Kit Anderson wrote:

I did it! I made tortillas with fresh masa. Field corn is available at feed stores. Lime was a little difficult. The hardware had some but in inspection it was CaO, not CaOH, and came in 50 lb bags. I checked the garden section and found hydrated horticultural lime in 5 lb bags. (CaOH- 54%)

The guys in the hardware were great.
"What do you want this for?"
"Making tortillas."
"Are you sure you don't want lye?"
"Nope. That's for hominy."
"Oh. Can't you just buy tortillas?"
"You can. But they taste different."
"Bring some in so we can try them."

After bringing the lime water and corn to a boil, I let it sit overnight. The whole house still smells like cornbread. I wasn't sure how to get the hulls off the kernels. What I did was put a couple of hand fulls in a lager pot and added water. I rubbed the corn with open palms and decanted off the water. I did this several times until the water was relatively clear.

Then I used my Corona mill for its intended purpose. Masa came out the end with the plates set as close as possible. I had to add a little water to the dough to make tortillas. On my electric tortilla press, I could press down using more time than with masa harina.

I found that adding salt helps the flavor. The texture and flavor is indescribable. They are thicker than dry masa tortillas and taste like corn. The last third of the batch, I mixed in equal amounts of masa harina to see the effect. I could not really tell any difference in flavor and texture. The were just slightly thinner.

I will do this again but double up on the amount. The tortillas freeze beautifully. It is less work than making tamales but like tamales, well worth it.

From: Kit Anderson
Posted By: Blue Rider blurdr@gte.net
Post Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997