With the summer rolling to a close corn is finally starting to go on sale and fresh corn on the cob is such a great treat. With that in mind, many people might not think of adding cornmeal to the food storage. Well as a family that loves cornmeal, well most of us anyways, the kids still don’t like it much, we have cornmeal in our food storage and recommend that you store some also.

Cornmeal has a variety of uses from cornbread, to pancakes, to breading/batter for chicken and fish, to muffins, grits if you are in the south or from there, tortillas, to just about anything can have cornbread added to it. So it is a versatile grain to have in your food storage. What is also neat about cornmeal is that it comes in yellow, white, blue, and red so it can add a new twist to old favorites and your kids may even eat it if the muffins are blue. With the pros of cornmeal how can you go wrong?

So What is Cornmeal Exactly?

Cornmeal is a coarse flour ground from corn. It is a common staple food for many people, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour.

Types of cornmeal

Steel ground yellow, which is the most common, has the husk and germ of the corn kernel almost completely removed. It is conserved almost indefinitely if stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Stone ground cornmeal retains some of the hull and germ, lending a little more flavor and nutrition to recipes. It is more perishable, but will store longer if refrigerated. However, it too can have a shelf life of many months if kept in a reasonably cool place.

White cornmeal, you guessed it, it is made from white corn. It is popular in the Southern States.

Blue cornmeal has a sweet nutty, intense flavor and a hearty, fine texture. Blue cornmeal contains about 20% more protein than yellow and white corn meal.

Red cornmeal has sweet, intense flavor and a hearty, fine texture. Red cornmeal contains about 20% more protein than yellow and white corn meal.

Little known fact about Red and Blue cornmeal

To the American Indians of the southwest, Red Corn represents the movement of the sun to the West; the place that gives long life and the direction our spirits travel when we cross over. Blue Corn has significant spiritual importance. It represents the Eastern rising sun, the beginning of life, wisdom and understanding.

When you are getting ready to add corn to your food storage (make sure you know how much to store) make sure you don’t forget your Hand Operated Grain Mill and storage containers.