Hand shaped tortillas from homemade masa
Masa, the corn dough used to make tortillas, tamales, pupusas, and more, is quickly becoming one of my favorite kitchen staples. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get good quality product. Even in Mexico, shops with fresh masa for home use are disappearing in favor of the powdered stuff.
I began my quest in early 2008. My daughter’s 3rd birthday was coming up and I wanted to have a taco bar. I looked and looked for plain fresh tortillas for sale but found nothing suitable. I live in a semi-rural agricultural part of the San Francisco Bay Area. You can’t do a cartwheel without hitting a Mexican neighborhood, market, or restaurant. But almost every last tortilla I found had preservatives in it. Why on earth?? Trader Joe’s has some pretty good ones, the “handmade” ones, but they’re a bit pricey for a large party, and they aren’t organic. Whole Foods has organic tortillas with good ingredients but they’re dreadful. Okay if fried hard but just horrible if you try to make them soft, like a real taco.
The first stop in my masa journey was the powdered stuff. Masa harina. Maseca brand. I made pretty good (and very cheap) tortillas from it. They tasted much the same as commercial tortillas…because most of those are made from the powder too. It’s not organic, it’s probably GMO, it leaves a junky feeling in my stomach, but it’s easy to find, easy to store, and moderately easy to make. It’s good in a pinch but is sort of like buying squishy “wheat” bread from a bag instead of baking your own from whole grains.
I’ve looked but haven’t found organic masa harina (harina means flour). Bob’s Red Mill makes a non-organic one that is pretty decent. Worlds better than Maseca but it still gives me that icky tummy and, like all masa harina, is difficult to work with and shape into anything but basic tortillas.
My next discovery was a true masa shop, practically in my backyard. Primavera in Sonoma, California. For a mere $1.50 a pound, I could buy beautiful organic whole grain masa, ready to cook. Unfortunately, “practically” means a 45 minute drive each way and I have been having trouble sourcing it anywhere else. The only Farmer’s Markets they sell at are an hour away and the stores they sell their finished products at don’t carry the masa because it’s so perishable (you can’t freeze it and it’s best used within a couple of days, though it will not go bad for a week or slightly more). I was special ordering it from my local Whole Foods but they decided this was too much trouble. I met their early morning delivery truck in parking lots a couple of times but, with a child in tow, this got to be a hassle.
The next step was obvious, I was going to have to make my masa myself. But how? First I (re)discovered the Good Eats (Alton Brown on the Food Network) episode where he makes it, effortlessly of course.
Then I worked on ingredients. You need field corn for this, which simply means the kind of corn used for cornmeal, not for corn on the cob or popcorn. Azure Standard to the rescue! They grow their own and a 5 lb bag of organic dried field corn is a mere $3.05. Note: you really do want organic here (or at least buy from a farmer you know isn’t using GE seeds or spraying). Almost all field corn in the US is genetically engineered (and heavily sprayed). Organic is not.
Next you need Cal, short for calcium hydroxide aka slaked lime (get food grade, not the grade for cement or whitewashing walls!). Most Mexican markets will have this.
Calcium Hydroxide for making masa
The only other ingredients are water and salt but you do need a stainless steel (or other non-reactive) pot, a stove, and a food processor. In my net searches, I came across another blogger, Rancho Gordo, who made masa using Alton Brown’s recipe. My heart sank as I read their difficulty in getting the food processor method to work. But I decided to plow ahead anyway. And I’m glad I did, mine came out wonderful!
It’s pretty easy. Measure 6 cups of water (I use filtered since the corn will absorb it) into a pot, add 2 tablespoons of cal, and stir as you gently heat the water.
Soaking the corn in lime water
When the lime is dissolved (a few seconds), add 2 cups of corn. Rinse it first, though I forgot the first time and it didn’t seem to matter (since you will rinse later). Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Alton Brown insists that you do this slowly, with the time to boil taking half an hour or more. I did that the first time but the second time I forgot to watch it carefully and it boiled quicker and stayed at a boil for a few minutes. Oops. Didn’t make a big difference, though it absorbed more water.
