All About Cornmeal, Grits, and Polenta

[@MargaretUIUC]

Actually, only about 1% of corn grown in the U.S. is for human consumption as corn or cornmeal. 27% is used for ethanol for fuel, 46% is used for animal feed, and the rest is exported, used in industry, or used as a sweetener (high fructose corn syrup). (2020 figures from the World Economic Forum)

[@chandrawong449]

I didn't know the numbers, but I knew that what was stated sure didn't sound right. I would have said the majority was for animal feed, but it makes sense that ethanol has taken a bigger 'market share'

[@OneWildTurkey]

I wonder about that percentage used for ethanol and how much the value is exaggerated because of government subsidies. It would be interesting to see the total cost from growth to the economic impact ethanol has had on the engines and systems it has been coerced to use it.

[@AdamBechtol]

@@OneWildTurkey Yeah i recall the articles a few years back of the many Ethanol plants closing due to unprofitablity. The shame is there's other plants that work better for biofuel (some reeds and grasses), but horrible farmers, some of the biggest whiny for gov't hand outs, socialist, Republican lobbyists, people, have wrecked the free market and taken valuable money for away from folks.

[@markpiersall9815]

The Distiller's Grain left over from fermentation are used for livestock feed. Dairy cow herds have had their rate of udder infection reduced from 3% to 1% by being fed starch free distilled grains.

[@KoniB.]

I love Jack and all the knowledge that he has imparted over the years. I would not be a semi good cook without all his tips and tricks and suggestions of better, best, and great product info!

[@infin1ty850]

I love seeing Anson Mills getting the love they deserve. I've been buying rice from them for years, I'm going to have to check out some of their other products.

[@karenbrown1457]

Everything I’ve tried from Anson Mills is delicious!

[@AnaPaula-nh6hb]

I see they recommended Anson Mills fine corn meal. Where do we buy it? I wish to find a fine whole grain corn meal.

[@dennistennyson8856]

Corn meal mush was big in my house when I was a kid. I still love the stuff especially when it's fried in butter.

[@thiersche]

This video just succinctly provided me with all the information I was searching for. Thanks again, ATK, for coming through!!!

[@winner33660]

Very Useful Tutorial on 🌽 🌽🌽 Corn😊

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

Thanks for this breakdown!

[@angelbulldog4934]

I'm southern (American) and all of these are great, except the polenta. I tried. Just couldn't, despite the similarity to grits, which I eat frequently. Now I want cornbread. 😊

[@workinprogress3609]

Did you make creamy polenta? I'm a southern girl, also. Once I tasted creamy polenta, I haven't looked back. It takes a long time to make, but well worth it.

[@angelbulldog4934]

@@workinprogress3609 I had it in an Italian restaurant. A classy, white-tablecloth kind of place. Highly rated. I just don't care for it, and it's okay. I'm overall not a picky eater. I get chided for not liking mushrooms, too.

[@KenS1267]

I want to actually hit my head on something. Grits are nixtamalized. Grits are more properly called hominy grits and hominy is corn soaked in lye, IOW nixtamalization. This "grits are just course ground corn" stuff is why you see packages labeled as both grits and polenta. Yes, real grits take longer to cook but they are more nutritious and taste better than quick "grits".

[@JunkfoodJunction]

Hope your head feels better. The presenter's lipstick is a tad distracting in this video

[@kinjunranger140]

Feel free to if you're that upset by a youtube video.

[@sms4077]

i also used to think it was true that grits in general and hominy grits in particular is a nixtimalized ground corn product. but whenever i read the packages, i see that what is being sold as grits are in fact "just coarse ground corn". even the hominy corn being sold on anson mills site is just an heirloom variety of corn "with big round kernels" and the" hominy grits" is a recipe in which the (whole kernel) hominy corn is simmered in lime water then (after rinsing and the skins are removed) pulsed in a food processor "until you have the texture of coarse grits. there are a few brands that offer a true nixtimalized product but it seems that most do not.

[@KenS1267]

@@sms4077 Simmered in lime water then rinsing and removing the skins is nixtamalization.

[@sms4077]

@@KenS1267 yes. but i thought your comment was about the fact that grits in the package (or at least hominy) should be already nixtimalized. the anson mills product i mentioned is a non-nixtimalized "hominy corn" that they give you a recipe to make into "hominy grits". the nixtimalization is done after you purchase -- they sell the lime.

[@DonaldBlair-e5x]

I can turn it all into whiskey 🥃 ❤

[@g54b95]

Jack, you missed an opportunity to have Julia and Bridget taste test all of those dry corn products.

[@VVV-bs6vi]

Great information. Thank You 😊

[@j3annie1963]

I use the Goya fine ground corn meal for making Scrapple (use ground breakfast sausage for the meat parts). It makes a great crunchy scrapple for fried eggs and hot pickled peppers.

[@OneAdam12Adam]

Thank you for showing wondrous Latinamerican food

[@VictoriaReginaAnn]

Love corn bread and corn muffins. With butter….

