Steeping Grain Substitution

So I visit my LHBS with the intention of duplicating an extract recipe that turned out great for me. In that recipe, I used 1 lb. of Belgian Caramel Pils as a steeping grain. I confessed to the sole LHBS attendant that I couldn't tell a grain that required mashing from a grain that was simply used for steeping.
I bought, crushed, and brought home 1 lb. of Cargill Caramel 20l as a recommended substitution for the Belgian Caramel Pils. (I was also advised to steep only 1/2 lb, not the full lb. --5 gal. batch-- )
Did I screw up? Is this grain good for steeping only? Should I attempt, for the first time, to mash it? And, if suitable for steeping, why not use the full lb.?
Thanks!

No you're fine, crystal/caramel malts are all good for steeping. Caramel pils is usually in the 6-8 L range, so he may have said use half the C-20 to match the color. You could go with the whole lb just will be a little darker than you made before. What kind of beer are you making?

chickypad said:

No you're fine, crystal/caramel malts are all good for steeping. Caramel pils is usually in the 6-8 L range, so he may have said use half the C-20 to match the color. You could go with the whole lb just will be a little darker than you made before. What kind of beer are you making?

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I guess you could call it an IPA, it's 7% abv, and aggresively hopped. The original recipe used 1oz of chinook @60,
1oz simcoe, and 1 oz cascade @10,
1oz simcoe, and 1oz cascade @0,
and a dry hop of the same, 1oz. simcoe, and 1oz cascade.

I told the store dude that I would like to back off on the simcoe, and he suggested using 1/2 oz additions rather than full oz's.
He also convinced me to try zythos hops in my dry hop.

As far as color, I'm shooting for lighter.
Thanks for the response!

Looks yummy as is, but since you've brewed it before sounds like you have a handle on the changes you want to make. A half lb of the C-20 should work fine.