Turn off the heat, cover, and let it sit overnight (I’m not sure what the minimum time for sitting is). If you can’t get to it the next morning, no problem. My second batch sat for almost 24 hours. It swelled up more but was still firm enough to rub and rinse.
Dump into a colander and drain out the excess lime water.
Corn after soaking in lime water
Now comes the fun part. Soak in fresh water (I use tap water here), rub, rinse, repeat. Alton Brown says 5-6 minutes of rubbing while rinsing. I wasn’t that throgho. I put the colander in a larger bowl, fill with water, rub for a while, pour off the skins, add more water, rub, drain and rinse, etc. Remember the purpose of the lime is to change the protein content and texture. It’s not essential to remove the skins.
At the end, soak in fresh water for a couple minutes and repeat. Then drain and process along with a teaspoon of salt. Alton Brown makes it seem easy, with just a few pulses and 4-5 TB of water. I found it takes more than that. I pulse at first, scrapping down the sides as needed, but then just let it run.
Masa after a trip in the food processor
The first time I did use way too much water, as you can see above. I put in about 10 oz (20 TB). It made a nice smooth product but not one I could shape with my hands. I still managed to make yummy tortillas though, so no great loss.
The second time I used half as much water (about 5 oz or 10 TB) and the masa came out lovely. Not quite as smooth as my first batch, or as Primavera’s gorgeous product, but very usable and delicious. It was still a little wetter than I would have liked but I could shape it by hand (see tortillas at the top of the page) and could have made pupusas or other foods from it. See below.
Finished masa ready to shape and cook
Cost is pretty low too. One batch (2 cups of corn) costs 61 cents for the corn (would be less if I bought it in 25 or 50 lb bags), 13 cents for the cal (again, I could buy in bulk and save), and another couple pennies for the water, salt, and electricity. So let’s say 75 cents for enough masa to make 15-20 medium organic whole grain tortillas (masa weight will vary depending on how long you soaked it for and how much water you added). This is expensive compared to Maseca masa harina, which runs $4-6 for enough flour to make a couple hundred tortillas. But less than Primavera masa or any finished tortillas you can buy.
All in all, is it worth it? So far, yes. My masa has a wonderful corn flavor, a great texture, and is making excellent tortillas (and soon to be making pupusas, challah, and other cool things). It takes 2 minutes to set up at night, another few minutes to watch it and then cover, and 10 minutes to make the next day. Tortillas take a couple minutes to make and cook. Someone into convenience foods would be put out, but it’s really nothing in the great scheme of things.
106 responses so far ↓
1 Jasmin // Sep 5, 2009 at 9:09 am
Thanks for sharing. Looks like it’s hard work, but if that’s what it takes to get good food, why not? 🙂
2 admin // Sep 5, 2009 at 10:57 am
Hi Jasmin,
I’m certainly willing to undertake hard work for good food. But I can’t say this was all that hard. Finding the ingredients and worrying about the recipe and technique was a bit of a pain but, now that I have it down, I think it’s going to be part of my routine.
Really, it takes less time than making a batch of cole slaw (shredding those cabbages instead of buying packaged) and is about the same as making a batch of hummus (from dried chickpeas).
-Cyndi
3 Andy // Sep 6, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The lime helps up the protein count – one of the reasons I shudder when I read the ingredient lists for commercial chips – many skip the lime and end up being even junkier than they otherwise would be.
4 Sue // Sep 24, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Just cooked up my first batch, thank you for the tips.
Cooking from the basics is way too much fun (and I ordered 25 lbs of organic corn from my co-op “yeah” winter food!)
5 Alfrun // Sep 29, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I’m on the same path but a month behind. I get eye rolls and head shakes from friends and family. My organic corn arrived today. I’m aching to get started. Thanks for your story, it’s nice to know there are kindred spirits out there.
6 Gretchen // Oct 8, 2009 at 12:39 pm
VERY interesting – I’ve lived in a Guatemalan village where all the ladies make their tortillas from corn their husbands grow. I’m sure there is pesticide use.
