How To Make Your Own Barley Malt

I have wanted to try making malt for a long time. It's one of my favorite flavors, and I read in lots of places that it can make a really good sweetener when you combine it with other sweeteners... it somehow enhances other sweeteners, something about its chemical composition.

Well, I read a few websites. Most of them were related to beer-making. After reading up, I tried it three different times, and my last try was most successful. SO I thought I'd lay it out here in case anyone else had the same desire I had, so that it could be more user-friendly and less beer-related.

MAKING MALT:

needed:

barley (uncooked, unpearled).
A jar
a dark cupboard or closet
a sieve with very small holes.
a good grinder--coffee or wheat grinders would be best.

Sprout your barley by putting it in the jar, filling it with water and letting it sit overnight in a dark cupboard.

THen rinse 2 times a day with water, setting it back inside the closet afterward, until you see little bumps forming on the ends of each grain.

When these bumps are as long as the grain itself (Half-grain, half sprout, usually takes a few days) then spread your barley out on a cookie sheet and roast it the same way you'd roast grains, at a low heat (I did 200), taking the pan out to mix the grains around every 15 minutes or so for even drying. You could also do this the long way in a dehydrator.

When the grains are all dry (sprouts included--they'll be withered and brown and will fall off very easily) put the whole mess into a sieve or sifter. sift, sift, sift until the sprouts are separated from the grains entirely (put something under the sifter if you don't want a giant mess on your counter.)

Throw the sprouts away. Take the grains, and grind them up into a fine powder. I use a coffee grinder, you could also likely use a standard wheat grinder.

You can use malt in any recipe where sweetener is required. The best recipes are ones that are cinnamon/chocolate/rice-pudding type recipes---anything that might use vanilla, for instance. just try 1/2 to 1 tsp in any recipe where you'd like to use a little less sugar, maybe, or are using other kinds of sweeteners to replace sugar.