Sites Methods of malting corn

[jahkin]

Just looking for some of your guys methods of malting because mine does not seem to give me a good return when malting, what Iam trying to say is for 5Lbs I might get 1/2 pound malted and the other does not, but it is all sticky . So start dishing out some help.

[Dnderhead]

to whet,,contamination (mold etc..)to hot.

[Old Man]

I am very much a novice myself but I have had great success malting corn ! My first suggestion is put your corn in a pillow case & submerge it in a stream for 2 days bring it out & cover it with leaves in the shade { tried burying it in sawdust which worked but not as good } and pour some warm water over it each evening Ive had great success 90% sprouted in 3 days ! Good Luck Hope this helps you

[la Bleue]

I am very much a novice myself but I have had great success malting corn ! My first suggestion is put your corn in a pillow case & submerge it in a stream for 2 days bring it out & cover it with leaves in the shade

Reminds me of a scene in "Still Making Moonshine"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTiSc5-EWbA

But anyway Im looking for extra tips on malting corn as well. I think there is one tried and true method which is most commonly mentioned on the site and in literature; soaking, sitting, sprouting.

[rubber duck]

Just looking for some of your guys methods of malting because mine does not seem to give me a good return when malting, what Iam trying to say is for 5Lbs I might get 1/2 pound malted and the other does not, but it is all sticky . So start dishing out some help.

What temp are you soaking and sprouting at? If it's to warm it won't do well.

[jahkin]

I use spring water and let that warm up to about 65 and change it daily after a 48 hour soak I then lay it out on some baking sheets and cover with moist towel turning twice daily making sure to spray some water on it out of a sprayer and making sure it is in a dark cool room around 70

It is something very small stoping me from doing a good malting and I have read alot of things and it seems I am doing it to the book but that book is not working for me yet.

[Old Man]

I believe the oxygen in the running water helps somehow ! Also maybe something about the leaves {humus} whatever you cover it up with ?? All I know is for me that worked a lot better than burying it in sawdust I think the sawdust was to hot to work good

[Dnderhead]

raw sawdust will remove nutrients.at least with mulch.

[dragonfrog]

What I've read about malting grain - and this was mostly about barley and wheat, with corn mentioned only in passing - was that the grain should alternate soaking and airing out. The usual suggestion I've seen is no more than 8 hours soaking, then air for 8 hours or so before soaking again. The seeds are living things and need oxygen, soaking too long can 'drown' them.

[rad14701]

What I've read about malting grain - and this was mostly about barley and wheat, with corn mentioned only in passing - was that the grain should alternate soaking and airing out. The usual suggestion I've seen is no more than 8 hours soaking, then air for 8 hours or so before soaking again. The seeds are living things and need oxygen, soaking too long can 'drown' them.

After the initial soaking the grain only needs to be kept moist... Grain seed sewed in the ground doesn't get much pampering and has a very high germination rate...

[Dan Call]

I just got great results with Valley Splendor Deer Corn, of all things.

I took a kiddie pool, about 6 feet across and a foot or so deep, spread about 20 pounds of the whole corn across the bottom, poured on about 3 gallons of pure spring water from a natural well down the road, not store bought. I added water twice yesterday having put the whole thing together about 6 hours before. Today I have quarter inch runners on over 80% of the grain. I couldn't believe it.

So...this does mean that with the runners the starches are converted to sugars.....?

[Dnderhead]

first to grow is roots,next will be sprouts , on corn you want sprouts about 1-2 inches long. on other grain its different.about length of grain.

[Dan Call]

I'm still getting runners on mine. I've kept the bottom covered with water. It's been three days now and some runners are an inch or so. I read on here that the longer the sprouts, the more enzymes for conversion the corn has. I'm just wondering at what point in the sprouting these enzymes become available and when they trail off. And...should I just grind them to stop the process? I was told not to heat them or it will destroy the enzymes. I'm still thinking about smoking some corn with oak chips to effect flavor, but I will not do it on the malted corn. I'm still into that as a way of effecting flavor. And why in the world did they, of all things, choose peat moss??? Readily available? Some dude way back probably just looked around and said..."Hey .....let's use this stuff, just throw it on there. Now it's the holy grail of Scotch and Irish whiskey making. In my mind, they are the masters of distilling, they took it to levels that are the most sophisticated.

[Dnderhead]

the length of sprout should be about 1 in. /25mm. grain produces enzymes as soon as it gits whet and warm.then as the sprout grows it produces more and does so until it reaches a point it has used up all the starch,the plant hopes that its roots are in the ground by this time or it just wasted its life.so if it has not grown long enough then it wont have as much enzymes,,but if if grown to long then it has used up most of the starch.so this balance is some place around 1 in/25mm. now you can dry this or use as is.corn /maze has little enzymes so id suggest malting all that I was going to use.

the enzymes will start to denature at or about 160f /72c. and will at lower temperature over extended time.

[Dnderhead]

I just did a little experiment.mite help those that are having problems with mold..
I added a small amount of K meta to the soak water,it had no effect on sprouting.
for those that dont know K meta(potassium metabisulphite)it is used in wine to retard mold/wild yeast growth.
but does not effect domestic yeast.

[Usge]

That's a good idea Dnder. Since the idea is to "simulate" sprouting/growth....I don't see why one couldn't take a pot or tray full of potting soil...dig a hole and pour a bunch of corn in it...then water it a couple times a day. Or even just plant it outside in a trough dug several inches deep. Then..after it sprouts...dig it up and sift them out.

Yes, the biggest problem I ever had with it was "mold" or it going slime on me. This was because there's a certain amount of water that it needs to sprout good...but that's just enough water to make it rot if it's in any way sitting in it (water). I used a nylon grain bag (big one). This helped it drain faster..and cut down on mold. But, it didn't sprout as good cause it tended to get too dry. The "bucket" in a bucket methods "never" worked for me in any form or fashion — not matter what I tried..the corn would not sprout good and went smelly/slimy before it was near ready. I think the problem with the bucket method was..it just kept it too wet. That's despite having plenty of holes in the bottom to drain it off...the corn itself hold enough water to make it mold/rot.

So, it needs to be spread out as well. The swimming pool sounds like a good idea! The "creek" method was Jim Tom. He put a 50lb bag of corn into a nylon duffle, then put it in a "moving" creek just under the surface (not stagnant), for a day or so, then he took it out and put it under a tree, covered the bag with leaves...and left it for about 3 days...pouring a little water over the leaves everyday. He suggested the "stringers" were about 3" or so long. There is some debate here and there...about how long they should be. The first thing to come out are little rootlets (thin string looking things). The thing you are looking for is the acrospire that comes out of the "side" of the kernel. This is much fatter and will grow long and eventually you will get a "leaf"/plant if you let it go. In general, you are going to get fairly uneven sprouting...some more developed than others...so you look for an overall average. Or, you can pick out the ones that are really fast..and let the others go on longer. They say if you do it right...your malt should taste very sweet. I've not experienced that. My corn malt usually tasted kind of "earthy"..like roasted dirt.

[jahkin]

Just an update to my original post I was using Southeren States whole corn with no results when trying to malt I tried everything and came to the conclusion that it was something with the corn and I was correct so aweek or so ago I purchased a 40Lb bag from walmart it says deer corn I believe from Remington so I took a handful and soaked it for a day yes 1 day changing water 3 time to keep o2 fresh and to my suprise 90% of the corn started and finished malting like a champ. So for what ever reason the SS corn would not malt, anybody have a good reason why not.

[Dnderhead]

dryed with heat.

[jahkin]

Makes since Im guessing the heat kills the germ is that right.