Can crystal and chocolate malts be steeped whole?

I got an extract recipe for a dark honey lager online and it calls for steeping some 120L Crystal malt as well as some chocolate malt. I've only brewed from kits before and this will be my first time buying ingredients and brewing from a recipe. Anyway, the only malts that my local homebrew store had were uncrushed. I do not own a grain mill yet (it's on the wishlist though) so my question is do I need to hand-crush these (or is there a better way) or can I steep them whole?

BTW, I plan on roasting these malts in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees before steeping them.

Thanks for the help.

Get a big plastic ziplock bag and a rolling pin...or wine bottle or a mallet and go over them a bit...that will be enough to open them a bit to get all the good flavors exposed to the water.

Why do you feel the need to roast the roasted grain further, there's really no need, and you run the risk of scorching it....and really with grains that dark you don't want them any more roasted. It's one thing to take 2 row and make crystal, but not to take a darker malt and risk bringing out the unpleasant characteristics.

Yeah, I always just use a wine bottle as a rolling pin.

Not sure I understand you, but I would not roast specialty grains that you have purchased.

If you want to roast grains, get some straight 2-row or 6-row or wheat or something. Start from scratch.

DeathBrewer said:

Yeah, I always just use a wine bottle as a rolling pin.

Not sure I understand you, but I would not roast specialty grains that you have purchased.

If you want to roast grains, get some straight 2-row or 6-row or wheat or something. Start from scratch.

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Oh, OK. Thanks for the heads up. I just re-read the recipe and the roasting is part of the all-grain recipe and not the extract. Also, thanks for the idea of how to crush.

It's normal for all the grains at your LHBS to be in whole form, but generally there's a grain mill there that you can run it through. You should ask about it next time you're there. I'm sure they have a mill somewhere. If you don't see it, maybe it's in the back and you just have to ask them to crush them for you.