Mashing certain specialist grains

[RichardG]

Gentlemen (and Ladies of course!), I have recently taken the next step to extract brewing, and am thoroughly enjoying it (Ultimately I'd like to move on to AG, but for various reasons it'll be some time before I can). I like to use various different specialist grains in my brews, but am aware that quite a few of them need to be mashed rather than steeped. My question is, within the limits of extract brewing is there a way in which such grains can be 'mashed' to enable their use? I have seen the phrase 'mini-mash' and wonder if this refers to such a method. I also believe I need some form of diastatic medium, so could I take a diastatic extract (I believe Edme do one?) and use this to mash those grains that require it? I partly ask the question because John Palmers otherwise excellent book says regarding mashing;

'Mashing: In a Nutshell
Mashing is the term for the hot water steeping process that hydrates the malt, gelatinizes its starches, releases its natural enzymes, and converts the starches into fermentable sugars. The malt is crushed to facilitate hydration and infused with 70 to 74c water at a water-to-grist ratio of 4 liters per kilo to achieve a mash temperature of 65 to 68c. The mash is typically held at that temperature for an hour, although a half-hour is usually sufficient for conversion. After mashing for an hour, the mash is drained of wort and infused with an equal volume of sparge water. The mash is stirred, allowed to settle, and drained again. Done.'

He then goes into great detail about mashing etc, but seems to suggest that the above is the principle 'in a nutshell' and that if you don't want/need to know the details, go with that.

So, how about it? Can I 'mash' those specialist grains that need it without using a full mash process? Any advice will be most gratefully recieved.

[RichardG]

Bl@@dy heck, that was quick! Cheers Chris. So, it seems that I can use a can of diastatic extract, and steep or 'mash' the grains that require it in that. Or, alternatively, I can use the mini-mash system as described by your good self. I'll have a look at that, but the main thing is that there is a way in which I can proceed. Many thanks.

[RichardG]

Hop and Grape advertise it as being available under the Edme brand, though I haven't checked with them if they actually have it. Assuming it is available, is there any preferred amount, or volume, of liquid that should be used for mashing?

[Invalid Stout]

You're already going to the effort of mashing your specialist malt so why not just add some pale malt to the mash? It's bound to be cheaper than diastatic extract, if you can get that at all.

[RichardG]

Agreed Invalid, it ain't cheap and that's before you add P&P! As a result my thoughts have been going in the way you suggest. If my understanding of Chris-X1's post above is correct, I should use an amount of pale malt in equal weight to the other grains I'm going to use, plus an addition of some 20% - 40%. In other words, if I'm using 200g of specialist grains I'd need approx. 240g - 280g of pale malt. If I'm right that appears the best way for me to proceed. One question; how long would pale malt keep? It appears that I'm only going to be able to get this in fairly large amounts and I won't be using it in every brew (though I might for the heck of it! Can't help thinking that grains improve an extract brew no end), and won't be using that much when I do.

[RichardG]

Righto Chris, many thanks for clarifying that for me. Seems like a fairly straight forward method which will at least enable me to use such grains when required in the future. Many thanks.