# grinding feed corn for human consumption?



## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

please don't tell me this is a really dumb question because i am 95% sure that it is...but i buy #2 yellow corn, organic non GMO for my home made whole grain chicken feed. i have been poking around online and can't find information about the difference between human food grade corn and something like this for animals. i've read about the difference between the grades, but i just don't have a good sense of what that means in real life. has anyone ever ground up and cooked with corn meal made from feed corn? it's just so much cheaper! i know this is probably better on a preserving the harvest of cooking forum, but it's so specific i just wanted the most help possible. thanks!


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I once helped someone unload a wagon of field corn...elevated into a drive through corn crib. I thought some of the ears looked so perfect. I took two home and hand shelled them...then ground the corn in a blender. It made good fried mush with syrup.


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## BFFhiredman (Mar 24, 2005)

I used to grind lots of corn for hog feed. The grinder was old and had several leaky spots. I'd put a bucket under the spot that was leaking and collect the ground corn before it went in with the mixing hopper. We'd use it for cornbread, muffins etc. We ate as good as the hogs.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Different varieties of corn have different taste qualities. The modern industrial versions of field corn tend not to be very tasty. I find them to have a very distinct off taste, not pleasant at all. But hey if you like the taste then go for it. Wont kill you, at least not quickly.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

HermitJohn said:


> Different varieties of corn have different taste qualities. The modern industrial versions of field corn tend not to be very tasty. I find them to have a very distinct off taste, not pleasant at all. But hey if you like the taste then go for it. Wont kill you, at least not quickly.


Some use Hickory Kane a type of open pollinated corn .:whistlin:

Hermit John it got my Grandmother after 85 years :teehee:


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## Plowpoint (May 2, 2012)

It is not a dumb question at all...

We grow hundreds of acres of corn meant for our dairy cows, which is called "Dent Corn" and so the temptation is there to use it for human consumption, and why not, with those huge cobs and big kernels!!!

It can be ground into flour of course, though Flour Corn is better for that. What we have found works well is using Dent Corn for corn chowder, (or the corn added to any other chowder). The hard kernels break down as the kettle simmers, and so it is palatable. It makes an excellent chowder, and I am sure would make for some nice corn meal, but we have never gone so far as to do that.

We grow two kinds of Dent Corn on our farm; the white kind and yellow kind. The white kind (the brand name I forget) is a lot more palatable to our cows because it is softer, and produces a nice, big white kernel that goes deep into the cob. It is more palatable for human consumption as well, though it labels clearly state it is for animal consumption only. (Hey I ran with scissors in Kindergarten too).

In fact one of my daughter's favorite things to do with Daddy over the growing season is to "check the corn". I use it as a agronomic moment and take a few ears of corn, shuck them, check the cob for development like kernel size, depth into the cob, whether it is in "dough" or "dent", and then toss those broken cobs to the sheep in their pasture so that they do not go to waste. It is kind of silly because she just wants to spend time with her Dad outside, but for me, it is trying to pass a love of farming on to this 5 year old. She will probably grow up and be a nurse or something, but who knows, maybe she will have a lifelong love of agriculture. I gotta at least try and pass on what I know about raising corn...

Incidentally, we grow an acre of "sweet corn", for our family as well...a free for all acre of ground where anyone in the family can go to get a little corn for eating. I am hoping we can devote another acre of unused ground to potatoes in the near future, for the same sort of thing. But to answer your question, for chowders, dent corn is really good.


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## unregistered168043 (Sep 9, 2011)

I grow 'truckers favorite' yellow dent corn. I grow it for my chickens but I've tasted it and its not too bad. It's supposed to be good for grinding into meal, might try some this year.


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## Aseries (Feb 24, 2011)

You can also make hominy corn out of most corn, you can parch it, you can make grits out of it flour, make corn mush, you can roast the corn kernels, make corn nuts from it and I can think of 100 other things to do with it. 

