cooking a starch (grain, agave, potatoes, etc.) is the most common method of saccharification, or converting the starch to sugar, so that the yeast can convert that sugar into alcohol. Spirits that use cooking include whiskies, genevers, and other grain spirits; tequilas; and vodkas, among others. Neither fruit- nor sugar-cane-based spirits typically cook, since their sugar content is readily available. However, American moonshiners do cook fruits and molasses.
In whisky, the process begins with milling the grains to increase enzyme activity and surface area, which allows water to more easily hydrate the starch granules. Some American whisky distillers begin the corn cook at around 100° C, add rye and lower the temperature to 77°, and then add the malted barley, at the same time further lowering the temperature to 66°. For malt-only whiskies, the crushed malt is typically cooked between 66° and 77°.
Potatoes are mashed and boiled, liquefying them to make saccharification easier, and are then cooked at a temperature as high as 152°.
Agave plants are cooked at around 93° for 24–36 hours, crushed, and the juice extracted.
How the various spirit bases are cooked varies according to tradition, country, and available equipment, but the cooking process starts the congener development and greatly impacts the final flavor.
See also fermentation; mashing; and saccharification.
Lea, Andrea, and John Raymond. Fermented Beverage Production. New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum, 2003.
Lee, Byong H. Fundamentals of Food Biotechnology, 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley, 2015.
Potter, Denny. Private interview, 2015.
By: Fred Minnick