Eating Field Corn....??

[Tim Horton]

For some reason, some where, some time ago, I heard you can eat field corn ...if you catch it at the right stage of growth... I suspect this is true.. I also wonder if harvested at the correct stage, it would be good to cut off the cob and freeze or can ??

One recipe I have not made in a very long time, but really like...
10 cups of corn cut from the cob, scrape cobs for all the little nuggets
1 pound of unsalted butter
1 pint heavy cream
Combine all in a small roaster pan with lid, bake at a low temp 2-3 hours..
Put in meal size containers and freeze..
Salt and pepper to taste when ready for the table..

BEWARE... This is VERY rich and easy to overdose on..

Facts, details, experience, thoughts.. ??

https://nebraskacorn.gov/corn-101/g...ple don't eat field,corn starch or corn flour.

 

[winds-of-change]

That recipe sounds DELICIOUS. Yes, you can eat field corn if you pick it before it matures and gets tough.

 

[elkhound]

in milk stage...i dont care for it myself...we been spoiled with these sweet corns we now grow.

 

[Caribou]

Dry it, grind it, make corn bread, masa, tortillas...

 

[Amish Heart]

Ditto Caribou...dry it.
You could make fried mush with it and tomato gravy

 

[winds-of-change]

in milk stage...i dont care for it myself...we been spoiled with these sweet corns we now grow.

I agree. The sweet corn we can get now is amazing. I was just answering the question about eating field corn.

 

[Psalm7]

Field corn like Hickory cane is good but has a small window of " ready to eat " . Like any corn it matures then starts to turn to seed corn . Where sweet corn stays table worthy longer field corn turns to seed corn quicker .
As a Kid I grew up camping on a nearby river . We would set limb lines for catfish and go bass fishing . There was usually big fields of field corn there . We were pull ears of corn off and lay them on our campfire still on the husk . They were good .
I know of several farmers today that cook some of their field corn when it's in .

 

[elkhound]

I agree. The sweet corn we can get now is amazing. I was just answering the question about eating field corn.

YES....i was just posting to op not you per say...i agree with you...the cultivar that i ate/tried eating most of was truckers favorite white dent...decades ago i tried some others like hickory cane,heel tap corn etc.

one thing too is a old farmer out in California told me to dry some of my sweet corn and grind it for grits and or corn meal...says its fantastic.

one older corn i like to try is stowells evergreen...have grown or ate or dried any of it for use?

 

[Weedygarden]

You can eat field corn, but why would you if you have sweet corn as an option? If you can pick it at just the right time, it might be okay, but I wonder if it is still as good as sweet corn.

I know that farmers plant field corn on the outside rows of fields of corn, and plant sweet corn several rows in, in order to prevent someone from pulling over and helping themselves to the sweet corn. Now who would pick someone else's corn? Its been happening since before I was born.

Others have said to dry it and grind it, but you also need to nixtamalize it before you eat it. We have other threads where this is discussed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization
'
Nixtamalization (⫽ˌnɪkstəməlɪˈzeɪʃən⫽) is a process for the preparation of maize, or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (but sometimes aqueous alkali metal carbonates),[1] washed, and then hulled. The term can also refer to the removal via an alkali process of the pericarp from other grains such as sorghum.

Nixtamalized corn has several benefits over unprocessed grain: It is more easily ground, its nutritional value is increased, flavor and aroma are improved, and mycotoxins are reduced by up to 97%–100% (for aflatoxins).[2]

Lime and ash are highly alkaline: the alkalinity helps the dissolution of hemicellulose, the major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, and loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the maize.[3] The tryptophan in corn proteins are made more available for human absorption, thus helping to prevent pellagra.[4]: §5.2 

Some of the corn oil is broken down into emulsifying agents (monoglycerides and diglycerides), while bonding of the maize proteins to each other is also facilitated. The divalent calcium in lime acts as a cross-linking agent for protein and polysaccharide acidic side chains.[5]

While cornmeal made from untreated ground maize is unable by itself to form a dough on addition of water, nixtamalized cornmeal will form a dough, called masa. These benefits make nixtamalization a crucial preliminary step for further processing of maize into food products, and the process is employed using both traditional and industrial methods in the production of tortillas and tortilla chips (but not corn chips), tamales, hominy, and many other items."

 

[joel]

For some reason, some where, some time ago, I heard you can eat field corn ...if you catch it at the right stage of growth... I suspect this is true.. I also wonder if harvested at the correct stage, it would be good to cut off the cob and freeze or can ??

One recipe I have not made in a very long time, but really like...
10 cups of corn cut from the cob, scrape cobs for all the little nuggets
1 pound of unsalted butter
1 pint heavy cream
Combine all in a small roaster pan with lid, bake at a low temp 2-3 hours..
Put in meal size containers and freeze..
Salt and pepper to taste when ready for the table..

BEWARE... This is VERY rich and easy to overdose on..

Facts, details, experience, thoughts.. ??

https://nebraskacorn.gov/corn-101/growing-corn/#:~:text=People don't eat field,corn starch or corn flour.

For some reason Father always plant field corn in March & sweet corn in May, so we ate field corn from ripe til it got calkie, that is lost of water, but before it was hard. Then we eat sweet corn in July & froze any corn we could not eat from the seven 300 foot rows. We had corn all winter at least once a week, til field came in the next year.