[Sca-cooks] Malt Syrup History

Terry Decker t.d.decker at att.net
Mon Feb 18 20:55:13 PST 2013



> Bear wrote:
>> Malt syrup is made cooking crush malted barley into a mash, then 
>> filtering
>> the liquid and evaporating it until it becomes a syrup. It's basically a
>> concentrate made from the first step in brewing. As an adjunct to 
>> brewing,
>> it's meant for brewers who for whatever reason can't mash their own 
>> barley
>> malt. There is a caveat to using modern malt extract, corn is often added
>> to the mash to produce the extract for less cost.
>
> I know that barley was malted and toasted and cooked, but was it actually 
> made into a thick sweet syrup that was used by brewers within SCA period? 
> Or is it just another modern convenience?
>
> And if it was cooked down into a thick sweet syrup within SCA-period
> -- Was this used by bakers of bread within SCA period?
> -- Was it used by other cooks to sweeten other food stuffs?
>
> Sorry, i'm just fulla questions...
>
> Someone sometimes called Urtatim

I know of no reference to malt extract being used in Europe for baking or 
sweetening within period.  While it was within the capability of period 
brewsters, they had no particular need to store or transport their mash 
(which is possible with malt extract) and honey and sugar were both 
available as sweeteners.

Davidson references Law's Grocers Manual (1895) as to demonstrate a fad in 
malt products in the late 19th Century and then continues, "One result of 
this fad was the invention of malt extract." (The Oxford Companion to Food)

I'd say assume it is a modern product.

Bear 




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