Home Distiller

I've read on multiple threads that guys are cooking the corn 180-200 for 2+ hours. I've also read that alpha denatures at 2-3 hours at 155F.

How are people cooking the corn this hot for this long without denaturing the enzymes?

Thanks



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The high temp cook is to gelatinize the corn and all by itself you are correct their will be no enzymes.
But what a lot of guys are doing and having great success with is using high temp enzymes. It tuns corn glue into sugar water right before your eyes Check out this link
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p7296059

Depends on what corn you have. Cracked corn, flaked corn, cornflakes, polenta, corn flour...
Cracked corn needs long cooking. The other versions not mandatorily. But IMO a short cooking helps always with corn.

Corn normally doesn't have enzymes, because normally it's unmalted. So you doesn't destroy enzymes with cooking, because you add the enzymes or the malt AFTER cooking. Or only a small portion before to loosen up the mash a bit.

Looking at your posts, you are on a good way, you will soon get it.
Please, when posting with your phone, disable the annoying tapatalk message.

I follow the pintoshine method. 15 lbs of corn in a BOP with an overhead 1/2" drill stirring constantly. At 150, the alpha goes in and once the corn hits 190, I hold the temp for one hour. Then add cold backset and keep stirring until it hits 148, then add gluco, keep stirring until it's fully dispersed, then shut it down and wrap the BOP with a blanket and leave overnight. In the morning, it's as sweet as maple syrup. From there, it goes into 2 5-gallon buckets and gets topped off with water from a pressure nozzle to aerate, along with a package of Fleischmann's dry yeast in each bucket. Ferments dry in about 3 days every time.

http://ww.homedistiller.org/forum/downl ... =47455&t=1

http://ww.homedistiller.org/forum/downl ... &mode=view

Here's what I do. The thermal mass from a 55 gallon mash helps the timing. When it was 5 gallon buckets, it was a bit different.

Anyways, I 'cook' and mash over almost a 48 hour period. On the morning of day one, I start around 8 or 9 am. I put my 15 gallon boiler on a table that perfectly aligns the drain over the edge into my 55 drum. Fill it with water, turn it on. Put 1/3 ingredients (corn, sometimes sacrificial malt) into the clean barrel. Go drink coffee and watch cartoons with the kids for an hour.

Come back when boiler is, well boiling, open drain unto grains, stir. Refill boiler, another 1/3 ingredients, go back to coffee.

I do this three times to fill the barrel, and by noon (three hours), my corn is sitting in my barrel, wrapped up in blankets and lid on at about 170-180 degree water. Give it a stir once in a while. The 5 lbs of sacrificial malt keeps it manageable.

Anyways, I let it sit all day. Right about bedtime, 9 pm or so, it approaches mashing temp. Somewhere around 148/150. If not, I take the top off and stir a little too cool it down. Throw malt in, go to bed. I have spent no more than an hour of active labor and have cooked corn for 12 hours.

Wake up in the morning, temp is usually still around 130 or so. I'll give it all a stir once in a while, but most the time, I let it mash through the second day, as well. If it approaches bed time, I'll take the top off and get a fan. But, by bedtime that day, it's generally pitching temp. Pitch yeast, go to bed. I have mashed to close to 24 hours. 10 minutes of active labor. Done

That's my best practice, anyway. I use corn meal and get great conversion. 50lbs corn, 32 lbs malt, 45 gallons of water. 1.062 it so. 1.07 if I use flour ( not my personal favorite to work with). Easy, non life interfering method.

I think by now you can see there are many different ways to skin this cat Ryewhiskey1995. I run a steam mash setup so I mash about 40 gallons at a time. Like der wo mentioned the type of corn and/or the crack of corn is key. Flaked corn is already cooked so it just needs to be dissolved whereas whole corn has to be cracked open to allow for the gelatinazation to occur. I start with cracked corn and then i pulverize it in my modified corona mill with mill stones so I get borderline flour. This makes gelatinization easier (in my mind at least).

I still hold to a similar method as Lawfish but I take the corn up to 200F and then I hold it there around 90 minutes. I do use high temp enzymes so the first goes into the mix around 140F and works up until the 200 mark. The rise in temp will actually increase the rate at which the enzyme works (to a point at least) so I never see a thick porridge mash. After the 90 minutes I will break down the steamer and then add a part of my total mash water as cold water (start with about 25 gallons, add about 5 with steam), about 10 gallons cold water to drop temp. I then add other grains which allows more temp fall. Add second enzyme, mix and sit.... usually overnight.

If you use malted grains instead of enzymes I would suggest a premalt... add a percentage of your grain on heat up so that you don't get stuck with porridge at 190F. I don't premalt but der wo has mentioned it before and I think he uses about 10% of the malt as premalt...? Hopefully he can let you know.

Another thing I would recommend.... more reading...LOL. This time though the reading is off site. If you have come this far here I know you like reading and I think this website: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?ti ... kaiser.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow has some outstanding info on malting and many other things.

SCD's method seems so much easier... I'm kicking myself!

This is all great information!!! Thank you !