FoodNet

Foods, their selection and preparation

1935

Page 261

Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Milling Corn. In the milling of corn, that intended for use in bread is made into a meal. The evolution of the milling of corn has been quite similar to that of the milling of wheat. "Old-process corn meal” was pre¬ pared by grinding the whole grain, and cor¬ responds to the whole-wheat flour. The first modification was the removal of a por¬ tion of the bran. This improved the texture of the meal and left in all the nutrients of the corn, but meal so milled had poor keep¬ ing quality, owing to high fat content of the germ portion. These meals became rancid if held too long, especially during the hot months of summer. To obtain a meal with better keeping quality, the bran and the germ now are gen¬ erally removed before the endosperm portion is ground. This produces a drier meal which contains less fat, more starch, and less flavor than the old-process meal. This new process or "degerminated” corn meal makes up a large amount of that now on the market, though the old-process or whole ground meal is still available from small local mills. Fineness of Grind. Corn meal is ground to different degrees of fineness. If too coarse, it is difficult to cook thoroughly, while if too fine, it tends to settle and makes a heavy bread. It is especially important that bolted corn meals are not ground too fine. In un¬ bolted meals, the particles of bran present absorb water, and prevent the meal from settling too much when cooked. Composition and Nutritive Value. The composition of corn meals resulting from dif¬ ferent milling methods is shown in Table LIX. In general, corn meals yield slightly more energy than wheat floui, but less pro¬ tein and protein in a less efficient form. Most of the B vitamins are removed in present-day methods of millings. Color of Meal. The table below shows no difference in the proximate composition of CARBOHYDRATES FUEL VALUE PER POUND Table LIX • Composition WATER PROTEIN FAT Not Fiber Fiber ASH Corn (whole-grain average) . . Per cent 10.80 Per cent 10.00 Per cent 4.30 Per cent 71.70 Per cent 1.7 Per cent 1.5 Calories 1,795 of Corn Corn, white . 11.40 10.80 5.00 68.80 2.5 1.5 1,690 and Corn Meals Corn, yellow . 11.90 10.70 4.80 68.90 2.2 1.5 1,690 Corn meal (O.P. unbolted) . . 12.00 8.70 4.70 71.10 2.2 1.3 1,850 Corn meal (O.P. bolted) . . . 12.00 8.90 4.90 72.00 1.2 1.0 1,765 Corn meal (N.P. granulated) 12.50 9.20 1.90 74.40 1.0 1.0 1,770 Corn flour (N.P.) . 12.60 7.10 1.30 77.50 .9 .6 1,650 [287] the white and the yellow corn meals. Yellow corn meal, however, contains more vitamin A than white. This is in the form of the yellow pigment carotin. Certain other yel¬ low pigments are present. Standards for enrichment of corn meal have been recom¬ mended by the Food and Nutrition Board, and enrichment is required in certain states.