Cooking Hominy from Dried

Barriehie said:
No, caustic soda. Leaching water through hardwood ashes yields potassium hydroxide. Lots of rural long ago practices in the Foxfire series of books from the high schoolers in Rabun Gap GA.

Have a look.
Click to expand...
My mom tried that a few times, and yes, she learned it from the Foxfire books. I inherited loads of those books when my parents moved into town.
 
Barriehie said:
No, caustic soda. Leaching water through hardwood ashes yields potassium hydroxide. Lots of rural long ago practices in the Foxfire series of books from the high schoolers in Rabun Gap GA.

Have a look.
Click to expand...
Really interesting.

Is harwood ash different from other plant material ash? Meaning, does saltbrush ash or corncob ash used for hominy produce potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, which is what I (maybe mistakingly) thought.
 
Z-Cook said:
Really interesting.

Is harwood ash different from other plant material ash? Meaning, does saltbrush ash or corncob ash used for hominy produce potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, which is what I (maybe mistakingly) thought.
Click to expand...
The soft woods and plant ash will produce sodium hydroxide but not in a viable amount and it's not "electrical" enough. Hard woods produce potassium hydroxide. See in the pic below how potassium, K, is heavier and has more electrons, and orbitals, than sodium, Na.


1000058660.jpg
 
Barriehie said:
The soft woods and plant ash will produce sodium hydroxide but not in a viable amount and it's not "electrical" enough. Hard woods produce potassium hydroxide. See in the pic below how potassium, K, is heavier and has more electrons, and orbitals, than sodium, Na.


View attachment 140525
Click to expand...
Perhaps saltbrush is very sodium rich? The ashes produce a decent enough alkalinity to dissove the cellulose corn kernel hulls - takes an hour or two of simmering - and mild enough not to burn skin while handling
 
Barriehie said:
No, caustic soda.
Click to expand...
Nixtamalizar, in Mexico, originates from the nahuatl language: "nixtli", meaning ashes, and "tamalli", meaning cooked maize flour/dough. The origin is at least 3500 yrs old. In modern times, calcium hydroxide (cal), not sodium hydroxide,is used to trigger the process of softening/removing the maize husks.
 
karadekoolaid said:
Nixtamalizar, in Mexico, originates from the nahuatl language: "nixtli", meaning ashes, and "tamalli", meaning cooked maize flour/dough. The origin is at least 3500 yrs old. In modern times, calcium hydroxide (cal), not sodium hydroxide,is used to trigger the process of softening/removing the maize husks.
Click to expand...
I know cal is used but saltbrush plant ashes are used a lot in this region - both are used for the same process. I was wondering which specific alkali the plant ashes produce as compared to the potassium hydroxide lye from hardwood ashes that Barriehie mentioned.

Nixtamalization - Wikipedia
 
karadekoolaid said:
Nixtamalizar, in Mexico, originates from the nahuatl language: "nixtli", meaning ashes, and "tamalli", meaning cooked maize flour/dough. The origin is at least 3500 yrs old. In modern times, calcium hydroxide (cal), not sodium hydroxide,is used to trigger the process of softening/removing the maize husks.
Click to expand...
We weren't discussing modern methods.
 
I use hardwood for my fire place.

Could I throw some of the ashes in water then add pounded and dried corn (samp).
Leave to stand.
Clean
Dry again and pound and I would have masa harina?
 
badjak said:
I use hardwood for my fire place.

Could I throw some of the ashes in water then add pounded and dried corn (samp).
Leave to stand.
Clean
Dry again and pound and I would have masa harina?
Click to expand...
Barriehie says hardwood ash is not suitable. I only know about using plant ashes. You can use corn cob ashes too.
It's added in solution to the whole kernels and they're boiled in it. It removes the hulls.

The method is that dry, sifted ashes are mixed into boiling water along with the corn kernels and simmered together until the hulls come off like skins or dissolve - they're cellulose. About a couple of hours. The kernels are rinsed off so that no ash or hull debris remains. They have a wonderful flavour when done that way.

If you grind those hulls wet you get masa - masa means maize dough.

If you dry the kernels after boiling and rinsing and then grind the dried kernels into a very fine flour, you have masa harina - harina means flour.

Have photos and quantities if wanted.
 
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