I was all set to make some sourdough polenta, pumpkin seed, and rosemary bread this afternoon, so this morning before work I added 2 cups of boiling water to one cup of polenta - well, truth be told, it was more like corn meal, ground finer than polenta. I left it to cool and then hours later, as I stirred it before adding to my dough, I found that it was quite watery, not at all stiff. The consistency is more like a pudding. I know this does not relate directly to the above recipe, but I came on the site hoping to find some advice and came across this very similar recipe. Any advice out there? Should I forego the polenta pudding entirely?
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with Nixtamal and the Mockmill. I, too have the Mockmill, and I am loving it! I’ve been doing some online research on baking with corn, and that’s how I discovered that when corn goes through a nixtamalization process (which involves steeping the grain in an alkaline solution) it becomes more digestible and, most important, more nutritious. (You can read more on the MotherEarth web site, or just google “Nixtamal”.) I learned that you can use this process to make hominy, then dehydrate it, and grind it into cornmeal. I have a dehydrator, and would love to find out how long (and what temp) is best for drying hominy before grinding. John Stimson (Mockmill US Support), who wrote, " You would need to dehydrate your hominy very thoroughly, and even then I’m not sure the stones could handle it." That was a bit discouraging. I would really like to find a way to take advantage of the health benefits of nixtamalized corn. (I’m in a Kaiser research study of whole food, plant-based diet and possible effects on health, so I am looking for the maximum nutrition from the plants that make up my diet.) I’m curious if you ever did try using a dehydrator on your Nixtamal, and if you had any success in using the Mockmill to grind it.
Hi Kathryn,
I have in the past ground corn kernels in the Mockmill before soaking. I do though run them through my burr grinder first a couple of time to get the pieces smaller although you could open the stones up to do also. There never seemed to be an issue with these packaged kernels.
As far as the soaking process is concerned I started out my last couple of times making nixtamal by weighing the corn out in grams before adding the water. I made the assumption the corn was less than 10% water as this is what I read the content is from the packing houses (except popcorn which is higher, the reason it pops). The 10% or less does not seem to be too much of an issue other than cleaning afterwords. I believe this high water content is why Mockmill rules out grinding popcorn. After the soaking process I lay the kernels out on wire trays to air dry a few days, then I place in the dehydrator. I have found it takes about 6 to 8 hours to get them down to the original weight or less than I started with. My dehydrator is not temp controlled but runs a bit over 100F.
I believe Stimson’s comments could have been relating to the issue I had as my stones were really contaminated. Although I was able to eventually clean them (they said it was impossible) I did get another set of stones and have not had much of an issue other than the need to run some rice through to clean it out. Sometimes I actually took the machine apart as some residue did build up but was not that much of an issue.
Take a meat clever and cut a kernel before soaking, after air drying and then after the dehydration process to get an idea of the interior composition. If dry the kernel will shatter when cut, if it doesn’t it is too wet.
I don’t try to rush the process it takes a few days to go through all this but always keep enough on hand. Luckily I don’t have to watch it 
Bottom line is your kitchen scale will tell you when the corn is dry enough and then check by cutting the kernels.
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I appreciate your helpful tips! One question…since your unhappy experience with grinding the dried soaked corn, have you ever tried a second time? Or are you saying that by drying the corn longer you have had success with the Mockmill? Thanks again!
Before I used the dehydrator I allowed the kernels to dry several days (this was before I was weighing them) and when I thought they were dry I ground them in the Mockmill. I grind into a 1 gallon milk bottle with a hole in the side for the chute. There was what I thought was dust flowing out the neck of the bottle. When I went to cover it I discovered it was steam. When done grinding I could not pick up the milk bottle as it was so hot. I had to disassemble the Mockmill to clean out the residue. Was not a big deal but a PIA.
This is when I decided to start weighing and finishing the drying process with the dehydrator. Problem solved. No more steam and not needing to disassemble the grinder.
Happy Grinding!!
Thanks for that clarification! And I love your milk carton idea! No mess!
Here are some photos of the this recipe made with fresh-milled blue corn. Delicious and a pretty lavender-colored crumb like that of @jmandel a few comments up-thread. (Kamut and bread flour pizza dough for contrast.)
Has anyone tried this with fresh rosemary? I have a plant ready for a trim. 
I’ve done olive rosemary sourdough with fresh rosemary. It’s delicious too. Drying rosemary makes it more perfumey I think and less vegetal (that’s not quite the right word). My dining room table is often covered with herbs drying on towels lol.
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