Modernist Pantry Diastatic Barley Malt Powder Vegan OU Kosher Certified - 400g/14oz

I was using another brand of diastatic barley malt powder for my bagels. It was ok, but I wasn’t getting quite the results I was looking for. I ordered this brand because I could get it sooner and I was pleasantly surprised. My bagels are usually good, but this time they were GREAT. I will be using more of this brand’s products. I’m a former chef and a perfectionist in the kitchen.

Good product for bread making. I use it in some of my sourdough loaves, works great for semolina and basic loaves, which is all I needed it for. Helps with rising. There’s no flavor change imho but maybe others can tell? I dissolve into water before adding it to the starter, and then the flour. I bought the small bag first, then the larger one which is a much better price deal. A little hoes a long way, like 4 g of it will do for a very large loaf (up to 1 kg of flour), or two loaves. I’ll buy again.

I was skeptical at first, but this stuff makes a noticeable difference in my breads. The dough rises a little higher and browns more evenly, and the flavor is -- what can I say -- breadier. I put a scant teaspoon in to proof with the yeast (I know proofing isn't entirely necessary, but I'm old-fashioned and I think I get a better result), and another teaspoon in when I'm mixing the dough. Are you putting a shallow pan of boiling water in the oven with your bread to help the crust get brown and crisp? If not, why?

I used to have trouble getting my sourdough to brown without getting too hard. I’ve used washes, egg, oil, water, but adding small amount of this a) works better b) way easy. Ignore the scary name. It’s nothing more than sprouted wheat that let grow for a few hours and then dried and then ground. The taste of the powder in bag is mild, not exactly like whole wheat or bran, but close to that and very mild, plus at 1 teaspoon per 4 cups of flour, you will not notice. At such a small dose be sure to mix it into the water before I add the water to flour, very easy to get it evenly mixed.

Learned about this type of product on a youtube video and can clearly see the improvement to any bread I make. Helps with the rise, texture, and adds a bit of added nutrition and good flavor too.