Nixtamalizing and Grinding / Milling Corn

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

I decided to start a new thread where I’ll share my experiences in nixtamalizing corn and turning it into harina (flour) or dough (masa) for tortillas. Please feel free to add your experiences and tips to the thread.

So far, I’ve nixtamalized 600g of mushito corn, following the video series of Masienda.

How to cook corn with calcium hydroxide (cal) | From Kernel to Masa (Ep. 2)

I weighed the corn at 600g in a non-reactive pan (stainless steel) and then calculated 1% of that to be 6g Cal/lime. To get my scale to register that and to dissolve the Cal, I measured 100g water, didn’t tare and then added 6(7)g Cal.

Then I poured the “slurry” into my pan of corn and added water to about 2 inches higher than the corn.
I brought it to a boil and then lowered it to simmer about 20 minutes. The skins were coming off easily when rubbed, but the inside still had some dry starch.

I took the pan off the heat, covered it and let it soak 9 hours. Then I rinsed off some of the skins and stored most of the corn in my refrigerator overnight. I put a small portion of the corn on parchment paper on a baking sheet in my oven with the light on to dry. (My baking sheet is aluminum, therefore reactive, so I think parchment is a must here.)

The next evening, I ground most of the refrigerated nixtamalized corn in my food processor. I had to add water to make it more effective, and even then I could feel hard/larger pieces in the meal. I added a small amount of masa harina, kneaded the dough, and left it covered while I made guacamole and spicy chicken, reheated black beans, made a cabbage salad, and chopped tomatoes and onions.

Before adding water, after water, some added masa harina

I formed the dough balls, flattened them with a tortilla press, and fried them. They were a little delicate, but the corn pieces were not hard, and the final tortillas were delicious and no one complained about the texture (except me… I’m going to try again).

Specifically, I want to see if I take the boil a little farther, will the food processor be more effective.

I also want to mill that corn I’m drying in my oven in my Mockmill and make a tortilla with it. I haven’t yet tested if it smashes and is dry enough.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

The nixtamalized corn was totally dry after about a day and a half in my oven.

The oven light was sometimes off, there was an accidental brief preheat of the corn, and some time out of the oven while I baked. I’ll try to get more precise on this next time.

Here’s a video of how nicely it dried and milled. I did a dryness test kernel-crushing, coarse milling, fine milling, and then made two tortillas from the flour. They were delicious and easier to work with than the food processor batch from yesterday.

Milling nixtamalized corn in my Mockmill (oven dried)

One photo only of the end product but I’ll make more.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

More Tortilla-Making Tests

From the first batch of nixtamalized corn:

The flavor remained tasty even when I left the nixtamalized corn in the refrigerator for three days before drying it (it needed only 1 day in the oven to dry), milling, adding hot water and salt, and making tortillas. They were somewhat fragile though.

A second batch of nixtamalized corn:

I simmered the corn for longer, until the moisture had almost completely penetrated the kernel. I also tried to rinse less of the slippery coating off the kernels after the long soak.

The food processing experience was basically the same though, chunky.

I added 40g Masienda masa harina to 426g wet food-processed nixtamal and salt, and made tortillas. I don’t know how much harina I added last time, but the final dough feel-hydration was the same.

The tortillas tasted really good and were quite flexible despite the bits of corn. I think they were more flexible than the first batch of food processor grind.

When the second batch of nixtamalized corn finishes drying, I’ll test how they bind, if it’s any different than the first batch due to longer boiling and more emulsifying coating.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

Second batch of nixtamalized corn (continued):

The corn took 1 day to dry in the oven with the light on, even though I’d boiled it longer and the liquid had penetrated it deeper.

Making the masa (adding hot water), I do believe it binded better for having been boiled a little longer and had a little less of a rinse.

The resulting tortillas were a little more bendy than batch one, but still not as bendy as the food processor + masa harina.

[kateo (Kathryn Odell)]

I just came across these posts. I’m going to be nixtamilizing some blue corn as soon as my grandkids are out for summer vacation. Yay! I will have completed more than one year of distance learning with them! One question…I had thought that you had to rinse the pericarp off completely before the food processor/wet grinding step. It sounds like you left some of them on. What is the rationale for that?

[kkdohrer]

The pericarp is softened by nixtamalization and seems to somewhat “dissolve.” Severe washing seems to mute the corn flavor. I do a good rinse to ensure the calcium hydroxide solution is cleared away and remove some pericarp, but leave the rest in. I do not find that the remaining pericarp gives objectionable texture.

[bbehnes]

Thank you for sharing this information!!! It is difficult to find info on making masa harina with a Mockmill. I read the other posts by DennisM and had similar experiences to you both.