[@jenniferestes5293]

What about corn flour/starch? I wonder what type of corn that comes from?

[@kinjunranger140]

There's a brand new resource that just came out. It can actually give you information about many of the corn related questions you may have. I forget the name, it's something like "poogle", or "goggles", or something like that. (And yes, I am just kidding around.)

[@infoscholar5221]

I have wondered about grits and polenta. Now I know the difference!

[@Marss13z]

Funny, I was reading McGee's "On Food and Cooking" on just this topic. Good episode.

[@robostyle9773]

Do people still cook samp? I keep some around and make it once in a while

[@meltz87]

I wish you would do a testing/tasting of red wine vinegars

[@jlastre]

Most corn is grown in the US goes to ethanol and feed. Ever wonder how we subsidize farmers? Case in point.

[@valevisa8429]

Polenta is the only popular dish in my country and everybody loves it.Not long ago it was the staple food in every peasant household.Nowadays bread took its place.

[@EricM-gm5wz]

Where do you live😂…how did bread just win, like you didn’t have it before?

[@b.walker5955]

DRATS. I have polenta grits on hand, and was hoping to fine grind it in my coffee bean grinder to make corn bread for Thanksgiving. I believe Jack just explained that is a NO BUENO. Anyone have advice on a method to accomplish it? The grocers in my city are a no go from the weekend before Thanksgiving. My store was out of organic meal.

[@1ACL]

Now please do posole, chicos, hominy. What are the differences?

[@thaisstone5192]

(177) I really enjoyed this tutorial. I just got an updated copy of "The Tassajara Bread Book" by Edward Espe Brown so I can make my own bread products.

[@yogoombah2356]

The H is silent in harina... "ah-ree-nah"

[@jkbrown5496]

Most of the dent, dry corn goes in your gas tank as ethanol.

[@marclegarreta]

Nixtamalization is a gift from my indigenous brethren to the world.

[@RonJohn63]

What about hominy grits (which are also boiled in lime water)? I'm glad you showed yellow grits, though; I've never been a fan of white grits...

[@DonaldBlair-e5x]

You are right Also hominy can be made ash lye

[@RonJohn63]

@@DonaldBlair-e5x it's 2024; I'm wealthy enough (which means I can be pretty damned "poor") to not have to scrape the fire pit for ashes.

[@DonaldBlair-e5x]

@@RonJohn63 I enjoy the process of making things from scratch 😁 it’s not because I’m broke. Heck, I grow my own food, make my own wine, distill my own liquor, slaughter/butcher my own meat, etc…

[@RonJohn63]

@@DonaldBlair-e5x make your own fertilizer, grow your own grapes, mine your own iron ore, smelt it, mine coal to make coke, mine chromium, vanadium, etc, make steel alloys in a blast furnace, blacksmith it into knives, hoes, plows, etc? Not to mention oil, leather, paints, etc. You don't make _anything_ from scratch.

[@preciousowusu7743]

I haven't heard of hominy since my grandmother.

[@mimosveta]

so, what's the difference then between masarepa and cornmeal, polenta or grits, whichever has the more similar size?

[@MossyMozart]

Aren't they those corn pancake-looking rounds you can buy ready-made in the refrigerated section of Hispanic groceries?

[@scubateacher]

No harina P.A.N.? I love you guys, have invested in your books; however, you guys didn’t do your homework before releasing this video. Sorry to be so blunt, but you guys are the best and with feedback like this, things will stay better. Cheers!

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

if corn just passes through the digestive system, does that mean cornmeal will just pass through too?

[@AC00009]

As a Southern, grits should be white corn and polenta should be yellow corn.

[@danbev8542]

Lack of nixtamalization in the 19th & into the 20th century caused thousands of people to suffer and die of pellagra. The indigenous people of central & South America knew that nixtamalization prevented pellagra, which is caused by nutritional deficiency of the B vitamins. Folks in our American South didn’t get that memo, & those too poor to get a balanced diet, subsisted on mostly un-nixtamalized corn products. It’s a horrible disease.

[@terrylambert8149]

What's the difference between grits and polenta? Five dollars on the menu.

[@carloszenteno]

It is a bummer that you did not mention what products are made of yellow/sweet corn and which ones of white corn, big difference in taste, uses, manufacturing.

[@morrismonet3554]

Yellow corn meal products are not made with sweet corn.

[@erldagerl9826]

I think most corn grown in the US is used for animal fodder.

[@adedow1333]

Lots of it, yes.

[@mimosveta]

that's rude thing to say, even if we are talking only about lamericans

[@Er-sv5tn]

Ethanol

[@markholm7050]

Yes.

[@dcpack]

You "think"? We are animals after all. Fruit for humans and foliage (after fermentation) for livestock.

[@blasttorres]

Okay so what brand is the best to use?

[@adedow1333]

Goya and Ansen Mills were mentioned. They may not have done a test on the products with no brand attached

[@kinjunranger140]

What ever is at your supermarket.

