Small appliances for grinding Mexican masa
The irrepressible Steve Sando (Rancho Gordo) sent me this link to a thread on the Mouthfuls forum detailing his search for a small appliance that would wet grind nixtamalized maize into masa for Mexican tortillas. The bottom line. Indian wet grinders don’t work for this. The Mexican Nixtamatic does, at a price.
Follow the link to his name, and you’ll find a You Tube link showing the machine grinding away. On the left, you’ll find all the information about his book Heirloom Beans which is hitting the shelves right now. Steve’s analysis: Gone with the Wind for food. Don’t miss it.
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Interesting instrument this Nixtamatic. i have a question though, can we not grind dried corn and then knead it into a dough to get Masa? For chapathi making in India (similar to tortillas), we dry grind wheat flour and then mix it with water, oil, salt to make the chapathi dough. Yes, Indian grinding machines i don’t think can do what the Nixtamatic does.
No, that’s not possible with masa. To make masa, you heat the corn with an alkali (a bit of quick lime usually). This changes the nutritional and the physical properties of the maize and makes it possible to make a flexible flatbread. I you grind the maize first and then try to add alkali, the process does not work. So you grind the maize wet.
Of course you can grind dried maize and get corn meal as it’s called in the US. But you can’t make masa from that.
Ok. Thanks Rachel. In India, i don’t think we nixtmalize any grain. I guess that is why Indian grinders dont do what Nixtamatic does,
Hi Rachel, can I grind wet guajillo chili with this item? Is the machine electrical? How it cost?
Yivi, sorry to be so slow getting back to you. The answer, I fear, is that I just don’t know.