.Hominey

[yotetrapper]

Surely somebody here has made homemade hominey before. I stumbled across a recipe for it in a canning cookbook I just got... and I never knew it was made with lye. I'd love to try it, but the lye in a food product has me leery. It does say you need to wash and boil and change water several times. Anyone here ever try it?

 

[Davaroo]

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Nope. but its been around a looooooong time. Time tested and proven I'd say. Take the plunge.

 

[BettyR]

I’ve read several articles on the subject and have thought about doing it but never took the plunge. Of all the recipes I’ve read this one is the simplest I’ve come across and the one I will use when and if I ever decide to do it. I wouldn’t can my finished hominy; I would dry it for grinding into grits.

http://www.recipezaar.com/38585

I love grits and I would love to make my own, all the grits you buy in the grocery store have been refined to have a long shelf life and all the nutrition has been refined out. I grind my own wheat flour and corn meal for the same reason. I grind my flours and put them directly into the freezer so that all the natural vitamins and minerals are intact when I cook with it.

I believe the epidemic of obesity and type2 diabetes in our country is directly linked to the over processing of our food to give it the shelf life of uranium isotopes. Long storage life is important when you are feeding millions of people but there have got to be limits to what you can do to food. We have long since passed these limits and our children and paying a very high price for it.

 

[Davaroo]

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Wow.

 

[spook]

Up here in the North, we don't call it hominey (sp) we call it Hull Corn and yes, you use feed corn and lye. If you want my mothers recipe, hollar and I'll copy it for you! Good luck, personally its not for me, lol.

 

[yotetrapper]

Well I took the plunge today. I was both elated and disapointed. It took a lonnnnng time, (in fact, is still in canner now) like, 5+ hours. All the water changing and waiting for it to boil again, mainly.

Here's how I did it.

1.75 gallon water (called for 2 but my pot wasnt big enough) and 2oz lye. Add 2 quarts dryed shell corn. Boil rapidly for 30 min, until hulls seperate from corn. Strain, and rinse real good in hot water, then real good in cold water, and use your hands to get all the hulls and tough black ends of kernals off and floated out of strainer.

Here comes the monotonous part. Return to pot (I washed pot first to get out extra lye residue) and barely cover with water. Bring to boil and boil 5 minutes. Drain, rinse, and repeat 4 more times ( 5 times total) This removes the lye, and "clears" the hominey. When you start the hominey water will be brown.... after the 3rd water change more a cloudy tan, and after the 5th pretty well clear.

Now drain again, jar, add 1/2t salt per pint, fill to within 1/2 of top w/ boiling water, and process 60 min/pint 70/qt in pressure canner @ 10lbs.

Now, I was elated because this is THE best hominy I have EVER tasted, and disappointed because the recipe said would make 12 pints and only made 5.

I followed it exactly, even measured for once lol.

Granted, in all my transferring I did "spill" some corn, but no more than a pint cooked. Wonder if 6 quarts was a misprint of 6 pints?

Anyhow. I would like to make more, but I WILL do it different. Next time it will be done outdoors, in a huge kettle. I would like to do 5X as much. I will have a screen (hardware cloth) bent into a frame where I can rinse, then bend cloth to return to kettle. So anyways, it's realllly good but reallly a pain to make LOL.

 

[Davaroo]

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It is a truth that we must learn from others, but we can only know by doing. I applaud you.

 

[BettyR]

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Me too!!!! Here is a huge pat on the back

you earned it!!!!