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Post by steev on Sept 22, 2011 0:17:45 GMT -5
While doing some mindless chore, I was mulling the process of getting dried corn off the cobs in quantity, without putting unwelcome wear on my delicate hands. I was particularly thinking about just getting the center kernals off.
It occurred to me that if I took 18 or 24" of 3/8' rebar (for the texture) and wrapped it around a pipe or bottle of slightly less diameter than many of my ears of dry corn one and a half full turns, so the ends were both pointing parallel, I might have something I could squeeze like a hand exerciser, opening the loop, slide in an ear, relax, gripping the ear, and twist, shelling the center kernals quickly.
Has anyone seen such a thing; does it make any sense?
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Post by DarJones on Sept 22, 2011 9:39:26 GMT -5
Look on ebay for a jiffy sheller. It is a round ring with a 2 inch diameter hole and spikes pointing inward. Just run the ring over a cob, twist a few times and the spikes shell off the corn. These were made over 100 years ago. I just tried a search for "corn sheller" and got 150 hits with at least two of the jiffy shellers and numerous crank type shellers.
DarJones
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Post by steev on Sept 22, 2011 10:41:18 GMT -5
I've seen those ring shellers. As for the crank-type, I aspire to someday own an antique cast-iron sheller. Great examples of functional ingenuity and design, like apple peeler-corer-slicers.
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Post by spacecase0 on Sept 22, 2011 12:11:41 GMT -5
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Post by oxbowfarm on Sept 23, 2011 3:33:07 GMT -5
Depending on where you live, there are literally tens of thousands of crank shellers gathering dust in barns and sheds all over this country. It was a basic utility item that just about every little farm had. And if you can say one thing for cast iron it is that its built to last. I used to work at a living history farm and they had a storage barn full of donated equipment. There were probably 100 crank corn shellers in there, they didn't like to tell people they didn't need them in case they might inhibit folks from donating the good stuff.
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 23, 2011 13:57:56 GMT -5
www.csbellco.com/corn-sheller.aspSteev, I have this one. You can throw bombs at it. It weighs a ton. It clamps onto the side of a barrel. I'll post a photo this weekend when it goes into action. www.csbellco.com/hand-grist-mill-2.asp I also have this one, and man oh man do I wish this one was electric. Move over Joseph, I'm going to have muscles when I get done grinding.
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Post by johno on Sept 23, 2011 14:09:21 GMT -5
That grist mill looks like a real beauty.
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 23, 2011 15:07:31 GMT -5
Okay so here's the sheller set up. Attachments:
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 23, 2011 15:08:57 GMT -5
Corn in, turn crank, cob out. Attachments:
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 23, 2011 15:10:20 GMT -5
I put a hotel tray in the bottom of the CSA box to catch the corn. Attachments:
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Post by 12540dumont on Sept 23, 2011 16:13:35 GMT -5
Johnno, the moment I get an electric one, I'm boxing the grist mill up and sending it to you. You look like a man with muscles. I tell you this machine separates the boys from the men. It works like this: "Hey, mom, can you make cornbread tonight?" Sure, you grind the corn, says the mom. "Never Mind" says the son. And the dear spouse goes out and grinds the corn. Because he is a man of muscles. But looking at my field of corn....even he is daunted. So, the shucker works great. It works better on Carol's corn that the big beefy polenta corn which is in the picture. The Texas Gourdseed is still in the field, so I haven't tried it yet. Attachments:
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 28, 2011 22:00:25 GMT -5
Okay, So I finally broke out the CS Bell # 2 and ground enough corn for all of the CSA to have polenta/grits. 20 quarts later...and a couple of aspirin, I'd say it was a good job. However to make corn meal was considerably harder work. Today we were at a kitchen store, to buy a new peeler and my husband spotted some coffee grinders on clearance for $11. We purchased a Hamilton Beach Hands Free 15 cup coffee grinder. The top holds about a cup of grain. (They had a much bigger Krupps for about $50). I came home and ground 2 cups of grits into cornmeal. I got excited and put my flour corn through the Bell and rushed it inside. I ground one cup after another until I had 3 cups of fine corn flour! Okay, then the cabinet doors started slamming, I ground 2 cups of Farro, and 2 cups of oats. I haven't tried the wheat yet, or the milo, but I think it will work. I don't think the milo is quite dry enough to grind. All for $11. Of course this won't be big enough for my CSA, unless I bought a bank of them. (it's a 80344Z). On the internet they say they only last 6 months. 6 months of bread and biscuits from grain for $11 is not bad...Guy at the store told me go ahead and work it hard. If it broke before 90 days, they'd replace it or let me trade up. Attachments:
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Post by turtleheart on Oct 29, 2011 6:41:00 GMT -5
when its for seed i use my hands and when its for food i rub two ears together. the corn maiden is a traditional story about handling the corn with respect. if we hurt the corn then she will go away forever. i try to handle the corn like a baby.
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