When do you add the LME

Palmer says to add the LME when you pour the water in and before you heat it (p 144 of latest edition). Others say to add it right after the specialty grain steep. My LHBS instructions say to add it after you reach boil. Which is best? I believe Palmer is the so-called "expert".

 

Add it at about 170-180 degrees, and get it stirred in before you reach boil. Adding it during the boil is asking for a volcanic eruption.

Oops, never mind. I was thinking of DME and the volcano it can cause, but you are asking about LME.

 

I still play around with timing. To my unrefined palate I cant really tell a difference. Typically I’ll add it after the steep and before flame on for the boil. My reasoning is if you add the LME prior to warming the water, you’ll likely not get it completely mixed before you turn the flame on. If you have a layer on the bottom then you will get scorching as the bottom heats up but the water temps higher in the pot are still cool.

At 140-160F, the LME dissolves much more rapidly. I have yet to get scorching with this method l. I wouldn’t add it once I’ve reached boil. It would probably be fine if the flame is off but I’d rather not chance scorched LME.

 

I would steep first, but I doubt it matters if you add the LME while the water is heating or after the boil starts. If you wait until the boil starts, it will probably stop once you remove the pot from flame and mix in the LME, and will take a bit to get going again(at least that was my experience).

 

Best? Might as well go with Palmer. Start with that.
I'm also sans refined palate and can pretty much guarantee I wouldn't be able to tell when the LME was added.
Adding some/most of the extract late to keep the color closer to what you're looking for makes sense though I've never paid attention to it; my IPAs turn out golden which is good enough for me and my Kolsch's are nice and light colored.
My experience when adding it after the water boils or before is the same. The LME kills the boil anyway, for me, since I don't use a rocket engine, aka turkey fryer burner (those things kick out an incredible amount of heat).
I use a super-long, very sturdy rubber spatula and pay attention to the feel of it when I scrape the bottom to make sure the extract has dissolved.

 

An advantage to adding LME/DME before "flame-on" is that it won't scorch if it comes in contact with the bottom of the kettle. Pages 55-58 of HtB, 4e (Steeping Speciality Grains) suggest that steeping 'specialty grains' in wort (rather than water) may have some benefits.

An advantage to adding LME/DME after removing the speciality grains is that one can do a "first wort hop" addition. It's also less likely that one will scorch the LME if it comes in contact with the bottom of the kettle.

An advantage to adding LME/DME at the start of the boil is that water heats faster than wort.

I find that How To Brew (HtB), 4e is an excellent resource for an extract-based recipe template. The "wort a/b" method (also reluctantly called "Palmer Brewing Method" by the author) does, IMHO, an excellent job of gathering, organizing, and "poka-yolk"-ing the extract-based brewing process. If you're looking for a second opinion or "expert", Methods of Modern Homebrewing by Chris Colby is an excellent resource.

What currently works well for me is a full volume boil for 30 minutes with about 1/2 the DME/LME added at the start of the boil and the rest towards the end of boil (generally 5-10 minutes before flame-out) -- similar to the "wort a/b" method. No extract twang, no "cooked extract" off flavors, or other derogatory (yet undefined) off flavor for brewing with LME/DME.