# How to Make Nixtamal/Hominy



## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

This is a really good article from Mother Earth News on how to turn corn into hominy. Useful skill to have in order to convert corn into corn tortillas.

I'm pretty anxious to try it and am wondering if frozen corn will work.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Corn and its many uses, my folks used to gather young field corn throw in some sugar and feed it to us as sweet corn.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

1skrewsloose said:


> Corn and its many uses, my folks used to gather young field corn throw in some sugar and feed it to us as sweet corn.


This process will work with any type of corn, which is also good to know.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I eat a bowel of Hominy every morning with my mug of tea.

Of course I do not make it, but buy commercial product.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

SOCOM42 said:


> I eat a bowel of Hominy every morning with my mug of tea.
> 
> Of course I do not make it, but buy commercial product.


I've never eaten either hominy or grits, but I do love corn tortillas. (Not that I eat them. I mean, I could eat them if I wanted to look like 



.)


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

paulag1955 said:


> I've never eaten either hominy or grits, but I do love corn tortillas. (Not that I eat them. I mean, I could eat them if I wanted to look like
> 
> 
> 
> .)


FUNNY!

Really, it reminds me of our cat.

You are what you eat.:vs_laugh:

I only have a cup full of it, along with my two Eggo's.

Hey, I am 5'8" @ 173 pounds, OK I think for my age.

I add artificial sweetener and cinnamon to it.

To be more explicit, they are hominy grits.

We make homemade corn tortillas and they taste nothing like each other.

I use an aluminum tortilla press to make them


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

SOCOM42 said:


> FUNNY!
> 
> Really, it reminds me of our cat.
> 
> ...


If you're using purchased masa harina to make your tortillas, the taste difference is that the corn for the masa harina was processed using slaked (pickling) lime and the canned hominy was almost surely processed with lye. The lime water adds to the taste and adds nutrients that the lye does not.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

paulag1955 said:


> If you're using purchased masa harina to make your tortillas, the taste difference is that the corn for the masa harina was processed using slaked (pickling) lime and the canned hominy was almost surely processed with lye. The lime water adds to the taste and adds nutrients that the lye does not.


You are 100% right.

I posted the same lye process earlier this week in doing lutfisk.

The grits are not canned but in dry packaging.

I did a titrating process on them to make sure they were clean of any hydroxide.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

SOCOM42 said:


> You are 100% right.
> 
> I posted the same lye process earlier this week in doing lutfisk.
> 
> ...


I went to the supermarket this evening and looked for hominy or grits. Nothing on the shelves. I remember seeing them at the supermarket when I was a little girl, though.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

paulag1955 said:


> I went to the supermarket this evening and looked for hominy or grits. Nothing on the shelves. I remember seeing them at the supermarket when I was a little girl, though.


Look for the grits in the breakfast section with the oatmeal.

That is where they are in the Walmart I get them from, the masa is in the Hispanic aisle with the Goya products.

That is my tortilla base, rolled into golf balls.

My cousin in law showed me how to make great tortillas when I was in SoCal in 1965 she originally came from mexico.

First time I ever had tacos,they were great, along with the homemade tamales.

Her nacho cheese was unlike any I ever had before.

I have plenty of sodium hydroxide stored to make it out of the dent corn up the road from me if needed.

I have the grinder to process the corn, best to dry the corn before running it through the grinder.

The cutting plates for is are made in my shop.

Grinder is set up to run by hand or a 5 HP gas engine.

Its primary purpose (sodium hydroxide) is to strip calcium carbonate from my processing tank.

It is industrial grade, just needs a little more post wash and then a test.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

SOCOM42 said:


> Look for the grits in the breakfast section with the oatmeal.
> 
> That is where they are in the Walmart I get them from, the masa is in the Hispanic aisle with the Goya products.
> 
> ...


Yes, I used to see grits on the shelves by the oatmeal, but the store didn't have any. It's not a thing in the PNW.

Homemade tamales are the best. They are kind of a pain but oh, so worth it. I'm going to order pickling lime. I will feel better about that than the industrial product. In my head I pictured grinding the dried nixtamal in the same heavy mortar and pestle I use to make guacamole, but that really doesn't seem very feasible, does it? I mean it would work if I didn't have anything else to do with my time.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

paulag1955 said:


> Yes, I used to see grits on the shelves by the oatmeal, but the store didn't have any. It's not a thing in the PNW.
> 
> Homemade tamales are the best. They are kind of a pain but oh, so worth it. I'm going to order pickling lime. I will feel better about that than the industrial product. In my head I pictured grinding the dried nixtamal in the same heavy mortar and pestle I use to make guacamole, but that really doesn't seem very feasible, does it? I mean it would work if I didn't have anything else to do with my time.


You could save a lot of time running the corn through a grain grinder first, if not fine enough then the mortar.

I would stay with the grinder, get out some really fine flour and mix it with some coarser stuff, the fine acting as a binder.


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## paulag1955 (Dec 15, 2019)

SOCOM42 said:


> You could save a lot of time running the corn through a grain grinder first, if not fine enough then the mortar.
> 
> I would stay with the grinder, get out some really fine flour and mix it with some coarser stuff, the fine acting as a binder.


Yep. I just need to get my hands on a grain grinder that doesn't break the bank.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

paulag1955 said:


> Yep. I just need to get my hands on a grain grinder that doesn't break the bank.


There are plenty of choices, I would not get a cheap one either.

The one I have has a hand wheel with crank handle, also has a groove in the OD of the wheel for a "V" belt.

I have seen pictures of them set up with a bicycle driving it.


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