Cookbook:Homemade Hominy

Homemade Hominy
Category	Corn recipes
Yield	3 quarts

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Ingredients

• 2 qt water
• 1 Tbsp food-grade lye
• 1 qt shelled corn
• 3 tsp salt

Procedure

1. Put the water into a large kettle or saucepan, and stir in the lye.
2. Bring the water to a boil, and then add the corn. Let it boil until the skins will slip off the grains when they are pressed between the thumb and the finger.
3. Remove from the stove, stir sufficiently to loosen the skins, and then remove them by washing the corn in a colander.
4. Cover the grains with cold water and return to the fire. When the water boils, pour it off. Repeat this process at least three times, so as to make sure that there is no trace of the lye. Allow the grains to cook in more water until they burst.
5. Season the corn with the salt, and while still hot put it into a jar or a crock and cover it tight until it is to be used. The water in which the hominy is cooked should remain on it.

Notes, tips, and variations

• A safer recipe substitutes baking soda (1 tablespoon per quart of water) for lye in the first boil.

Warnings

Lye is caustic and must be handled with care! Lye may cause serious burns. Before using lye, please read the article on Sodium Hydroxide. If you decide to use lye, add it gradually to the bulk of the water while stirring to dissipate the heat of solution. See also Hominy without Lye.