But the previous poster is right different varieties of corn were traditionally grown by my people and many other people on this continent with different uses. We have one for Corn flour, one for a finer corn flour, one for corn bread, we even have different older sweet corns, ones that make the modern stuff taste bland, but they only stay sweet for very short periods.

Corn I find is a very misused plant. everyones all niblets lol

enjoy


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

If you mean to buy the stuff at the feed store and feed it to your family, it won't kill you. It's not cleaned as well for livestock, so you will probably find chaff in it and maybe some bugs.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Just where do folks think corn for corn meal comes from gre:
Here farmers grew hundreds of acres of white corn as a contract grower before Martha White left the area .And it is much better before the Gov.dictates how the commercial mills could dictate the process :fussin:


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

Darntootin said:


> I grow 'truckers favorite' yellow dent corn. I grow it for my chickens but I've tasted it and its not too bad. It's supposed to be good for grinding into meal, might try some this year.


 I grow the white version of Trucker's Favorite. It makes great corn meal, and when fresh, I like it fried in a skillet with butter, onions and cayenne pepper, kinda' like a jazzed up version of creamed corn. It's not as sweet as Silver Queen, but I like the taste better.


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## poorboy (Apr 15, 2006)

Clean it up an eat it..if my finances dictated it wouldn't bother me a bit..Grandma said they when 'er an gramps first were married thet they often had only corn mush(from field corn) for supper an if they had a glass of buttermilk they considered themselves lucky! She only lived to shy of 109...:bowtie:


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## Miss Kay (Mar 31, 2012)

I buy yellow dent corn (dent corn is feed corn) and grind it for our corn meal. I don't know how many people tell me I make the best corn brean they ever tasted. But, I can't seem to find organic non GMO. If you know where I can order it, please tell me.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Miss Kay said:


> I buy yellow dent corn (dent corn is feed corn) and grind it for our corn meal. I don't know how many people tell me I make the best corn brean they ever tasted. But, I can't seem to find organic non GMO. If you know where I can order it, please tell me.


Buddy of mine grows it an a non hybrid old style soy bean and wheat too. Been trying to get him to set up a web site but he says no time .He has a hard time trying to plant away from other farmers fields . :whistlin::whistlin:


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Each to their own, I think flint corn makes much better corn meal than any dent or flour corn. 

Popcorn (which is a flint corn) probably make better tasting corn meal than anything sold as feed corn or deer corn.

I personally like the old open pollinated Indian corn for corn meal, kind they sell as decoration in fall. Its a flint corn (kernels have rounded top instead of the dent in top.) Anyway its about the easiest corn to grow, tolerates heat, drought, poor soil. Sure there probably somebody selling it in quantity.

I've seen the all blue and all red (Bloody Butcher) kernel corns sold bulk too. I'd sure take them over some industrial feed corn you will find at farmers coop or as deer bait at Wallywart.


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## DianneIverson2 (Apr 28, 2012)

Back in the 60s I was living in a commune in Big Sur, Calif and we often bought chicken scratch for our food. Part of it we ground to use like flour to make flat breads, part we used to cook up like hot cereal. If I remember correctly, it wasnt bad at all/


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## sugarspinner (May 12, 2002)

Sure, flint corn makes better cornmeal and grits but it isn't necessary. 
We have a stone grist mill which we operate at the Indiana State Fair. The corn we use there, which we're required to buy from a certified "food grade" grain producer is just corn grown and carefully cleaned for human consumption. Otherwise, it's like what you're using. We've ground field corn, open-pollinated, dent, popcorn, Indian corn, yellow, white, black and red corn. It's all good. Try it. Some you may like better than others but it's all edible.


