Tips For Kit Brewing

I just realized I actually had wisdom to impart! It's a rare occasion, so I thought I'd document that before I forgot.

When kit brewing with Dried Malt Extract (DME) I have found something to be very helpful. When it's time to add my DME I do the following

1) cut open DME bags with scissors along the long side to it will be easy to dump quickly, and set them off to the side standing up (so no DME spills)
2) stir the wort so it is moving very quickly (but not splashing) on it's own when the spoon is removed
3) dump the DME as fast as possible, but be careful not to splash
4) stir like a mug

The DME is dehydrated, powdered malt. As soon as it hits liquid it begins to rehydrate itself. Your wort is boiling, so steam is rising from it. This means your DME begins to rehydrate itself as soon as or sometimes even before it leaves the bag, which gets very messy.  Dumping while the wort is still stirring itself means no crust is formed on top of your wort that you then have to break up, and doing it quickly means no lumps form in your bag.