PREPARATION AND DIRECTIONS
FOR COOKING INDIAN CORN.
Kiln-drying.—In order to prepare Indian corn for shipping, it should previously undergo the process of kiln-drying, which is performed by parching or drying it in a heated chamber, or in a cylinder of wire-work, or sheet-iron, exposed over a furnace or stove, a sufficient length of time to destroy its sprouting or germinating power. The temperature of the chamber, in which it is dried, should not much exceed the boiling point of water, or 212° F.; but the time required for exposing the grain should vary according to the openness or compactness of its texture, its degree of moisture or dryness, and the scarcity or abundance of the oil which it may contain. As a general rule, it should be removed from the kiln as soon as the burnt or parched odour is perceived, as it then begins to lose its substance or nutritive power.
The varieties of corn that will best bear transportation by sea without kiln-drying, are those which contain a large proportion of oil, as the Golden Sioux, the King Philip or Northern Eight-rowed Yellow, the Dutton, the Browne, the Rhode Island White Flint, &c., but the flour or meal, made from these sorts is not so pleasant to the taste of those unaccustomed to its use, as that made from the soft farinaceous varieties of the South and West, which will be greatly improved, and preserved free from mustiness, by the process of kiln-drying.
Grinding.—It has truly been said, that “No kind of grain is actually spoiled by grinding too fine, except Indian corn,” although wheat is somewhat injured. But good corn bread, hommony, mush, and various other dishes cannot be made of flour ground too fine. For all ordinary purposes, the common mill employed for grinding wheat, answers equally well for grinding maize. When it is required to grind the corn coarse, it is necessary only to elevate the uppermost stone and increase its speed; or to depress the stone and diminish its velocity to grind it fine. In general, the grits, or larger parts of the meal, should vary from one fourth the size of a grain of mustard to that of a grain of rice, according to the uses to which they are to be applied. For very exact and special kinds of meal, the Kibbling-mill is preferable, in many respects, as the size and uniformity of the grits can be regulated at pleasure by an indifferent hand; whereas, in the common mill for grinding wheat, their degree of fineness or coarseness, depends entirely on the judgment and skill of the miller by regulating the position and velocity of the uppermost stone, and a due attention to feeding in the grain.
