Malted wheat - crush or not?

[lacto]

Hello,
Yet again I find myself a bit confused - whether or not to crush malted wheat.

So far I have understood the process thus:

Soak; sprout; dehydrate; crush and heat in 65C liquid for 1.5 hours. This results in the desired sweet solution to add to the mix.

However, on checking this process I found a thread on this forum (dated 2012) which appeared to say that once I have dried the berries they can be stored ready to be used. The thread went on to describe a beer brewing process ... but did not mention crushing the berries!

So, my question is - can I use the dried uncrushed berries to be added to the wort. Neither is mentioned any heating requirements. So, if I can use whole malted wheat - how?

 

[RM-MN]

If you don't crush the malted wheat berries it will take a very long time for the starches to gelatinize all the way to the center. During that time your mash will cool unless you constantly add heat and if you add heat without constant stirring the bottom of the mash will get too hot and destroy enzymes that are needed for the conversion of starches to sugars while the top will cool enough that the enzymes there quit converting. Meanwhile, you arm will be getting very sore from stirring for the hours it will take to finish the mash. Crush the malted wheat just as you might malted barley. The finer the crush the faster and more complete the conversion.

 

[lacto]

If you don't crush the malted wheat berries it will take a very long time for the starches to gelatinize all the way to the center. During that time your mash will cool unless you constantly add heat and if you add heat without constant stirring the bottom of the mash will get too hot and destroy enzymes that are needed for the conversion of starches to sugars while the top will cool enough that the enzymes there quit converting. Meanwhile, you arm will be getting very sore from stirring for the hours it will take to finish the mash. Crush the malted wheat just as you might malted barley. The finer the crush the faster and more complete the conversion.

Well, I guess you have just saved me a good bit of time and elbow grease - even if I will crush the berries by coffee grinder (at its widest) and the mortar and pestle - which is not really that much hard work - a bit like hammering in a few nails ... perhap quite a few nails! Thanks RM-MN