What's this insoluble sediment that accompanies my DME powder?

[NeverDie]

I'm doing stepped starters that make use of DME, and I notice that there's an insoluble sediment that seems to be a part of the DME that I purchased. Does it serve a purpose, or is it garbage? It dilutes my packed yeast at the end and makes estimating an accurate yeast count more difficult.

If it serves no purpose, how can I avoid it (short of filtering it out after the fact)? e.g. would a DME syrup have it in it? Is my powdered DME of low quality, and a better quality DME wouldn't have it?

By the way, this sediment is there *before* anything else, including yeast, is added. So, it isn't trub, even though it looks kinda like it.

 

[JimRausch]

If you're boiling the water/DME to make a starter wort, then the sediment is probably hot break proteins. Happens every time you heat wort up to boiling temp. No problem, and potentially beneficial as a yeast nutrient.