Maybe I need to do my own test....at the moment, I have several varieties of popcorn and dent corn and hominy corn and purple inca corn....but who will help me eat all the corn muffins? Hmmm....

I am normally a whole-grain person, but coarse corn chaff in grits ruins it.  I typically remove floating chaff with a cup-sized sieve.  Unlike the other corns, the popcorn chaff unexpectedly sank.  I had to winnow the ground popcorn.

Popcorn is a distinct variety of corn and it is *not* genetically modified. As a dedicated home miller who is looking for non GMO corn that can be home milled to produce a variety of foods I have found popcorn to be my best resource. While organic popcorn is available in my local supermarkets I generally go with the less expensive non-organic popcorn. My grain mill (the Lee Household Flour Mill) allows me to adjust how fine the grain is milled. For polenta I go with a slightly gritty flour. For general purpose corn flour (for muffins, etc.) I mill somewhat finer.

Technox Machine & Manufacturing Inc. is a full-service machine shop that specializes in high-quality machined parts and metalworking operations. We offer turnkey solutions for your machining needs, ranging from low- and high-volume productions of small goods to the production of oversized assemblies.

Indexable SideMillingCutter

I've resorted to popcorn in the past, but have never done a true taste or texture test to compare it to dent or flint corn. I've just assumed that since it was not bred for milling, it would likely not be as good.

At Technox, we specialize in both horizontal and vertical milling. We have the equipment and the expertise to create a diverse array of custom parts with different machining techniques. For help determining the right milling process for your needs, contact us today, or request a quote to get started.

As part of our capabilities, we offer horizontal and vertical milling services. Milling processes use rotating cutters to remove excess material from a workpiece. Here, we’ll go over the differences between horizontal vs. vertical milling to ensure you choose the right option for your needs.

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The problem with whole corn kernals in the USA is that you may not know if your corn is GMO. Over 95% of the corn grown in the USA is genetically modified.

Horizontal millingcutter types

I've now had porridge from two flints, Garland and Floriani, various dents, and grocery-store yellow popcorn.  All were sifted to a granulation that passed a #8 sieve and rode on a #20.

It's easy to find wheat berries of all sorts in bulk bins and bags for the home miller--hard red and soft white, and heirloom spelt, einkorn, kamut, emmer, and I can even get locally grown Sonora and Glenn and Red Fife wheats from my farmer's market.  But despite the amazing variety of corn available as seeds, popcorn, grits, cornmeal, hominy, chicos, etc, it is hard to find small quantities of whole dried corn kernels for milling into cornbread etc for the home baker.  It seems like a niche market waiting to be filled--especially since even a home blender can reduce whole kernels to a coarse grind suitable for many cornbread recipes.  My international grocery store carries Peruvian purple corn dried on the cob, but that's a pretty pricy and transport-intensive solution.So....what are your current go-to online sources for whole grain corn kernels for milling?So far, I’ve got http://www.heartlandmill.com/sells blue and yellow organic corn in as little as 10 lb lotshttp://naturalwaymills.com/their PDF price list shows organic yellow corn in 5 lb lotsAnyone else have good sources to add, especially for regional or heirloom varieties?

Side mill vs end mill

Because of the spindle’s orientation, the mill can create deep, heavy cuts in the workpiece. This makes horizontal milling ideal for creating slots, grooves, and angled cuts. Horizontal milling machines are often the preferred choice for heavy-duty or large components because they have large beds and more powerful motors. Other key benefits of horizontal milling machines include:

The popcorn was very hard to grind on a CS Bell #2, even though most of it slipped through uncracked.   I ground the rest on a Retsel Mil-Rite, using a wide setting of the steel burrs, with multiple passes and sievings.  Retsel says that popcorn voids the warranty.  The impact mills that can handle popcorn would likely not leave it coarse enough for me, but that might be a good solution for those who like a smooth polenta.

In summary, ordinary popcorn isn't worth it with my mills.  In years of my crop failure, I will have to spend big bucks for quality dents and the extremely rare flint.

SideMilling Cutters

The popcorn had less flavor than the flints, but it was still good.  Perhaps a named OP variety would taste better than a generic popcorn.

Since I posted I discovered that Los Chileros will sell unprocessed yellow and blue corn in addition to Hominy and chicos. I was preparing an order for chiles and asked them. It's not on the web site but it was about $1/lb plus a pretty solid shipping fee; I had to call to make my order.

If you're looking for a reliable and available source of dried corn and don't live in a geographical area where other varieties of dried corn are available at reasonable prices, I do recommend whole popcorn to my fellow millers.

SideMillingcutter Arbor

Heavier workpieces or items that need to be worked on several sides are most suitable for horizontal milling, whereas projects like sinking dies are ideal for vertical milling.

Verticalmilling machine

Both horizontal mills and vertical mills offer several key benefits, and the best option depends on your project’s particular requirements. Crucial factors to consider when choosing the right process include:

Vertical milling machines also feature rotating cutting tools attached on a spindle. In these machines, the spindle is oriented vertically and moves up and down to make cuts into a workpiece. There are two main types of vertical milling machines: turret mills, which are small, versatile options with a fixed spindle, and bed mills, which have a moving bed to allow for a full, 3-axis range of movement.

In my opinion, coarse porridge is the highest expression of maize food.  The original question relates to popcorn's being the only dry maize readily available in the marketplace.

There is also flint corn which, as it's name suggests, has a harder kernel and would not be a good choice for the home miller,

Probably what you're looking for is dent corn (also sometimes called field corn), Flour milled from dent corn is a high starch (the endosperm of the kernel is softer) and is probably best for most home uses such as corn bread or muffins, polenta and corn porridge.

For horizontal milling processes, the CNC machine has a spindle that’s oriented in a horizontal position. The affixed cutting tool on the spindle will then move from side to side across the length of the available space, removing excess material from the adjacent workpiece. Horizontal milling machines typically use a disc-shaped cutter resembling a saw blade.