Milling corn for grits/polenta

Has anyone tried to mill corn for grits or polenta? I have tried several times and still cannot get the “grit” size particle I am looking for. Here’s what I tried:

  1. fine setting created more of a flour, like for tortillas. This worked well for flour like consistency.
    2)Courser setting gave course and fine. When cooked this create more of a goo like porridge than a grit.
  2. Tried sifting it, which was better but more chunks than a small grit particle.
    Any thoughts or suggestions? Would love to use organic corn to make southern grits instead of the store bought version.

I passed your question along to our milling expert and he’s going to do some testing. But in the meantime, he thinks that a variation on your third strategy might work:

mill coarse, sift out the fine. Then re-mill those bigger chunks to see if you can get them to the right size – possibly sifting a second time.

I hear you on wanting to use good corn. The flavor on the Breadtopia organic corn is so delicious.

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Great! Thanks!

@Fermentada I have the same question. I bought some dent corn from Breadtopia, and am going to try it for polenta tomorrow. Would love any advice. I have a Mockmill 100. @aaculler, did you have any success?

Thanks!
Valerie

I have not tried it again as I ended up buying some already ground. Sifting it does help. Also, perhaps watch your cooking time. My next theory is that it may not need as long, but I haven’t tested this yet.

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Have done both, grits is more coarser and Polenta is finer BUT the mill grind is up to your taste as even commercially there isn’t really a standard.

Polenta is made with a finer grind my wife makes all the time and I use my Wondermill attachment for that. It is subjective though. Use the Wondermill for grinding rye chops, and Semolina also.

What mill are you using as this makes a difference. I have a Wondermill burr grinder which does a nice job of grinding coarser meals (without too much fine flour) and a Mockmill 100 which makes very fine flour if required. You can though open up the Mockmill to get a larger grind but it is a stone miller, I just found it makes more flour. No matter which you use you will get some fine flour with the grind and the finer the setting the more you will get. The more fine flour the more goo you will get that is why I use the burr grinder for meals etc. The only way I believe you will get only the coarser stuff without the flour is to crush the corn.

Sifting will get you the larger chunks, kind of a trial and error thing. I would think a very fine 50 mesh or smaller sifter would be a place to start as the holes are very small allowing just the fine flour to go through.

When Diane wants ground Nixtamal (lye treated corn) for Polenta, corn bread or corn tortillas, I start with a coarser grind and put it through a 2nd or 3rd time until the “boss” likes it. WORKS EVERY TIME! No goo!

Is it necessary to first nixtamlize your corn to use it in polenta (vs. just pouring the untreated kernels directly into my mill?

No it is not, my wife never uses the nixtamalized corn for polenta. Just so happens we had tonight made with roasted tomatoes and onions from the garden.

We (western world) don’t use corn as a “major staple” so what little we eat it really does not matter. The tortillas though MUST have for the flavor. Nixtamalization was probably just another superstition of those uncivilized people. Or was it?

What happened is one of those untold tragedies in history. “Corn became a sample diet for many people in parts of Europe, Africa, India, and China, but without first undergoing the process of nixtamalization. The result was the development, on-mass, of a life threatening disease called pellagra, caused by a chronic lack of niacin (vitamin B) in the diet. A deficiency of the amino acid lysine in the body can lead to a deficiency of niacin, thus leading to pellagra causing extreme suffering and even death. This is the risk one takes when eating a corn-based diet that has not been nixtamixed.”

Don’t worry not a big deal for our diets.