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Corn Grinding; Grain Grinding
Topic Started: Feb 5 2012, 10:06 AM (431 Views)
HandFarming
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Just got done with a meeting of sustainable farmers association and one of the things we thought seeking grant money for is a processing trailer for those who wanted to process on-farm. The problems of course are that the goods MUST be sold off the farm or at farmer markets and detailed as such. . . But they might have changed the farmer marketing part of the legal sales. If we get enough interest, it might be an item to target for some grant funding for the southern mn sustainable farmers.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Raven
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This is an idea that I have tossed around for about the last 2 years. I have discussed this possibility with the SARE people and they sounded pretty up beat about it. The idea was to provide a mobile poultry/rabbit processing center for small growers as there is a minimal amount of 50 birds at one time at the local processor and you have a hard time finding anyone to do rabbits. The trailer would be USDA inspected to cover that.
I hope that you can get something going.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Raven
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Back to the subject of corn...According to The Craft of the Country Cook, any type of corn can be ground. Popcorn, dent corn, sweet corn and even Indian corn. They make different kinds of meal. Dent corn is more floury and popcorn and flint corn makes a mealy flour.
If you want to use whole corn for something other than flour or meal, you can make hominy. According to the book, the kernels of dried corn cooked in plain water will have a tough skin like hull on them and you won't be able to eat it as easily. To make hominy you have to cook it in a lye solution. You can either make your own lye out of hardwood ashes or you can buy it but if you buy it you have to make sure that there are no stabilizers in it. I buy my soap lye with no additives from the "Lye Guy" www.thelyeguy.com
Hominy:
1 quart of dry corn to 1 gallon of either hardwood ashes, lye or slaked (hydrated) lime. If you use the ashes, put about 1.5 quarts of clean ash into a non aluminum pot and add 5 quarts of water. Boil it for 15 minutes and let sit until the ashes settle. Pour off the clear water (about 1 gallon). It should feel a little slippery because of the lye.
If you use lye, mix 2 Tbsp of they lye in a gallon of cold water in a non aluminum pot.
Lime: don't use quicklime or agricultural lime...USE ONLY SLAKED LIME...the other stuff is dangerous. Mexican stores usually have the right kind of lime because that is what they make tortillas out of. Use 4 Tbsp lime per gallon of water.
Heat the corn in the solution and boil until swelled and the skins slip. To test remove a few kernels and rinse them. If the skins rub off they are ready. Don't leave the corn in any longer than necessary or it will taste "off". This will take between 1 and 2 hours. If using lye, it will take about 30 minutes and then soaked for 20 minutes or so.
When the hulls loosen, drain and rinse the kernels in hot water several times. When rinsed, rub the kernels between the hands until the hulls come loose. The dark specks at the base of the kernel are usually also rubbed off. When the hominy is rinsed the hulls will float off but be careful, they will plug the drain in your sink.
Make sure that you rinse it well so you don't get the taste of the soaking solution. You will have to soak for several hours in several changes of water.
Although I have not used any of these ideas, I thought that it was interesting to know. I have made tortillas out of hominy but I cheated and bought the hominy :P
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Mommacat
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That's about the same info that I got when I researched it a bit. I love hominy, hot with lots of butter and pepper! I am beginning to think that a prepper would be well advised to lay in a stock of slaked lye - for a lot of uses! Thanks, Raven!
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Grizzly
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I came onto a site that handles hand crank grain grinders that are well made and a more fair price than most. http://www.grainmaker.com I found their add in one of my farm magazines and if anyone is looking for one these might be worth taking a look at.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Mommacat
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Thanks for the link, Griz - they look like well made grinders and the price is certainly more reasonable than some that I've seen. The site also had some great sounding recipes for breads - maybe Raven would be interested in those, too.
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