The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-06-19
KEEPING QUALITIES
OF CORN MEAL
oId-Fashioned Stone Ground Meal
spoiIs Sooner But Has Better Fla.
n vor than Modern Roller Mliled
w Meal.

n Vor than Modern Roller Miiled
w Meal.
Investigation on the keeping quail
ties Of corn meal. recently completed
by the experts Of the department Of
agriculture, show that stone-ground
meal, which on account of its rich
| oily flavor is SO desired in the palata-
BILE muffin, hoecake and pone, spoils
much more quickly than meal made
In the modern mill by the roller pro-
cess. For this reason the stone-ground
meal should be eaten as soon as pos.
sible after milling. In this respect
1t Is like milk and cream which are
usually consumed within q few hours
after being produced. and which I'M
der the most favorable conditions can
be kept in their natural state for only
short time. The roller mill meal is,
in It's keeping qualities. more like but.
ter which can with proper caro- be
kept in good condition, not indefinite
Iy, but for q reasonable length of
time.
In those sections of the country
where 1t is customary to take corn
to the mill and carry back the meal.
frequent trips should be made to the
/ mill and only small quantities Of corn
taken at each trip so that the meal
can be used up In short time after
being milled.
| The palatable Characteristic taste of
the stone-ground meal Is largely due
TO the oil contained in the germ Of the
corn. AS the whole kernel Of corn
Is ground in the stone or French burr
mill this oil Is pressed out in the pro-
cess and imparts its favor to the
| meal. In the roller mill process the
germ is taken from the corn before
rolling by machine called a degerm-
| inator, and but little OF the oil gets
iuto the meal The germ, If allowed
to remain In the meal. causes 1t to
spoil quickly. so the very thing that
imparts the desirable flavor to the
meal viii also injure its keeping quail
tiles. In some cases in stone-ground
meal the germ is removed by boiling
after grinding. This improves the
keeping quality over that of unbolted
meal bat does not make it equal in
keeping qualities to the meal made
by extracting the germ before mill
ing.
The term underground" meal ap-
plies to the produce ground by stones
without regard to whether the motive
power Is water. steam or electricity.
At one time nearly all stone grinding
| mills were operated by water power
while roller mills were usually operat-
ed by steam, and so the term water
ground" was used to mean the same
as "stone-ground In later years,
however, steam and electricity have
almost entirely displaced water as q
motive power in mills. It ia the mill
ing machinery and not the source OF
power, that determines the character
of the meal that may be produced.
The keeping quality of corn meal is
also greatly affected by heat and
moisture. Other things being equal,
the drier the meal the longer 1t viii
keep. It Is the custom In larger mills
and In some smaller ones to artificial
. ly dry the meal after milling. In wet
sections OF the country, or in wet
weather anywhere. dried meal will
very quickly absorb moisture from the
atmosphere. Any kind of corn meal
will keep much longer In cold wealth
er than In warm weather. 1t should,
therefore, be stored In a dry, cool
place.