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

There are only a few things that make food grade corn and yellow #2 dent corn different. It is that food grade corn is cleaned a bit more to make sure you don't have things like bits of cob and leaves in it. Food grade corn has a higher percentage of hard starch, almost like flint corn but not quite as much as flint corn and yellow food grade corn has a white cob instead of red. The white cob is only because the processors don't like the red flakes from the cob in their cornmeal. So when you get right down to it there really is no significant difference between food grade and yellow #2 corn. You can easily clean any cobs out of the yellow #2 yourself and as for the higher percentage of hard starch and white cobs, big deal, who cares.

I've eaten yellow #2 corn from the feed mill and it's just fine. However I prefer to grow my own open pollinated, red cob dent corn called Leaming corn.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Any grain is edible grain for something. Any cereal grain is edible for people. Feed or people, makes no real difference, other than two things: how well it's been cleaned, and testing for toxins. 

Double- or triple-cleaned (or sifted) is good enough for man or beast.

People (and horses) are vulnerable to toxins called acriflavins from fungi.

If the corn, wheat, grain sorghum (milo),barley, triticale, rye, whatever cereal is double-cleaned or better; and is labelled acriflavin-free and fit for (valuable, lawyer-rich) horses; then it's fit for people. It's important that rye be clean and certified, as a fungus (ergot) grows IN the grain (looks black or dark), ergotamine causes St.Vitus dance tremors and convulsions, and abortions.


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

I tried it a few years ago we sifted out all the bugs and trash ( I found lots of bug parts like legs and other parts) then we ground it up and made cornbread from it but I had a hard time eating it after I saw what I had cleaned from it and then I found out that it was treated with insecticides and stuff. If I got hungry enough I could eat it but I now buy corn grown for human consumption not animal feed.


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## Zephaniah (Mar 16, 2010)

What happens when you sprout it, grind it, ferment it, then distill it?


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Zephaniah,

What happens when you do that is, the ATF eventually shows up at your door and drags you off to jail after some busy body turns you in.


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## k9 (Feb 6, 2008)

Blue Hopi and Bloody Butcher make nice grinding corn for corn meal and flour, don't grind it before you are ready to use it as it will go rancid after it is ground if not used. Once you grind the kernel the germ is exposed and that is what will spoil.


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## KMA1 (Dec 9, 2006)

Sandi,

To answer your question, yes, of course you can grind it and use thew corn meal. You can also make hominey with it. 

kma1


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

You may have already seen this, but if not, maybe you can find some info. http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/publications/fgis/handbooks/grain-insp/grbook2/corn.pdf

Seems to me, somewhere, I have seen a Kellogg's documentary that shows they wash their corn prior to grinding for Corn Flakes, etc.......If you are already buying N. 2 Dent, it would seem that much of the pre-cleaning and grading has been done for you and grinding your own would be a pretty safe bet.

geo


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

I have been unimpressed by the flavor and texture of this sort of corn. It is edible but not palatable compared to other types.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

Plowpoint said:


> It is not a dumb question at all...
> 
> We grow hundreds of acres of corn meant for our dairy cows, which is called "Dent Corn" and so the temptation is there to use it for human consumption, and why not, with those huge cobs and big kernels!!!
> 
> ...


How would dent corn be for making mesa meal? I love making homemade corn tortillas.


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## Sonshine (Jul 27, 2007)

Darntootin said:


> I grow 'truckers favorite' yellow dent corn. I grow it for my chickens but I've tasted it and its not too bad. It's supposed to be good for grinding into meal, might try some this year.


A lot of southerners use truckers dent corn to make a creamed corn. It's not sweet like the store bought kind, but I love it!


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

The bage of feed corn we bought was a little dusty so we rinced it in a collander then re-dryed it by the furnace last winter, before grinding it. It was much better tasting than corn meal that had been ground and stored for awhile.


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## chester5731 (Jul 6, 2011)

Has anyone tried wapsie valley OP corn for cornmeal? I am going to try some this fall. I am just curious how it might turn out.


