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Raise your hand if you hear the word “malt” and think of beer or whiskey. Yes, malting—the process of controlled germination and drying of grain—is an important process in making beer and thus grain alcohol like whiskey because you create the enzyme amylase. Malting grains makes them a bit sweeter, softer, more savory—this is good news for your food! The key steps are simple, hydrate the grain, let the grain germinate, and then dehydrate the grain at the exact right time. We used whole-grain emmer, also known as farro, from <a href="https://bluebirdgrainfarms.com/">Bluebird Grain Farms</a> to document this process. However, you can malt any grain or pseudo-grain with the same process: barley, rye, wheat, brown rice, millet, sorghum, quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth to name a few. Not all grains contain amylase but you can sprout all grains, you can even sprout non-grain items, such as beans. Use this guide to “malt” any of these. Note: this is a small recipe which produces enough grain malt to make a few bowls of risotto. We suggest you scale up this recipe, so you have some extra on hand when you crave some of that <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/umami-risotto">umami bomb risotto.</a>