Questioning the necessity of barley malt in a cereal mash

[brewolero]

Why exactly do all cereal mashes call for something like 10% barley malt in with the unmalted grains?

Why not just boil the unmalted grains and add them to the main mash at dough-in so that the enzymes throughout the entire mash period have access to their starches, and thereby skip all the hullabaloo of the cereal mash?

Is it just tradition or is there some quantifiable difference?

 

[StMarcos]

It reduces the viscosity significantly, making it easier to pump.

 

[BigEd]

Why exactly do all cereal mashes call for something like 10% barley malt in with the unmalted grains?

Why not just boil the unmalted grains and add them to the main mash at dough-in so that the enzymes throughout the entire mash period have access to their starches, and thereby skip all the hullabaloo of the cereal mash?

Is it just tradition or is there some quantifiable difference?

The malted barley provides both enzymes and husk material. Without it you will just make a big ball of goop. Try doing a cereal mash without it and you'll see the difference.