Instant Pot Hominy

I tried making Hominy in my Instant Pot and was pleased with the results.  I used 1# of an ornamental flint corn, 4.5 g of Cal, covered the corn with 2" of water and cooked it for 20 minutes.  After it cooled down I poured it into a colander, rinsed and rubbed the kernels until the water was clean.  I added 1 tsp salt, enough water to cover the corn and cooked it for 60 minutes.  

I have never made hominy because I though the process involved lye.

Is it really as easy as you suggest?

It does require a mildly caustic solution. You can use cal/pickling lime as Wayne did or make a weak lye from wood ash.

I've never thought to use the Instant Pot! Wayne, was that 20 minutes pressurized?

Yes, both cooking times pressurized (on manual).  

Sorry but these recipes are incomplete for someone who tries to follow with their instant pot.

Did you do a natural release after the twenty minutes is up?  That means you let it turn off and let the pressure empty naturally, or do you do a release after the time is up?

I personally love my instant pot, and find it to be one of the best cooking methods.  I got the instant pot, because I heard that chicken pressure cooked dehydrates better.

Now I have four instant pot units.  One is a max and does higher pressure for canning, and a small unit for side dishes.  One is a huge 8 quart that I can pressure cook a small turkey in (cut up), but that has an air fryer feature that I use more than pressure cooking.

I used the natural release.  The cooking times might need adjusted for different size kernels.  I used the same cooking times for large flint and flour kernels as well as medium sized flint kernels.  The second cooking time might be increased for less chewy Hominy.

Nixtamalizing corn typically requires an overnight soak, after the initial boil... I wonder if pressure cooking allows for proper completion of the reaction that neutralizes mold toxins, and releases tryptophan that the body uses to make niacin.

Did the pericarp fall off the kernels after the first pressure cooking?

Does it taste like it was nixtamalized? Or does it just taste like boiled corn?

Joseph, I don't have in for about the corn, but I know that the instant pot effectively renders bone to mush for dogfood in an hour or two, and you can cook dry beans without a soak.

It is possible that the pressure cooking method becomes a shortcut for these longer traditional method.

My favorite veggie to pressure cook is sweet potato, as it somehow enhances the sweetness with pressure.  I could be imagining it, also.  That is a possibility from the instant pot cult

Joseph, I cooked another batch of Hominy and let it soak for 12 hours before the second cooking.  It "bloomed" more than the previous batches and was less chewy and possibly a little sweeter tasting.  I will be doing the same in the future.

I wonder if the second cooking is even needed!

When nixtamalizing for masa, after the overnight soak, you just rinse and grind. Of course the tortillas or sopes or tamales or whatever you make from the masa gets cooked a little in that form.

Yes, the first cooking didn't cook to the center of the kernels.  The "bloom" and the softening of the kernels occurred during the second cooking.

I'm not sure what the bloom is. We simmer the corn in cal/ash until it's roughly the texture of a boiled peanut and do the overnight (or all-day) soak before grinding.