So, as some of you know, I am working on opening a commercial malting operation, Walsh Artisan Maltings. As I play around with my kiln to start my test batches, I have an opportunity to get access to a smoker for the weekend, so I think I will give smoked malt a try. My question is...do I dry and then smoke? Or smoke it dry? I've seen styles of malt done both ways, so what do you all prefer?
The Rauchbier breweries in Bamberg dry the malt over beech wood fires. The beechwood has been split then aged for 3 years, produces a clean, almost smokeless fire. The trick is to know what temperature you want for the inlet to the kiln box. They use dampers to adjust the amount of smoke and inlet air to get the temp they want. They also have a large fan to pull the air/smoke out of the top of the kiln. They also smoke the malt in the winter when the humidity is low. I spray malt with RO water (no chlorine) and smoke it on my smoker, keeping the grain bed below 200F. The water helps the husks absorb the smoke.
I've had best luck with soaking the malt for 15 min before it gets smoked. Most of the flavor soaks into the moisture of the kernels. You get a stronger flavor this way and would sell less of your malt this way. Maybe not the direction you want to go. I still put my smoked malt in the oven after smoking it to make sure it was dry. I think your entire smoking process should be moist to wet regardless of how you want to get this done. You can soak it or use a spray bottle. I've had luck with both. I've also heard that the smoke flavor needs to mellow out for a few days to a week before you use it. A brown paper bag or just open for a while is a good idea. I learned the hard way that your traditional low and slow method of smoking meat is TOO HOT for malts. You'll want a small fire and to monitor it closely.
Yes it is best to put in the oven to finish drying and get rid of some harsher smoke compounds, then let it rest in a paper bag for a week. I want the wood to smolder, not to have flames.
