Homemade MALTED oat milk recipe

I have been experimenting for quite some time with malt, trying to use it at home to sweeten things. After looking way too far in way too complicated processes, I finally found in all simplicity a delicious recipe to make malted oat milk at home. (You can substitute the oats for rice, wheat or any other grain, but oat milk is especially creamy and delicious).

For those interested in the background processes: malt is sprouted, roasted barley. It contains enzymes that can break down starch (a major part of all grains and many other foods) into maltose, a complex sugar. The specific enzymes that interest us most are at their peak action between 60°C and 70°C. Above 70°C however they are destroyed. So the trick is simply to keep oat milk or watery oat porridge, with some malt added, at least 2 hours in the 60°-70°C range, without passing 70°C. You can buy malt from stores that sell brewer's supplies. If I understand correctly, the lower the "EBC" value of the malt, the better (more active enzymes) - so the most basic and cheap malt is actually the best. Buy it whole, not shredded.
Having a fireless cooker (or haybox) will make the process significantly easier. You can easily make one in minutes from some warm blankets and a piece of string or a box (cardboard or other). (Detailed instructions here). Apart from the usual utensils, you will also need a cooking thermometer that is fairly precise in the 60-70°C range.

So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup of whole oat kernels
- a tiny pinch of salt (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, vanilla powder, ... (optional)
- 1/3 cup of whole malt (available from beer brewer's shops)

Time involved: using the fireless-cooker-method, the working time involved is no more than three times about 5 minutes (once to roast and boil the oats, once to add malt and blend the mixture, and once to strain) in a total space of 4 hours or more, as is convenient for you - the process can be put on hold during various hours or overnight at about any stage if that suits you better.

1. Dry-roast whole oats. Lightly dry roast the whole oats in a cooking pot on medium heat until they are light golden brown and begin to pop. Take care not to burn them (if white smoke begins to develop, you're overheating them). Roasting them gives them a nutty flavor and destroys (some of the) phytic acid in them which inhibits mineral absorption in the body.
   Or you can soak them overnight instead of roasting them, and in the morning discard the soaking water.
2. Add water and boil. Add about 5 or 6 cups of water, a tiny bit of salt and bring to a boil. Now put the pot in a fireless cooker for an hour or two (or overnight), or keep on boiling for about 30-45 minutes on the stove, until the oats are soft and done.
   
3. Let cool until less than 70°C.
   
   (Instead of steps 1-3 you can also simply add water to leftover cooked rice or other cereals.)
   
   
4. Add the malt, the cinnamon, vanilla, and/or other spices and herbs.
   
5. Blend everything as fine as you reasonably can. The consistency can be from milk to pancake batter, as you prefer, but I wouldn't make it thicker. If it is too thick, add water at this stage and mix well.
   
6. Heat the mixture above 60°C and as close as possible to 70°C, but without going any higher than 70°C! Stir well while heating so that the whole mixture has the same temperature.
7. Once the mixture reaches the desired temperature, remove it from the stove, put the lid on, and put it in your fireless cooker (or wrap it tightly in some warm blankets) for a minimum of 3-4 hours, and ideally some 8 hours (or overnight).
   (In theory you could also keep it in the 60-70°C range on the stovetop, stirring well and putting it on and off the heat source, but this seems very impractical to me...)
8. Strain through a fine mesh (stir the mixture and grate the sides of the mesh from the inside with a spoon to reopen clogged openings)
9. Bring the strained milk to a boil to stop enzymatic activity. What you won't drink right away, pour it boiling hot into a clean glass recipient and screw on the lid immediately, that way it will keep longer. Once cooled down, store in the fridge.
   
10. Ready! Enjoy!