7 Sue // Oct 8, 2009 at 1:45 pm
My first batch worked out great I used my hand crank grain mill. The second batch I tried to do in my processor, tamales maybe, tortillas no way. I guess unless somebody gives me a good processor I’ll be getting an arm workout. I’d love to get a metate y mano but shipping to Michigan would be crazy….
The taste of what I make is totally different from what I’ve eaten before, well worth the work =) plus I have lots of new friends.
8 Helen // Jan 20, 2010 at 12:14 pm
And what do you recommend for a basic tortilla recipe? And if I master tortillas and want to try making corn chips, what recipe do you recommend for them.
Thanks for the thorough and great explanation.
9 admin // Jan 20, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hi Helen, thanks. I’m not sure what you mean by basic tortilla recipe since that’s what I thought I was giving above. It’s just masa pressed flat and cooked on both sides on a well-seasoned surface.
To make chips, take already made tortillas (not thick hand-shaped ones but ones done on a tortilla press), slice them into triangles, and fry in oil. Restaurants will use a deep fryer. If you don’t have one, use a pan at high heat with a good bit of oil. You can bake them too but I’ve never done it so can’t tell you the technique.
-Cyndi
10 Jill // Jan 24, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Dumb Question: After nixtamalizing–cooking and soaking—are the kernals still very hard? Mine were, and after food-processing them, I ended up with decent masa with very hard unpleasant pieces of hard corn. What texture should my corn be just prior to the food-processor step? (Note I used the big white raw corn, vs smaller. Maybe I simply should have boiled/simmered longer?) Thanks!!
11 admin // Jan 24, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Jill, I haven’t used white corn or big kernels so maybe that is the difference. I use basic organic small yellow ones. They’re about the size of corn on the cob kernels, a bit bigger than popcorn, and flat. They are hard when I put them into the food processor but not enough to cause problems in the machine (not like before cooking and soaking). I also end up with a few unblended bits but they are soft and easy to eat.
Since yours are bigger I would try cooking for longer. Please report back what you find.
-Cyndi
12 Helen // Jan 25, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Thanks for the explanation, especially, the sentence: “It’s just masa pressed flat and cooked on both sides on a well-seasoned surface.”
So it seems to me that what I am to do is to make the masa without adding anything else, then press it flat, and cook it on both sides on a griddle or something comparable. Do I oil the griddle? And what if I use a nonstick pan–do I oil it? And for how long on a side and what do I look for–a little brownness? And once I get those made, I assume I’ll be able to figure out how to make the chips.
😉
13 admin // Jan 25, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Here are more detailed instructions with pictures: http://norwitz.net/blog/2008/03/08/homemade-corn-tortillas/
I sometimes oil the cast iron pan but you don’t have to with something very well seasoned. Only bother if it sticks (note: sticking is also a sign that it’s not ready to be turned so be patient with it).
-Cyndi
14 Sue // Jan 25, 2010 at 5:23 pm
I’ve had more luck cooking my Corn.cal and water mix on a low simmer for at least an hour (covered & stirring occasionally).
I let it sit overnight then rinse the corn and let it drain until just damp, then grind. Being something of a purist I do use a Victoria grain mill for a fairly smooth grind.
I use a well seasoned cast iron pan for the tortillas and you shouldn’t need to oil it, (I wouldn’t use nonstick, that stuff kills)
Generally homemade corn chips are going to be heavier than commercial chips and you should keep your frying oil at 375*.
Check out: Alton Browns Good Eats on YouTube at the end of part 2 he shows how he does his chips. http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Homemade-640/make-masa-nixtamal.aspx
Rick Bayless’s book Authentic Mexican helped me out alot. I also watched lots of videos on youtube just read lots of information on nixtamal and hominy online.
(sorry to barge in but I’ve had issues with the short cooking of the corn too, I also have some of the large white and I think the hour long cooking helps)
15 admin // Jan 25, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Sorry to barge in? LOL that’s what the comments are for! I’m thrilled to have a discussion here. Helps me too. I’m no expert, I just blogged it. Thanks Sue for your helpful advice.
