Stepping Flaked Barley?

A couple questions:

Can I just step flaked barley for getting a better head retention?

How much of it would you use for a five gallon batch?

What else would it provide to my beer? Taste, aroma, body..?

Thanks

No steeping flaked barley will pull startch into the beer. May help the head retention and body but will add a haze. It needs to be mashed with a base grain to convert those startches. But, read up on mini-mashing. You can mash the flaked barley with about a pound of 2-row. It is very simple.

Try carapils, it can be steeped and will help improve head retention and body with a minimal contribution to tast or color.