Just can't malt corn successfully

[gsugg]

I have seemed to have no trouble malting most all the grains, except corn. On all but corn, I follow the same procedure. I soak for 8 hours, then drain for 8 hours. Usually, by middle of day two, chits are starting to show. I keep the grain slightly misted during the drain phase. When the chits start to show, I spread it about 2 inches thick on old burlap tobacco sheets. Several time a day, I mist the grain and stir it around. Depending on the grain, it's ready by either day 5 up to day 10. I shoot for a combination of shoot lengths to get good modification. As an added step, I changed over to using 1% food grade hydrogen peroxide soaks to help prevent mold.

With corn, it seems that no matter what I do, it will mold before the shoots get anywhere close to proper length. I've even tried using peroxide in the mist water after the soaking phase. The only difference is that it generally takes double the soaking days to get the corn to germinate. As far as the type of corn; I've tried what is called yellow "deer corn", yellow feed grade corn, and corn from a farmer straight out of the field. (field dried). Only thing is I haven't tried white corn, nor have I tried food grade because of the expense. Does anybody have any suggestions?

By the way, I have malted between 50 and 100 pounds of each grain in learning. Some have asked me what I did with all the grain. I have 4 horses, a mule, and a donkey that I feed it to if I don't need it. [They seem to love the taste as much as most of us do!] Any suggestions would be helpful as to what I can try with corn. If I had a fresh creek nearby, I'd go that route, but it's not available. Thank you all for any help you can offer.

GS

[gsugg]

Couple of pics of some wheat I malted, using the 1% peroxide in the soak. Pic 1 is at Day 5; Pic 2 is at Day 2.

[Swedish Pride]

look for MCH's post on it, fairly sure he'd done it to some degree of success

[Shine0n]

I thought I read about the peroxide was done in the initial soak not just the misting, also was one soak.

I believe that what I read but I'll check to make sure I'm not leading you wrong.

[gsugg]

ShineOn,

You're actually correct, the initial soak is all that the guys recommended. I went to the mist with peroxide as an experiment to see if it would help with the mold problem. I haven't seen anything negative as long as it's strength is kept at 1% or less. Then again, it's not seemed to help either.

The reason I went to multiple soaks comes from just personal experience of growing up on the farm. I know when we'd plant crops; if rain came fast and stood on the ground more than about 10 hours or so, it would drown the seeds and cause us to have to replant. So my soaks are for 8 hours and I just go by the look and feel of the seeds at the end of each. I probably should be more scientific and weigh them each time to see how much moisture they picked up. I watch for the swelling of the kernel and the little tiny eruption where the chit is starting. I know I'm wrong in the way I do it, but it's worked for me so I hate to change! But I definitely wouldn't recommend my method to somebody starting out. I would think it comes with time and attempts; and the only reason it works for me is because of Dad teaching me when I was growing up how to dig up and watch the kernels for the changes that happen as the seed starts to germinate. I do wish you'd post the correct method though because obviously my ways of doing things aren't working for corn! Thanks again. (The more I learn, the more I realize I don't really have much of a clue!)

GS

[Appalachia-Shiner]

I have just started malting some of the New Crop corn. I also have had a few problems with mold in the past, but this time I tried the dilute Hydrogen Peroxide sprayed on the corn as I put it in trays to germinate. ZERO mold. this stuff seems to do the trick.

[gsugg]

Based on everything I've read here I think I need to quit being so cheap and buy some quality corn rather than the cheap grade at the feed store. Shipping is just so expensive it seems; when I can get all the corn I want either straight out of the field, or for $9 per 50 pound bag at the local feed store. Thanks so much for the help.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I've always had good luck with corn.
I use locally bagged "deer corn", still on the cobs, I shell it myself.
I do an overnight soak, about 20hrs, then I rinse it a couple times a day. Ends up being very clean and fresh smelling, no mold.

Never used the hydrogen peroxide, but I do use treated city water, not sure if the chlorine in it makes any difference or not.

[Cu29er]

I've always had good luck with corn.... but I do use treated city water, not sure if the chlorine in it makes any difference or not.

That would be a big factor .. fill a bath tub and you can see the color and smell the chlorine. I bet it helps a lot.

I have had easy success with wheat but problematic with corn. Well water here. I ordered a few small packets of amylase powder and that seems to do quite well on the cracked corn. It's a little like cheating though so I'll keep at it as I like green malt.

[islandgreen1971]

gsugg, had the same problem. Found a really good tutorial on Malting corn by Bearded and bored on YouTube. This is a great way to do it without molding ! Good Luck, let me know how it works r u !