-Cyndi
16 Jill // Jan 25, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Appreciate the input! Wellll….I can now tell you how long is TOO long to cook the big pasole corn(!!) Ended up with gummy—VERY gummy–masa which tasted great and worked quite nicely in sopas. And didn’t have the too-hard chunks. When I lived in Mexico they only used the big white corn on the rancho, and their tortillas were astounding. WHY didn’t I pay better attention?? But yes, longer cooking, but not TOO long!
17 Jessica // Mar 15, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Thanks so much for your recipe with all your annotations! I made wonderful pupusas with fresh, organic blue corn masa thanks to your instructions. Yay!
18 admin // Mar 27, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Jessica, those sound great!
-Cyndi
19 kim // Jul 5, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Hi. I am vegan and am going to try and make masa. Thanks, Kim.
20 Cyndi // Jul 12, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Where can I get the organic field corn, esp. at that amazing price? I live in Los Angeles and imagine there should be lots of resources but can’t find any. Thanks
21 Cyndi // Jul 13, 2011 at 8:14 am
Hey another Cyndi 🙂
I buy it from azurestandard.com. It’s a smaller natural foods distributor out of Oregon with a lot of their own bulk products, like this corn. You can get it mail order or you can join one of their numerous buyer’s clubs (their distribution area is the West and there should be hundreds of clubs in the LA area). I haven’t seen organic field corn anyplace else in stores but some must have it. And you probably even have a place to buy masa down there (organic, no additives), though I don’t know where. A lot of prepared masa comes from the flour (ick and hello GMOs) and others are freshly made but from nonorganic (GMO) corn.
If anyone knows, please post sources!
22 Cyndi // Jul 13, 2011 at 8:19 am
Okay, a quick search brought up this:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2010/08/masa_tortilla_best_amapola.php
Fresh organic masa for .65/lb (I pay $1.50 and consider it a bargain). I know where I’m going next time I visit LA!
Cyndi (admin)
23 weedy // Sep 10, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Have you been to the Latin American supermarket off Piner Rd (in the same complex as Harbor Freight Tools). In order to make certain flatbreads (pupusas, Argentine Arepas, etc) you need to use precooked corn meal available here: P.A.M. brand, white or yellow, imported . Shortcut yes, but it will have the texture you want. GOOD WORK! Most people don’t know about the lime…
24 Cyndi // Sep 10, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Weedy, no I haven’t. Just to Lola’s.
Pupusas are made from masa but I had to go look up the difference between masa and what arepas are made out of. Okay, so either can be fresh or flour you add water to. Both are cooked (then dried if applicable). Masa comes from corn kernels soaked in lime water (and rinsed well) before cooking. Masarepa is simply cooked then ground (with the germ and seed coatings removed). Ordinary cornmeal or corn flour is not soaked with lime or cooked, it’s just ground from dried corn kernels.
I think if I were going to make Arepas I’d want to make the dough myself from corn I cook and grind. Or perhaps from cornmeal I cook then use as a dough and cook again (because then I could get it organic).
Have you ever made them from scratch?
25 Anil // Nov 2, 2011 at 9:06 am
Hi Cyndi,
I’ve had this post bookmarked for a while since I first decided to make my own masa. Just thought I’d share some of my learned tricks with making and using masa. Having grown up in NM, I kindof knew what I was after but it took some experimenting.
I’m definitely with you on the slow heating to boil. I let it boil for 5-10 minutes then cool and transfer to non-metal vessel and cover. Then I leave it out on the counter for a up to a couple of days (maybe less in the summer) before processing.
Here’s the trick that made me jump for joy when I figured it out: put your cast-iron griddle over med-low heat and put another flat bottomed cast-iron skillet on top. Once they’re both nice and hot, add a bit of oil or fat and drop a blob of masa on the griddle. Then use the hot skillet to smoosh the blob to desired thickness (1″ + for arepas and gorditas down to very thin for tortillas). Wait 30 seconds or so, sometimes you’ll hear a steamy sizzle, gently pick up the skillet. The masa will usually come up with the skillet and a touch with a spatula will make it drop off. Flip as necessary to brown both sides or toss it in the oven to finish. No more wax paper, gummy hands, or messy counters and you’ll finally be able to make them faster than the family can eat them!