I am still not able to get the tortilla to puff while cooking (like it’s mentioned on Masienda and MasterClass videos). I made similar adjustments to what you mentioned above, such as a longer cook, and leaving more skin on which did improve it but still can’t get the sought after puff.

How long do you wait from mixing the masa harina to forming and cooking the tortilla? Next time I will let it rest, or ‘autolyse’ a bit longer to see if that helps.

It also seems that ones cooked from the moist nixtamal in a food processor had better flavor to the ones made from dehydrated Nixtamal and then milled in the Mockmill. The texture from the Mockmill was better, but the taste wasn’t as good and it was more brittle.

They still taste amazing compared to store bought! But would love to see these live up to their fullest potential. Any thoughts or recommendations?

[Pamela_JM]

After reading all of the posts here I think I may try this, but add a little psyllium husk - either flakes or powder. If you have never used the powder, beware and practice first. It only takes a very small amount and it sucks up a lot of moisture, but either form will add a lot of softness and pliability, as well as fiber.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

I also think letting the masa sit for a little after mixing might help with tortilla cohesion. Using warm water too, if you weren’t already doing that.
I would probably agree that the fresh processed masa has more rich corn flavor.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

Have you tried the psyllium and how did it go?

[DennisM (Dennis McCanna)]

I have done a bit of experimenting with timing and have made the dough balls 8 hours or more in advance covered and pressed. ON OCCASION I had to spritz them a bit to add a little more water with the long lapse of time. The nice thing is it is easy to add just a touch of water and re-roll.

[festusbodine]

I have been making home nixtamalized corn with lots of experimentation since the start of the pandemic. I have nor attempted to oven dry the corn and put through my Mockmill. I’m intrigued and may give that a go That said, here are some of my conclusions, and questions for the others.

Regarding the rinse…I agree that leaving some pericarp in the masa contributes to a less brittle masa. I no longer rub the nixtamal vigorously while rinsing. I put it in a colander, and stir it gently with a wooden spoon while rinsing for several minutes. Much of the pericarp rinses right off just from the stirring. Avoiding the vigorous rub seems to retain some and do suspect it acts as a binder.

Regarding bendy-ness…the pics posted here sis not show, nor did anyone discuss, that the tortillas had been stacked in a tea towel immediately after coming off the heat. I’m curious if that was part of your process. If not that is likely a big contributor to the fragile or brittle result. All tortillas finish the cooking process and develop their bendy quality from the steam they produce that is trapped by a snug towel wrap or covered plastic tortilla holder. Right off the pan the surface is dry, and only gets dryier when exposed to air. Corn and flour tortillas alike, I find the covered stacking step to be the most integral part in achieving and maintaining that flexible quality.

Regarding the boil time, and whether more softened corn with higher water absorption behaves differently in the food processor. I’d say yes, it’s slightly easier to break down into the masa. Either way, I have learned the bigger factor is patience. Constantly scraping the sides of the bowl to keep all the masa breaking down evenly. Smaller batches helps. I also find adding (slightly) more water to the food processor than most fresh masa recipes call for helps the blade grind the corn finer. The downside is your masa will be immediately too wet to make tortillas. I do this many hours ahead and allow the masa to dry out uncovered to compensate.

Ultimately, all attempts have resulted in a delicious final product. But as for the quest for “bendy,” I wonder if you are missing the steam-in-towel step. I fold a tea towel into quarters and put that on my counter. I stack each griddled tortilla on the towel and cover the stack with another folded towel, trapping as much steam inside. The tortillas become pliable, stay warm for a good while, and do not stick to each other.

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

Thank you for sharing all this useful info. I’ll add to the instructions to wrap the tortillas in a tea towel as they come off the pan. I have a round covered dish that I line with a towel, and now that you mention it, the steamy warm interior does make the tortillas more bendy.

The slimy stuff on the nixtamal seems to be a binder similar to the gel of soaked flax and chia seeds. Definitely a good idea not to wash it all off.

Thank you for the tip on simply air drying the overly wet food processed nixtamal. I was adding a few tablespoons of not-homemade masa harina to fix the hydration.

I added your air drying tip here:

How to Nixtamalize Corn for Tortillas, Tamales, Posole and More

It looks like I gave instructions for a covered container lined with a (paper) towel here, but I didn’t really talk about the pliability improvement so I added that.

Thanks again for the tips!

Traditional Corn Tortillas

[ssweedler]

This thread is very helpful, thanks everyone. My first batch was all the better for your sharing your experience.
Has anyone used a meat grinder attachment instead of a Cuisinart?