[@hxhdfjifzirstc894]

Some things are commodities.

[@Hedgehobbit]

Masa predates the Aztec by 2,000 years.

[@MossyMozart]

Let's make hush puppies!

[@krono5el]

While i love Maize in all its forms it took me forever to find out polenta was corn because we very rarely ate it but if you know the people of Maize we eat it in all forms all the time.

[@1ACL]

Why are the comments on this channel the most hostile in all of KZbin???

[@lordofthestrings86]

Most corn grown in the US is destined to feed livestock.

[@juleswins3]

And for making ethanol.

[@patriciaboatman8423]

Round up ready not to mention gmo. Really going to try my own hand at cirnmeal this year when our corn comes in

[@brownalanmc]

That's not true either. It doesn't end up in your pantry. The vast majority either goes to make ethanol or is used as animal feed.

[@ToxicSpork]

Corn is also easily the most subsidized crop in America. Corn farmers are basically welfare recipients.

[@Er-sv5tn]

Ethanol grift

[@kinjunranger140]

Come to my part of the country for a growing season. You'll see that "welfare recipient" work your a$$ off.

[@ToxicSpork]

@@kinjunranger140 That comment is funny coming from somebody subscribed to every right wing propaganda channel on KZbin. I wonder how many of those corn farmers are wearing MAGA hats while opening up those checks they get from Joe Biden every year.

[@daryelljeffries7861]

I find it strange that chefs talk about corn flavor when they have never really tasted corn. Everybody loves sweet corn but they have never experienced the true flavor of corn itself. They love the sweet flavor but don't get a real corn flavor from this variety, it has been bred out of today's corn in exchange for sugar. It's much akin to pork nowadays. When is the last time you bought pork chops with a ring of fat around them? I bet it's been many years. Scoff at field corn or dent corn all you want, it's a part of almost everyone's daily diet. Imagine no corn bread, no grits, no polenta, no corn oil no margarine. But none of these is the true flavor of wonderful corn. Over the years I have conducted many taste tests using field corn vs. sweet corn and the majority have chosen the field corn as the best. Even my very picky wife picked the field corn as the best tasting while still wishing it was sweeter. And so have many co-workers over the years. It has to be harvested at the right time, when you use your thumb nail to pierce into a kernal and it squirts that's the perfect time to eat it. Our pioneer families have eaten field corn for over 10 decades. Now as to the question of gmo is one better than the non, I just don't know. It will be decades before that question is answered. But today I will still eat and prefer field corn to sweet corn. Do a blind taste test with peeled and un peeled carrots and let me know how that turned out. I'll be watching.

[@schomestead2591]

Why is everyone in the background masked? It's not healthy to continually breathe in your own exhaled air.

[@nelsonnguyen4811]

I guess doctors and scientists around the world are the unhealthiest of us all…

[@workinprogress3609]

Good luck finding non-GMO corn products.

[@houchi69]

You can't, not in the US anyway

[@krono5el]

just go to its motherland and they still use real maize. its only where their are a lot of europeans were its prob made to be poison.

[@Marketsolo]

I know!

[@Jacksirrom]

All human crops are GMO. They’ve been bred and hybridized for thousands of years to change their genetics.

[@snakewoman13]

Organic is non-gmo. It is a little hard to find.

[@RIPMrAlwaysFirst]

First

[@kinjunranger140]

I was

[@durangodave]

i thought polenta was the sack that babys live in before they are born🤣😂😅

[@dougp4952]

Didn't like the video and I will tell you why, it's about time someone talked about white rich yellow grits and all that confusing stuff but it would take a 30-minute video to explain it in detail and how it all should be used, even the fine fine fine fine fine grind can be used to make polenta, so I would suggest you do a detailed video and get more in depth about this subject.

[@tomrut3653]

Why is everyone in the background have masks on?

[@DonaldBlair-e5x]

Because they are a bunch of lefties in California

[@WalterBurton]

This is wrong. Disappointing.

[@NorthWoodsDiver]

I'm fat, love food. Any gritty corn based food is not something i like. Corn bread is inferior to regular bread. Grits is bad. Corn tortillas are worse than flour versions. Fresh or even canned and frozen corn is delicious and thats how it should be prepared. The dried and milled versions are essentially absent from my kitchen and diet.

[@MossyMozart]

@NorthWoodsDiver - Your post sounds like a personal manifesto.

[@lakid9749]

Goya - cant believe you would recommend them its full of Atrazine

[@angelbulldog4934]

If enough people really knew and cared what's in our food, the big companies would be out of business and we'd all be gardeners. My options become more limited by the day.

[@kinjunranger140]

I love atrazine.

[@DonaldBlair-e5x]

Atrazine is AWESOME 🤩

[@kinjunranger140]

@@DonaldBlair-e5x lol

[@kinjunranger140]

@@angelbulldog4934 the companies wouldn't be out of business. They would be creating food that is good for us, instead of the garbage they sell us now. Capitalism works very well, when people understand it and use their $ for their benefit.