Liquid Malt Extract

I am going to be making my 1st batch on Saturday from a kit. The kit has only liquid malt extract, no powder malt extract. So I am thinking I will steep my grains and then bring my wort to a boil.

So my questions is the kit says to add the liquid right after the steeping or should I wait until the very end after the hopping ?

Steep grains for at least 30 mins removing them once water hits 170. Bring water to a rolling boil for me it's around 209 "near sea level". Either flame out or reduce to low to prevent boil over. Then add Malt extracts mixing well to avoid any burning on bottom of pot. Then bring flame back up and boil malt for a good 60 min. Add hops when recipe calls for them 60, 30 min etc. The earlier you add the hops the more bitterness you will get from them. The later you add the more aroma and hop flavor.

Depending on the grains i have let mine steep around 165 for about 40-60 minutes. Then add the Malt Extracts mixing as Gldnst8 says the rest..

i steep the grains for 30 minutes, remove the pot from the heat, add the extract, then bring to a boil, add the hops and begin timing the 60 minutes

I go strictly by temperature on the steeping grains - 165F, they come out, regardless of the length of time. I normally add extract at about fifteen minutes, then at about 45 minutes into the boil.

When steeping grains, all you are doing is disolving and rinsing the sugars off the grains. It's not like mashing where you have to get the enzymes to convert the starches to sugar first.

Steep around 165 F. No set time, but you need to get the grains up to the water temperature to disolve the sugars. Stir as much as you can to keep rinsing the sugars off the grains. The longer you leave it, the more sugars you will get, but I suspect you will have gotten most out of it within 15 minutes.

If you are using a grain bag, you can get a lot more of the sugars if you have a second pot of with a quart of water at 170 F that you rinse the grains in after taking them out of the main pot. 1 quart of water is enough for up to 1 lb of grain.

You can use paint straining bags for grain bags, you will find them in the paint section of hardware stores. The 1 gallon bags are good enough for 1 lbs of grain, and the 5 gallon are good enough for 5 lbs. If you use a bag, do not have it in contact with the bottom of the pan while you have the heat on high, or it can melt.

Try and get the grains out by 170 F. Tannins can start leaching out above this temperature, but don't be too concerned if you do overshoot, it's not going to be too much. Just make sure you don't boil the grains.

Some people practice late extract addition (myself included), but I would recommend for your first batch you follow the kit instructions.

It's a personal thing, but I believe the LME should be added before the end of the boil. It needs to boil to create the break material that precipitates out. Even with late extract addition, I add it before any of the late hop additions as it stops the boil for a short while.