I keep a batch of masa in the fridge for up to a week. It freezes okay but will not smoosh as smoothly.
Enjoy!
Anil
26 Cindy (yes, another Cindy!) // Nov 27, 2011 at 10:19 am
Hi Cyndi, can’t thank you enough for this. I will avoid GMO and pesticides at all cost so I have just avoided tamales (and most corn products) for a long time. I’m going to try this as soon as my order comes in. But my big question is – if I want to triple or quadruple a batch (after I get the method down), how long will a batch of masa keep? Can you freeze it and use later?
And I noticed one helpful poster said to transfer to a non-metal pot? Is metal an issue?
Many many thanks for going to the trouble of posting all this and getting a good dicussion going.
-Cindy
27 Cyndi // Nov 28, 2011 at 6:51 am
Hi Cindy. Masa doesn’t keep. I wish it did. Primavera, the organic masa/tortilla place in my county, is very clear that you can’t freeze. I discovered them in a Farmer’s Market and the person they had selling did tell me I could freeze the masa (the owner’s reaction when I told her that made it clear that he didn’t get it from her). So I did. It didn’t go bad or anything but the texture was totally wrong and the flavor suffered too. When I’ve bought fresh masa from them (which I’ve done many times), it is best the day it’s ground, but very close on the second day. It goes downhill fairly quickly. It’s a texture thing. You can make tortillas but it will not hold up for pupusas or anything else that isn’t simple. And even tortillas will break apart and not get the shape you want. The masa goes completely off in 7-10 days, sometimes sooner. When I’ve made my own masa, I’ve always used it up right away, since the amounts are smaller.
The good news is that you can freeze cooked masa products. Tortillas come out wonderful and I don’t even defrost before putting in the cast iron pan to heat them (it helps to put a plate and then another pan on top to flatten them. Of course it won’t be like eating a tortilla fresh, but it’s not far off from eating one that’s been in the fridge for a couple of days. Pupusas can freeze too but must be heated completely to taste decent, with the last part on the cast iron or a grill or a toaster oven will work. Just be sure it’s done well or it will taste soggy. Don’t know about tamales as I’ve never made or frozen one.
–Cyndi
28 Heidi // Jan 16, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Hey, loving this tutorial, thank you for sharing and adding comments.
I have a question about corn flour I received and don’t really know what to do with it. Would I be able to use it to make a masa?
29 Cyndi // Jan 16, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Hi Heidi. To make masa you must add the Cal to whole corn and cook it that way. Afterwards, you can dry the corn and turn it into flour (called masa harina). It won’t be nearly as good but it doesn’t go bad.
You can not turn ordinary corn flour into masa. But you can make all sorts of bread-like things out of corn flour. They won’t have the protein boost masa does (the process liberates an amino acid), or the distinctive masa flavor.
You can use corn flour to make corn bread, to coat fish or meat, to make porridge or polenta, etc. The grind matters a lot but all of them, from fine to coarse, will be good for a variety of dishes.
Cyndi
30 Sonii // Feb 19, 2012 at 6:17 pm
there are some recipes in the Nourishing Traditons cookbook for corbread, cornmeal spoon bread and potenta corn casserole that soak the cornmeal in lime water making the B3 vitamin compound available.
Thanks for this blog. I am soaking corn tonight and so excited to make my own masa. Had Pupusas in Belize on a vacation a few years ago and loved them. Also just sick and tired of not being able to find an organic corn tortilla except at Whole Foods and it just doesn’t taste that great. 🙁
31 Cyndi // Feb 19, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Hi Sonii. It’s better to soak the whole dried corn (or fresh corn if you have it) in the lime water. It’s not the same to soak cornmeal, and then you can’t rinse it properly afterwards.
