What's the point of drying malted barley?

[bracconiere]

From limited experience making my own malt, there for sure is magic that happens in the drying and kilning process.

it often amazes me how much different the flavors are from wet and dry heat.....when i first 'tried' malting, i figured what's the point of kilning at 160f? it's going to be at 212f for an hour anyway...night and day difference....