The hydrolysis of starch to low‐molecular‐weight products (normally characterised by their dextrose equivalent (DE), which is directly related to the number‐average molecular mass) was studied at different temperatures. Amylopectin potato starch, lacking amylose, was selected because of its low tendency towards retrogradation at lower temperatures. Bacillus licheniformis α‐amylase was added to 10% [w/w] gelatinised starch solutions. The hydrolysis experiments were done at 50, 70, and 90°C. Samples were taken at defined DE values and these were analysed with respect to their saccharide composition. At the same DE the oligosaccharide composition depended on the hydrolysis temperature. This implies that at the same net number of bonds hydrolysed by the enzyme, the saccharide composition was different. The hydrolysis temperature also influenced the initial overall molecular‐weight distribution. Higher temperatures led to a more homogenous molecular weight distribution. Similar effects were observed for α‐amylases from other microbial sources such as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus stearothermophilus. Varying the pH (5.1, 6.2, and 7.6) at 70°C did not significantly influence the saccharide composition obtained during B. licheniformis α‐amylase hydrolysis. The underlying mechanisms for B. licheniformis α‐amylase were studied using pure linear oligosaccharides, ranging from maltotriose to maltoheptaose as substrates. Activation energies for the hydrolysis of individual oligosaccharides were calculated from Arrhenius plots at 60, 70, 80, and 90°C. Oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerisation exceeding that of the substrate could be detected. The contribution of these oligosaccharides increased as the degree of polymerisation of the substrate decreased and the temperature of hydrolysis increased. The product specificity decreased with increasing temperature of hydrolysis, which led to a more equal distribution between the possible products formed. Calculations with the subsite map as determined for the closely related α‐amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens reconfirmed this finding of a decreased substrate specificity with increased temperature of hydrolysis. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 63: 344–355, 1999.