1868 The complete Practical Distiller

PROCESS OF MALTING.

69

but then the mass would be in danger of turning acid, and if this temperature was to be maintained for some hours, the evil resulting from it would be irreparable. If the temperature exceeded 145^, there would be no inconvenience to bring it to 155°, and even to 165° ; but at 180° the danger begins to show itself. Above 180° there is great danger of doing harm to the fermentation and if the heat approached 200°, there would be no fer- mentation produced at all. It appears that the gluten, which in this operation is the vehicle of saccharification, only posseses that property when it has not been exposed to too high a temperature ; heat seconds its action very much, and renders it more intense, but the maximum of this heat is from 145° to 165°. The proportion of water acts also a remarkable part in the maceration, and the greater the bulk made use of, the more prompt and com- plete the saccharification will be, all other necessary con- ditions being fulfilled; for instance, generally, to work 400 pounds of flour, about 12 gallons of water are used in steeping, and 30 are added in mashing ; this will be complete in four hours. But if the dose of water was doubled, this mashing might be as complete as the former in the course of from two to two hours and a half; such is the influence of water on the saccharification of starch. These phenomena will hereafter be demonstrated by other examples ; when speaking of the maceration of po- tatoes, this will be particularly considered. When the mashing is over — that is, after two or four hours, accord- ing to the quantity of water made use of, a temperature bordering upon 145° having been maintained — then the