I hear you on the WF tortillas. They just aren’t good at all. They make decent tostadas or chips but nothing I’ve tried has gotten them to act like a fresh tortilla. Ditto for most of the tortillas I’ve found. The only brand I’ve tried that has no preservatives (or wheat) that tastes good is Trader Joe’s, but they’re not organic and I just don’t want to deal with GMO corn (if it’s not organic it’s probably genetically engineered and heavily dosed in pesticides during growing).
Okay, the exception is Primavera, but they’re a very local company with limited distribution in the San Francisco Bay Area. Plus I’ve only ever seen the super thick tortillas in stores. You have to go to their factory in Sonoma to get the thin ones (I buy several dozen and freeze them).
Let us know how your masa comes out.
Cyndi
32 Sonii // Feb 20, 2012 at 6:23 pm
I made them tonight and they were wonderful ! We used them for enchiladas. Finally my own organic/non gmo corn tortillas that taste great 🙂 I did add a tsp or so of olive oil and some sea salt when I was processing the corn and a bit of water to get it to the masa texture I liked 🙂 This Texas gal is feeling really Hispanic tonight !
I put the comment about the corn meal for Heidi. The Weston Price, Nourishing Tradition cookbook has recipes for using corn meal and they tell you to make a dolomite water (cal water) by mixing it in a jar and then letting the cal sink to the bottom and just pouring off the water to soak the corn meal. It isn’t for making Masa or tortillas but for corn breads and polenta. I have done it and it turned out nicely. They soak all grains, nuts etc. to make them more digestable and also sprout a lot of foods.
33 Virginia // Apr 18, 2012 at 10:31 am
Masa can be frozen. My Mom in Mexico does it all the time. What you need to do with it is defrost it in the fridge. Once defrosted take out and let it get to room temperature. Then you can adjust the water as needed to get the right texture.
Tamales can also be frozen either cooked or raw. If you have a pressure cooker (with about 1-2 in of H2O) you can make them in it (takes less time than a regular pot for the tamales to cook -around 20 minutes). If you freeze them raw, you can also cook frozen in the pressure cooker just need to adjust the time to about 10 more min of cooking time. These will taste like just made.
If you freeze them cooked. Let them defrost in the fridge and then heat up in pressure cooker with about an 1 or 2 of water for about 10 min.
Times should be adjusted depending on the size of the pressure cooker and the amount of tamales.
34 Sonii // Apr 18, 2012 at 3:21 pm
I made the tortillas again for my sister and her family when they came to visit us from California and they loved them. I had a few leftover tortillas since we made so many and I froze them and they pop apart really easily to reheat. Very pleased !
35 Cyndi // Apr 19, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Virginia and Sonii, thanks for the tips and the feedback!
36 Ben // Sep 3, 2012 at 7:59 am
Is there any way around the lime?
37 Cyndi // Sep 5, 2012 at 11:58 am
Hi Ben. There are recipes for cornmeal products that don’t use masa (which is cornmeal plus lime). I have some on the blog but not tortilla style. There are some South American recipes that use cornmeal instead of masa to make things like tortillas (arepas and others). But if you want masa you must use lime.
Cyndi
38 Salina // Oct 15, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Do you know if I would be able to use the dry container for the vitamix to grind the corn? I do not have a food processor.
39 Wayne // Nov 26, 2012 at 2:23 pm
First,
Salina, you can always use a mojete and grind it like you would a salsa – I would guess a second method would be to use a rolling pin?
You will find pieces of corn in home made tortillas in Mexico …. So, it is not like it would hurt to not completely grind it or chop it down.
BUT, you can get one of those choppers which should do most of the job at a WalMart pretty cheap.
Thank you for putting this together. I had always used Maseca, or store bought. But, now I am in Ukraine ….. so, I gotta make them using the Native method!
And that means, Nixtamal!
Wayne
40 Ann // Jan 19, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Please set me straight but when I called Amapola and asked about their masa. The manager said it was not certified organic. So being in LA I would love to find an organic masa place.
I have tried using Gusto’s yellow organic corn to make masa. But even after long soaking none of the skins come off the kernal. None. I poke my fingernail and then break the kernal but the skin stays on.
