Perhaps you know about malt because you enjoyed it as a kid. Malted milk balls and malted milkshakes, anyone? Or maybe you hear ‘malt’ and instantly think about single malt Scotch. Whatever the case, there are loads of foods using malt that you probably don’t even know about. Intrigued? Read on for more details.
What Is Malt?
The short answer is that malt is a sweetener with a distinct toasted, caramel-like, fruity flavour. It results from processed cereal grains thanks to lots of science - more on how it’s made below. Malt is different from a malt, which is the name for a milkshake made with malted milk powder (a derivative of malt). More on the milkshakes below, too.
What Is Malt Made Out Of?
The long answer to this question is an explanation of what malt is made from and how it’s made. The process begins with grain, most frequently barley, but other grains are used too, including corn. Here’s a very simplified description of the steps:
Malt Starts Out As Grain
Grain, being a seed, will germinate when soaked in water. So, step one is to soak the grain and wait for the tiny spout to appear. Since the grain is the food the tiny sprout needs to grow before it gets nutrients from soil, it’s packed with starches, protein, vitamins and minerals. There are enzymes in the grain that get to work and turn the hard seed into tiny pieces of sugar and protein and other stuff that feeds the sprout.
The Grain and Sprouts Become Malt
When the sprout pops up, the grain is heated to stop the tiny plant from growing. Sounds harsh, but the sprout is sacrificed in the name of malt. Everything that the sprout would have used as food to grow is what malt is.
The Malt Becomes Mash
At this point, all the heated grain is mashed and then used to make any number of things.
Some of the mash is processed to extract the sugars that are used to make malt powder.
Some of the mash takes a different route and is added to yeast. It turns out, yeast eats the same tiny pieces of food that the sprout needed. When given mash, the yeast grows and multiplies and grows some more. This process is called fermentation. The result of fermentation is alcohol.
What Is Malt Used For?
Powdered malt is added to flour and used to make some very familiar dough-based foods, like bagels, Belgian waffles, whole grain breads and even tortillas.
It’s the main ingredient in the centre of a malted milk ball, and it can be added to any milkshake, turning the shake into a malt.
Malt, along with hops, yeast and water are the ingredients for beer.
Finally, malt is one of the main ingredients in whiskey (the term used in the US) and whisky (the term used in Scotland). By the by, when a Scotch is labelled as a single malt, it doesn’t mean it was made with just one malt, it means the whisky came from just one distiller.
What Is Malt Powder vs. Malted Milk Powder?
Malt powder is quite different from malted milk powder, so make sure you don’t confuse the two.
Malt powder is often used in breadmaking, and in this case it’s commonly labeled as diastatic malt powder. When mixed into dough, diastatic malt powder feeds the yeast in the mixture, causing the dough to rise quickly and the resulting bread to spring well. In addition, malt powder is used in some processed foods to create caramel colour and malt-like flavour.
Malted milk powder is malt powder plus milk solids. It’s a pale-yellow powder with a milky, delicately nutty flavour that’s classically used to make malts – aka malted milk shakes.
What Is a Malt? And What Is the Difference Between a Malt and a Milkshake?
A malt, also known as a malted milkshake, holds a classic place in American diner and soda fountain lore. Popularised in the 1920s, malts or malted milkshakes are simply classic milkshakes with the addition of malted milk powder. They’re neither thicker than classic milkshakes nor healthier, but they certainly have a characteristic nutty, extra milky flavour that’s addictive. Make one at home, or stop by that old school diner you’ve been wanting to try for ages.
What Is Malt Liquor?
Perhaps you’ve read that one of your favourite beverages is in fact a flavoured malt beverage. Malt liquor is made similarly to beer, only often with grains that are less expensive than barley, such as corn, and without the addition of hops. Malt liquor is stripped of its colour and scent and then combined with other flavours. Hard seltzers are in fact not malt liquors; they’re made from fermented sugar, not grains.
What Is Malt Vinegar?
Malt vinegar is vinegar that started out as beer. It is a cousin of wine vinegar and is made exactly the same way. Yeast and bacteria go to work on all the sugars and alcohol in the beer and it becomes vinegar.
