[Nate74]

After cooking dried beans for over 3 hours and discovering that they were only slightly softer than pebbles, I purchased a gain mill after reading that you can greatly reduce cooking time of beans by breaking them up.

It turns out I got a mill that is "popcorn rated" so I bought a pound to see what could be done with cornmeal made from it.

Today I got the mill all set up and ground about a cup of popcorn into cornmeal. I was so excited by how it turned out, I didn't even look for a recipe, I just mixed it with some water, made a few little 1/4" thick patties and fried them in canola oil. Pretty bland, but with a drop or two of honey, it was a fair little snack.

It was pretty tough work to grind up the popcorn though and I'm guessing I used far more calories than I got out of my corn cakes. But it was still pretty cool.

Also as a side note: the Orville Redenbacher stuff that goes for $6 for a 1lb jar didn't grind nearly as easily as the .99/lb stuff from the bulk foods isle made a beautiful cornmeal. No idea what the difference is...

 

[willow]

What kind of grain mill did you get and about how long did it take to grind up the popcorn?

 

[Allamakee County]

One hint to make it a little easier is to do a coarse grind first, then run it through again for a finer grind. Saves your shoulders.

 

[ernest t bass]

One hint to make it a little easier is to do a coarse grind first, then run it through again for a finer grind. Saves your shoulders.

I'll remember that ..thank you.

 

[Grandad Prepper]

After cooking dried beans for over 3 hours and discovering that they were only slightly softer than pebbles, I purchased a gain mill after reading that you can greatly reduce cooking time of beans by breaking them up.

It turns out I got a mill that is "popcorn rated" so I bought a pound to see what could be done with cornmeal made from it.

Today I got the mill all set up and ground about a cup of popcorn into cornmeal. I was so excited by how it turned out, I didn't even look for a recipe, I just mixed it with some water, made a few little 1/4" think patties and fried them in canola oil. Pretty bland, but with a drop or two of honey, it was a fair little snack.

It was pretty tough work to grind up the popcorn though and I'm guessing I used far more calories than I got out of my corn cakes. But it was still pretty cool.

Also as a side note: the Orville Redenbacher stuff that goes for $6 for a 1lb jar didn't grind nearly as easily as the .99/lb stuff from the bulk foods isle made a beautiful cornmeal. No idea what the difference is...

Thanks for the report on your experiment! We have a Country Living grinder and have been wondering about the popcorn. Trying to make cornmeal will be one of our preps for next week.

 

[MikeK]

Grinding popcorn does take effort, even with the Country Living mill. I've never tried to grind premium popcorn, but it being harder to grind doesn't surprise me. I just buy it in 50 lb bags or better yet, already in buckets. But I haven't seen the buckets lately. Sam's used to have them, but only has bags now.

Here's a few of my tricks for grinding cornmeal. If you use a sifter, what comes out is fine corn meal and is great for making corn bread and such. Corn bread is my favorite use!

What's left after sifting is hulls and larger pieces. The larger pieces make great corn meal mush/polenta/grits. If you put them in water, the hulls float and are easy to pour off. You don't want to eat the hard, sharp hulls if you can help it.

 

[whiteangel]

For your beans: I bring mine to a boil the night before, turn off the heat and let them soak overnight. Next day, I pour off the water (if it is pinto beans, this seems to help reduce the dreaded "gas"), fill with clean water, season and cook. Pressure cooking eliminates the soaking step.:thumb:

 

[Monique]

Yes indeed, you really have to soak dry beans overnight. The only exceptions I know of are black-eyed peas and lentils. Soaked beans do wonderfully well in a pressure cooker.

 

[clc79092]

The small red beans take about 45 minute to 1 hour to cook with no presoaking needed. When cooked they resemble pintos in taste. Also they keep better when cooked than pintos do.

 

[SgtBooker44]

Corn tortillias.

 

[Allamakee County]

When I presoak beans, I add baking soda to the soak water (that is going to be poured off before cooking). REALLY helps with the gas issue AND it makes it possible to can refried beans. If I skip it, the jars all pop their lids from the gas release. It's... interesting.

 

[soo-girl]

If you forget to soak your beans overnight, you can do a quick soak which has always worked well for me. Bring the beans to a boil, let boil for about five minutes, remove from heat, cover pot tightly, let sit for an hour. Cook as usual.

To save yourself a bit of work in the future, always cook more beans than you need and freeze the extras in 1 1/2 - 2 cup portions (a 16oz can of beans = approx. 1 1/2 cups beans with the remainder being liquid).

 

[MikeK]

When I presoak beans, I add baking soda to the soak water (that is going to be poured off before cooking). REALLY helps with the gas issue AND it makes it possible to can refried beans. If I skip it, the jars all pop their lids from the gas release. It's... interesting.

You mean the beans are so full of farts that they can't even wait to be eaten? They start breaking wind in the jar? :rofl:

 

[Nate74]

Some great tips on beans and corn guys. Thanks!

I ended up with the country living mill. The price tag was tough but I figure this will be the only mill I ever have to buy. Heck, this may be in use well after I'm gone in 50 or 60 years...

I found some cornmeal recipes last night so once my arms feel up to it I'm going to try some tortillas and cornbread.

Maybe I can get the neighbor kid to come over and grind it for me. He's in summer camp for football right now and may look at it as a "free" workout

 

[9mmMike]

Anyone storing beans for survival needs to read about bean prep such as soaking, pre-boiling, etc. I think most believe that they just through them in boiling water for ten minutes and presto! Just like the instant beans and rice from various manufacturers....

 

[Nate74]

Anyone storing beans for survival needs to read about bean prep such as soaking, pre-boiling, etc. I think most believe that they just through them in boiling water for ten minutes and presto! Just like the instant beans and rice from various manufacturers....

Agreed. I'm really glad I tried what I "thought" was the correct way to do it and discovered I was plain wrong. Much better to discover it on a Sunday afternoon when all is well than when I'm 8 days into a post-earthquake situation.

In fact, I've been working my way through a number of my various preps to make sure I actually know how to use them. Turn off the gas with the emergency tool, start a fire with the various methods I have, cook with the various foods I have stored, find my way to a flash light in the middle of the night with all the lights off, etc.

Again, much better to discover issues before rather than after the 8.9 hits LA...

 

[Allamakee County]

You mean the beans are so full of farts that they can't even wait to be eaten? They start breaking wind in the jar? :rofl:

You got it!

Wanna see? (This was not me, but I had nearly the same results the first time. Mine blew their tops on the counter as they cooled.)

http://www.rural-revolution.com/2011/01/refried-beans-last-frontier-of-canning.html

 

[MikeK]

You got it!

Wanna see? (This was not me, but I had nearly the same results the first time. Mine blew their tops on the counter as they cooled.)

http://www.rural-revolution.com/2011/01/refried-beans-last-frontier-of-canning.html

That's amazing! I've never canned refried beans, but I never had any trouble with whole beans so I couldn't fathom the problem I guess. There are some things that just don't home can well. Thick stuff like that is one of them I guess.

 

[Nate74]

Mental Note: remove "can refried beans" from to-do list.

BTW - another discovery is that you need to set your plates correclty BEFORE you get any corn into the hopper. Once there is corn in there, you can't get the plates tight enough for a fine cornmeal. Makes sense as I think about it now, but for the life of me I couldn't figure it out yesterday.

 

[wchancey]

Pressure cooker the way to cook beans , should be able to go from package , no presoak to eating in 45 minutes to one hour and very tender.