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Flour/Flint Corn grinding experience

 
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I did a search & not really sure where this fits, but I've expanded my corn growing interests from strictly sweet corn to "field" corn.  I am going to practice nixtamalization soon for the first time, but want to broaden my skill set with "field" corn (flint/dent).  I have a few seeds for Oaxacan green dent, truckers favorite yellow, Hickory King white, Hopi blue, & bloody butcher.  I know the Hopi Blue is a flint, the Bloody butcher is like flint with a little dent, and the other 3 are all dent/flour corns.  I have an old antique corn sheller that I'll build a box for since I was shelling entirely by hand & ended up with blisters on top of blisters.  I'm not exactly set on how I'm growing them yet, but I know I'll want to grind the dry corn & maybe even try grinding the nixtamalized corn as well.  I've tried to research all the different grain mills to find the right fit for me that is inexpensive, but will give good results for things like cornmeal, grits, flour, tortillas, etc.  

Do you have any first hand experience or recommendations for a grain mill that can do these things?  I know I can't be the first person with this question, so if it's already been asked, kindly point me in that direction, thanks,
 
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A partial and certainly inadequate answer:
an Omega auger juicer will grind your nixtamalized corn for you (since you need to cook it anyway). It will NOT grind your dried corn into flour, however (I broke the auger trying that, embarrassed to say).
I was told to buy one of those old-timey two-metal-disc corn grinders for it, it doesn't work well, instead I use it for cracking grain for beermaking, it was way too inefficient to think about grinding corn into flour, would take centuries.
 
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We mostly nixtamalize our field corn and then grind it with one pass through a meat-grinder attachment for the stand mixer and then a pass through a Victoria hand-mill.

When I'm "grinding" dry field corn, I do it in our Vitamix blender using the dry blades. It's a pretty uneven grind, but I like my cornbread rustic. I'd like a better solution, but it's a low priority until I have significant small-grain production.
 
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Greetings from Oaxaca!
I have experience shelling by hand and I think if its that hard to shell, it's possibly not dry enough. The drier the corn the easier it becomes to shell. Some people use simple inventions to shell corn like a rock or another already shelled corn cob or bind a bunch of cobs together you can see in the photo found  here
.
Most of our corn is nixtamalisized, obviously, living in Oaxaca. But I grew up in the US so I do grind a bit for corn meal flapjacks and corn bread I use a hand grinder like this one.
 which can also be used to grind the lime-soaked corn.  Though usually that is taken to the village gas-powered mill to be ground.
 
Cy Cobb
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Melissa,

Thanks for the illustrations, I've never seen a sheller made from from cobs before.  That grinder is one of the styles I was looking at, but was unsure if it could handle it.  The corn that gave me blisters was very dry flint corn.  It was very hard & was very tight on the cob unlike when I shell sweet corn by hand which nearly jumps off the cob due to the shrunken kernels.  
 
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The hand cranked mills like the Victoria and the Corona are for wet nixtamalized corn. They are almost identical to a meat grinder. Trying to do dry flint corn in one of these would be torture for the contraption and the person doing the work.

I put a small amount of flint corn in with my wheat when I'm using the stone mill to make flour. This works OK as long as the ratio is at least 20:1, but trying to grind corn alone really punishes the machine so I don't do it.
 
Melissa Ferrin
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Phil Stevens wrote:The hand cranked mills like the Victoria and the Corona are for wet nixtamalized corn. They are almost identical to a meat grinder. Trying to do dry flint corn in one of these would be torture for the contraption and the person doing the work.

I put a small amount of flint corn in with my wheat when I'm using the stone mill to make flour. This works OK as long as the ratio is at least 20:1, but trying to grind corn alone really punishes the machine so I don't do it.



Every year for the last ten I have ground a couple of kilos of dried corn in my grinder like the one pictured above. It comes completely apart for cleaning and I have not noticed it becoming any worse for the wear--of course a couple of kilos, so not more than 5 pounds of corn meal. I'm actually better for the grinding--arms of steel!
 
Phil Stevens
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Wow, Melissa...you are a force to be reckoned with! But I wouldn't want to try to do a kilo a day in my Corona.
 
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Here is a description of my modified Victoria mill:

I bought a Victoria Grain Mill from Amazon for about fifty dollars.
I ground the burrs flat from the outside diameter towards the center for one quarter inch.
This required shimming the stationary burr away from the body to maintain engagement at the shaft- rotating burr.
I ground sub-flush the rest of the burr working faces.
I cut grooves with a Dremel tool, one inch diameter diamond blade. The grooves follow from the existing ones in a CCW spiral to NEAR the OD. A few more were added to the existing 40. The walls of the “downstream”side of the grooves are ninety degrees to the surface. The depth shrinks to zero at the end of each groove. The spiral shape produces a large force outwards on the grain. The adjusting screw is tightened so the plates are pressed together with many pounds. The metal is probably white cast iron. It is very hard  and the burrs just shine.
The large outward force pushes flour particles across the “no clearance” zone where the grooves end.
I drive the machine with an old Milwaukee Electric Tool Hole Hawg. There is a three jaw coupling in the drive and a one half inch shaft installed in the main shaft. The main shaft was shortened where the crank normally attaches. The drill turns at 300 RPM at low setting and has a high torque. The modified grinder produces a heavy load. The project lasted a few months of “improving”.
The setup makes flour at a much higher rate than videos indicate for mills selling for a few hundred dollars. I run the typical two to three pound batch through a second time. It takes a couple of minutes and probably cuts the bran finer.
I have been using the King Arthur Classic Whole Wheat recipe, with honey and oil but not milk powder. (I did not have any).
It is delicious. Today’s batch is cooling. Never experienced a better aroma.
Andy

 
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