In these days of the ever increasing food costs making your own hominy can be a real survival skill. I learned this method from a Seneca woman who teaches at
the Faith Keeper's School.
A 50 pound bag of flint corn costs about 7 dollars retail at the time of this writing. You can use bagged corn but if you have any agricultural land you can grow flint corn at a rate of about 1 plant per 1.3 square foot of land. Seed costs are about $1.50 per 1000 seeds. Planting your own corn has a few advantages. You can choose the seed so you don't end up with corn that is genetically altered. You might be able to find a heritage variety that is not a hybrid so you can get seed corn from your own harvest. Indian corn varieties that are multi-colored are an example of this. Harvest the corn when it is dry on the stalk. Shell it and dry it more in the sun on a piece of canvas. Properly dried corn can be stored for years and still be edible but it is better to eat it in its first year or two.
Lye is the other part of the recipe. You get the best lye from clean wood ashes from your wood stove. The lye you get from wood ashes is about 90 percent potassium hydroxide and 10 percent sodium hydroxide. You can buy lye but it is difficult to find locally. Get potassium hydroxide if possible. You can also use lime. To extract the lye from wood ashes it is easiest to use two plastic 5 gallon buckets. Drill a single hole 1/4 inch in the bottom of one and put the cool ashes in it. Put the ash filled bucket over the other bucket and pour about 3 gallons of boiling water slowly into the ashes in the top bucket. Leave it for a few days. The water will drip through dissolving the lye. It comes out muddy but after a few days it will clear up as the dirt settles. Pour off the clear liquid into a 5 gallon stock pot.
Measure 2 gallons of dry corn and add it to the liquid and fill the pot to 2 inches from the top with cold water. Let it soak for a few hours then cook the batch by bringing it to a boil, then letting it simmer until the corn is soft. Put half of the corn into the other bucket and fill it with cold water to the top. Mix it for a moment and pour the water off. Do this at least 3 times. Each time you change the water, scoop off the shells and germ that mixes with the water with a sieve. Save these to feed to your chickens or pigs. Another good way to do this is with a garden hose in the yard. Put the hose into the corn and let it run while stirring with your hand. Let the water and the flotsom flow over the edge of the bucket. Adjust the water so it washes out the shells but not the hominy. Repeat this process with the other half.
When the hominy is clean it is ready to eat. You will notice that this gives you about a full 5 gallon bucket of hominy which is a little too much for the next few days. You will need to preserve it by freezing or canning what you don't eat soon. Alternately you can sun dry the hominy which gives it a wonderful flavor. It also makes it easy to grind. I like to eat it fresh and whole. There are many recipes for hominy and it can be part of any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Bob Berg
A 50 pound bag of flint corn costs about 7 dollars retail at the time of this writing. You can use bagged corn but if you have any agricultural land you can grow flint corn at a rate of about 1 plant per 1.3 square foot of land. Seed costs are about $1.50 per 1000 seeds. Planting your own corn has a few advantages. You can choose the seed so you don't end up with corn that is genetically altered. You might be able to find a heritage variety that is not a hybrid so you can get seed corn from your own harvest. Indian corn varieties that are multi-colored are an example of this. Harvest the corn when it is dry on the stalk. Shell it and dry it more in the sun on a piece of canvas. Properly dried corn can be stored for years and still be edible but it is better to eat it in its first year or two.
Lye is the other part of the recipe. You get the best lye from clean wood ashes from your wood stove. The lye you get from wood ashes is about 90 percent potassium hydroxide and 10 percent sodium hydroxide. You can buy lye but it is difficult to find locally. Get potassium hydroxide if possible. You can also use lime. To extract the lye from wood ashes it is easiest to use two plastic 5 gallon buckets. Drill a single hole 1/4 inch in the bottom of one and put the cool ashes in it. Put the ash filled bucket over the other bucket and pour about 3 gallons of boiling water slowly into the ashes in the top bucket. Leave it for a few days. The water will drip through dissolving the lye. It comes out muddy but after a few days it will clear up as the dirt settles. Pour off the clear liquid into a 5 gallon stock pot.
Measure 2 gallons of dry corn and add it to the liquid and fill the pot to 2 inches from the top with cold water. Let it soak for a few hours then cook the batch by bringing it to a boil, then letting it simmer until the corn is soft. Put half of the corn into the other bucket and fill it with cold water to the top. Mix it for a moment and pour the water off. Do this at least 3 times. Each time you change the water, scoop off the shells and germ that mixes with the water with a sieve. Save these to feed to your chickens or pigs. Another good way to do this is with a garden hose in the yard. Put the hose into the corn and let it run while stirring with your hand. Let the water and the flotsom flow over the edge of the bucket. Adjust the water so it washes out the shells but not the hominy. Repeat this process with the other half.
When the hominy is clean it is ready to eat. You will notice that this gives you about a full 5 gallon bucket of hominy which is a little too much for the next few days. You will need to preserve it by freezing or canning what you don't eat soon. Alternately you can sun dry the hominy which gives it a wonderful flavor. It also makes it easy to grind. I like to eat it fresh and whole. There are many recipes for hominy and it can be part of any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Bob Berg