With soybeans it is important to get skins off for nutrition, the phytic acid steals your minerals.
Please tell me are you getting 50% of skins off, 70%, 20%?
Thank you, Ann
41 Cyndi // Jan 19, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Hi Ann,
I get maybe 75 to 85% of the skins off the corn. It’s really not a big deal to leave them. They are not dangerous at all, they just can add a bit of a gritty feeling to the masa. Soybean skins are also totally safe. But you do need to cook soybeans to get rid of the phytic acid. This is true for all legumes (a few, like green beans, are okay raw).
I try to eat organic all the time but for foods like field corn (and soy too) I insist upon it. Or at least certified non-GMO.
Are you soaking in lime water? I’m surprised the skins aren’t coming off for you.
Cyndi
42 Laina // Apr 3, 2013 at 9:31 am
I was wondering if you could take organic corn meal and grind it to a fine powder and then add the CAL. Would that end up being the same product?
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
43 Cyndi // Apr 3, 2013 at 2:03 pm
Hi, Laina, no you can’t do this. Remember, when you make masa, you are not adding cal. You are using cal as a processing aid, then you are rinsing it away. You can’t rinse it from flour.
There is a product called masa harina which is dried whole corn that has been processed with cal then made into masa and then dried and ground up. You mix it with water to reconstitute it. You can make decent tortillas and other products with it, but fresh is much better (and it’s very hard to find organic masa harina).
I’ve written about using masa harina here:
http://norwitz.net/blog/2008/03/08/homemade-corn-tortillas/
Cyndi
44 Bill Meers // Apr 20, 2013 at 10:27 pm
Thanks. Nice to know I don’t have to look for corn tortillas. And that I’ll have to make my own.
45 les // May 30, 2013 at 4:34 pm
I want to adda taco shack to our coffee bar.which is in Kerala, India. presently in London .Ive found some hominy corn at a local african store, pre slaked. do i cook it or just soak it to make masa? No chance of buying masa harina in India, and very expensive in London. dont want to ship dried tacos, just hope to find right maize in India, and practice.
46 Cyndi // May 31, 2013 at 8:14 am
Hi. Hominy is also treated with cal. I would guess you could make masa from it (after soaking) but I don’t actually know. Ideally you’d have plain dried corn (any field corn (as opposed to sweet corn aka corn on the cob) will do, if it’s meant to be eaten by humans) and cal. But if you can’t get either of those, the hominy corn might be a good alternative. If the local store does their own, you might be able to buy it fresh or have them do it to order. No need to cook it before making the masa as the tortillas will be cooked. I’m curious to hear how it all turns out. Please let us know!
Cyndi
47 Catriona // Jun 5, 2013 at 7:12 pm
Thanks for all your detail: we were able to do this at home. The tortillas are delicious! Now we’re looking for a source for organic white corn.
48 Cyndi // Jun 5, 2013 at 8:59 pm
Great to hear, Catriona.
49 les // Jun 13, 2013 at 3:12 am
WELL JUST SOAKING THE HOMINY OVERIGHT DIDNT SEEM RIGHT , BAD TEXTURE AND NO IDENTIFYABLE CORN TORTILLA FLAVOUR OR SMELL. ILL TRY THE CAL AGAIN, BUT 2 TABLESPOONS OF CAL SEEMS EXCESSIVE I TRIED 2 TEA SPOONS BEFORE, BUT YEH IT WASNT QUITE SOFT ENOUGH TO PROCESS INTO DOUGH.
50 Cyndi // Jun 13, 2013 at 8:21 am
The cal doesn’t soften the corn persay. The soaking does that. The cal removes the skin and makes a change in the protein. You should still have no trouble making a dough without it, though it won’t be the same.
Are you dissolving the cal in boiling or near boiling water and adding the corn in immediately after and then bringing the pot back up to a boil and turning off the heat and leaving the lid on so the corn is slightly cooked?
I haven’t tried the recipe with less cal but this amount is pretty consistent across different recipes I’ve seen.
Cyndi
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