The Disappearance of Coarse Stone Ground corn meal

Just-Moxie

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I have baked with the coarse stone ground corn meal now since 1979. It had body. It gave cornbread character, allowed the baking soda to rise the bread, it provided a delicious base to soak up the broths and soups and chilis.

Now...what is this stuff they sell? It is so finely ground that it resembles regular flour, or maybe even cake flour! :eek: It is useless for making good cornbread! I have been experimenting with it now for probably 2 years. The cornbread turns out rubbery. Blech :sick

I cannot find the real coarse stone ground cornmeal any more on the supermarket shelves. It is all -Self Rising, or the fine ground stuff. I stopped by a Publix the other day, and looked on their shelves. The nice young man directed me to their tiny 3 cup package of -polenta. It is similar, but a bit more coarse. I bought one to use on the tamale pie I made. Good enough, but makes too much. And, for the amount of cornmeal I used to use....too expensive.

It seems like the corn meal producers have gone to marketing the old fashioned grind as "gourmet" (?) :confused:

I have even looked online-of course. As well as local. All packaged in itty bitty bags...for exorbitant amounts of $$$$.

I wonder if the GMO corn is grinding differently than the older varieties...non-GMO. :idunno

As it is, when I do have to use the newer grind varieties of corn meal ...I have to measure VERY CAREFULLY. Tablespoon by tablespoon, into the one cup measure. Even then, the results are only slightly less rubbery. :smack

The chickens eat it up of course.


Has anyone else noticed this difference in their cornmeal the past 2 years? :hu
 

so lucky

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I think you can still get it from Hobson Mills but it is in smaller packs. Maybe it is time to start grinding your own?
I doubt that cornmeal corn is intentionally GMO, because most GMO corn is used for feed and additives. Maybe fuel? Syrup....
I buy ground popcorn for cornbread. But it is very fine.
 

Just-Moxie

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I believe we have looked into Hobson Mills. Even online it is difficult to locate just plain coarse ground cornmeal anymore.
Cornmeal may not be intentionally GMO, but if a good percentage of the corn grown currently IS GMO, not likely to find many options otherwise. Even growing our own.....is it not seed from GMO?
 

Just-Moxie

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I read the thread, but I don't see the connection. Maybe I am missing something?
 

digitS'

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Without a mill, it wasn't difficult for me to come up with a coarse meal for cornbread.

I did have to bother with growing a flour corn and keep in the sweet corn well away from it.

Steve
 

Just-Moxie

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The coars ground cornmeal used to be standard on the market shelves though. In 5# bags. Like flour.
 

Kassaundra

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Hodgens Mills is (in the brown bag) is the only one I buy, it doesn't say "coarse ground" but it is the coarsest I have found. It isn't in every store here but I can still get it at one or two.
 

Just-Moxie

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I have looked in Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, Publix, Reids, KJ's, so far. Maybe it is just discontinued in the South East USA.
There are some products that the SC Walmarts no longer carry.
 

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