We all know that malt is best mixed well with hot water during feeding to prevent clumping and to try to make the enzymes fully functional.
Generally speaking, there are two ways to feed malt into the mash tank.
(1). The traditional method is to first keep the water in the malt tank at the right temperature while turning on the mixer. Then the milled malt is slowly conveyed to the wort tank with a propeller while stirring to prevent clumping. However, this method has the risk of losing malt powder. Also, the wort may be oxidized, which is detrimental to the quality of the beer.
(2) With the help of a malt hydrator
The malt hydrator is usually installed above the wort tank, but below the grinding hopper. When the malt from the hopper is put into the wort tank, it will pass through the hydrator where the malt will be mixed with the hot water inside. It then enters the wort bin after being uniformly mixed. This will better prevent the malt powder from flying everywhere and avoid clumping.