might post pics if i can figure out how.

[Kreoman]

Got malted corn ? yes i do aerated bucket and kiln workin just fine and clean too!

[elctrohomebrwer]

i'm trying to stay with 100% corn bill , and since i cannot find malted corn anywhere , i bought whole corn from the feed store,put it in a bulap sack ,then into a plastic 5 gal. bucket filled with water , changed water 3 times daily ( once or twice i missed the three times daily and got real funky smell ,but kept changing water for over 5 to 7 days, but no signs of sprouting. any advice out there on how to get the corn to sprout.
in the mean time i ordered some 6 row pale malt (that i used on my first run that worked so well) so i can keep making runs ,until i figure out this malting thing.
on another note i also purchased some cracked corn from feed store instead of the very exspensive flaked maze from the brew shops and a hand crank grinder (man thats alotta work grinding corn)various readings tell me the starch content / sugar conversion wont be as good ,and grinding is a must to open the whole kernel up for conversion. is there any electric motor powered grinders out there, cause im trying to figure out how to hook up a motor to my hand grinder.

i don't know if this helps, but here's what i did. i too bought whole corn, but i put it into a a big mixing bowl. it was about 7lbs. i filled it with luke warm water and stirred. the bad kernels float to the top, i removed those and rinsed a few times because there is dirt and who knows what else sitting on the grain. i left it covered for three days then dumped the water off completely. the grain will be somewhat soft at that point. just let it sit there and stir once or twice a day till the sprouts are about an inch and a half, then dry it on the lowest setting your oven and most importantly what your wifey will allow. when it has dried, let it cool and the sprout should have shrunk so that they look like little hairs. put those in an old pillow case, or like i did take one from the "guest room" because the wifey wanted to be all pissy that day. smack the pillow case against the ground, concrete/brick wall/neighbor's dog that won't stay in it's own damn yard. the rootlets and sprouts should come off after a good couple swings. i then took a fan and put it on medium speed and slowly pours the grain into a bucket with the fan blowing at the grain to get the rootlets to blow away. after that, you are ready to grind and treat like any malted grain, because that is what it is.

[dis-still-in]

Kreoman,

On grinding: I purchased a simple grinder from the local homebrew shop. Had an electric motor sitting around and got on the ol interweb and found a grooved wheel attachment. Added a belt and voila! motorized grinder. It is still a lot of time/energy though, especially because I was using it at the time to brew beer, 2 full kegs at a time. Lot of grain to grind.....