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## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

Aseries said:


> You can also make hominy corn out of most corn, you can parch it, you can make grits out of it flour, make corn mush, you can roast the corn kernels, make corn nuts from it and I can think of 100 other things to do with it.
> 
> But the previous poster is right different varieties of corn were traditionally grown by my people and many other people on this continent with different uses. We have one for Corn flour, one for a finer corn flour, one for corn bread, we even have different older sweet corns, ones that make the modern stuff taste bland, but they only stay sweet for very short periods.
> 
> ...


Aseries, can you recommend a traditional corn for corn meal for baking corn bread? I am definitely going to experiment with grinding some of this now that I've gotten all your feedback, but I'd love to try to grow things for particular uses as well! Thanks


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## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

Miss Kay said:


> I buy yellow dent corn (dent corn is feed corn) and grind it for our corn meal. I don't know how many people tell me I make the best corn brean they ever tasted. But, I can't seem to find organic non GMO. If you know where I can order it, please tell me.


Miss Kay, I get mine from Reedy Fork Farm in Elon, NC. I doubt it would be worth it if you had to have it shipped, but for being a certified organic farm, the prices are totally reasonable and competitive with other prices for organic, non-GMO feed. They have roasted soybeans too, which I've found difficult to find.


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## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

oh have i told you how i love you all? i only got an email notification for the very first response and just came poking back since baby is taking an extra long nap and i can't do anything loud (like grind my corn!!) anyway. and here you all are with decades of experience and wisdom and wittiness and community. sigh. i'm so happy to be here.


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## Sandi (Oct 4, 2011)

alrighty, the results are in! my two year old is grinding his toothbrush into his cornbread crumbs on the kitchen counter as we speak. i ground the corn with my vitamix dry blender and the texture was great. it tasted fresh and fine. i have already been using it to mix whole grain feed for my chickens and had noticed that it was clean and there was nothing weird in it at all. i didn't do anything to it before grinding it up. it is less sweet than whatever my previous cornmeal was, but that was also extra delicious cornmeal from some homestead my mother visited on recent travels and not regular store bought stuff. i think i'll add a dab of honey to my cornbread and look into growing some of my own from the varieties you all have mentioned. thanks!


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## BillHoo (Mar 16, 2005)

HermitJohn said:


> Different varieties of corn have different taste qualities. The modern industrial versions of field corn tend not to be very tasty. I find them to have a very distinct off taste, not pleasant at all. But hey if you like the taste then go for it. Wont kill you, at least not quickly.


Yeah, well, it won't kill you as long as you know how to process it with slaked lime to release the niacin.

Otherwise you'll likely encounter what the italians did when they made cornmeal mush (polenta) and ended up contracting pellegra.









Pellagra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The traditional food preparation method of corn (maize), nixtamalization, by native New World cultivators who had domesticated corn required treatment of the grain with lime, an alkali. The lime treatment now has been shown to make niacin nutritionally available and reduce the chance of developing pellagra.[4] When corn cultivation was adopted worldwide, this preparation method was not accepted because the benefit was not understood. The original cultivators, often heavily dependent on corn, did not suffer from pellagra; it became common only when corn became a staple that was eaten without the traditional treatment

In South Carolina, state law requires grits and corn meal to be enriched, similar to the requirements for flour


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## chester5731 (Jul 6, 2011)

BillHoo said:


> Yeah, well, it won't kill you as long as you know how to process it with slaked lime to release the niacin.
> 
> Otherwise you'll likely encounter what the italians did when they made cornmeal mush (polenta) and ended up contracting pellegra.
> 
> ...


So if you grind your own cornmeal you will die? I think most American people have a good enough diet that we don't need to worry about it.


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## redbird (Aug 6, 2012)

I realize this is an older forum but would like to know if field corn bought at your local feed store for animals safe for human consumption even if it says not for humans?There is a web site that sells field non gmo corn for animals and they triple wash the corn. Why would this not be safe to store for long term and use for cornmeal?


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