I wasn’t an immediate whiz on the Nixtamatic.
The instruction manual for my new corn grinder was woefully lean. It basically said, “Turn it on and enjoy!” so I waited until Lola came over to clean, thinking she might have intrinsic knowledge of how the thing worked because she was Mexican. (This seems like a ridiculous notion now, because very few Mexicans in this city grind their own corn. But I was flailing.)
Lola looked at the two-page manual, and I did too, over her shoulder. She looked over the parts and I did, too.
“I guess we should add some corn?” I said.
I had a bag of frozen nixtamalized corn, which I’d defrosted to use a test batch. We loaded it into the Nixtamatic’s collector tube and pressed the “on” button.
The plates squeaked and wobbled and corn went flying everywhere, ricocheting off the cabinets and onto the floor Lola had just cleaned. We both squealed and turned the thing off.
“Maybe that’s just what happens the first time you use it?” Lola suggested. I agreed, so we loaded more corn in the collector tube.
The same thing happened again.
The instructions had warned not to tighten the plates too tightly or else the masa wouldn’t be able to exit the machine. That was really the only word of caution in the entire manual, outside of not sticking your fingers in the motor.
Lola and I were both at a loss. In addition to the wobbly plates, there was also an extra screw that I had no idea what to do with. So the next day I called the manufacturer and explained the problem. Lola told me what to say, because I had no idea how to elucidate “The corn flew everywhere when I turned the machine on!” Lola’s suggested phrasing included the verb “botar,” which means to jump or bounce.
The Nitxtamatic technician was nice enough when I explained the problem. He told me to tighten the plates. When I asked if he could come over and look at the machine, he said no, the company didn’t offer that service.
“You’re welcome to bring the machine here and I’ll teach you how to use it,” he said.
The Nixtamatic weighed maybe 40 pounds. It was a beast. I couldn’t take it anywhere. So I decided to turn the plates as tight as possible and try again.
Most of my test corn ended up on the floor, so I nitxtamalized a half-kilo of blue corn I’d purchased at Mercado Merced. I invited Alice over for moral support, trying to entice her at the thought of homemade corn tortillas.
“You can take homemade blue corn tortillas home with you!” I said. Actually, all I had to utter was the word “tlacoyos” and she was immediately in. Alice is a tlacoyo fiend.
Thankfully I’d already done the nixtamalization part in cooking class a few times, so I didn’t have to worry about that part. I rinsed the corn to remove any dust and grit and then added it to a pot of boiling water, with a few spoonfuls of calcium hydroxide. (In the future, I’d dissolve my cal in water first instead of adding it directly to the pot. Had a few cal-lumps in my water.)
I boiled the mixture for an hour, adding hot water when it looked too dry. Then I turned off the flame and let the pot sit overnight.
The next morning, the corn looked gorgeous — like blue marbles.
This is what it looked like dry:
I rinsed the corn in water several times and rubbed off the outer skins. Then I told Alice to get the video camera ready — I got a new one while I was in New York, just for instances like this.
I poured the corn into the collector tube, turned the machine on and winced a bit. (Please don’t fly everywhere, please don’t fly everywhere, please please please.) But the masa came out smooth and easy, squiggling out of the machine in soft, jagged pieces. I set a Pyrex dish under the Nixtamatic and let the fresh masa pile up.
When the machine had ground all the corn — it was over quickly, in probably three to five minutes — I poured water over the masa a few tablespoons at at time and kneaded it with my hands, until it had a smooth and almost wet consistency.
To form the tortillas, Alice and I each grabbed off a chunk of masa, rolled it into a ball, and set it in the center of a tortilla press lined with plastic. Then we closed the press and pushed down on the lever.
A ball of masa, about to be flattened by the tortilla press
Folding the plate over, before using the press lever
The press didn’t flatten the tortillas evenly, so after we did it once, we opened the press and rotated the tortilla a quarter-turn to the right, and then flattened it again. We repeated the process until the tortilla was more or less evenly flat.
After that, we peeled off the tortilla from the plastic and placed it directly on the hot comal.
A homemade blue corn tortilla, cooking on my comal
My comal practically turns into a hearth over high heat. And because of my electric stove, which takes about 10 minutes to adjust to a lower temperature, once the comal is hot it’s nearly impossible to cool down. I cooked the tortillas for 15 to 30 seconds on each side; if I left them on longer, they burned. Next time I’ll start with a lower heat.
We piled the tortillas into a dish towel to keep warm, and we made a few tlacoyos filled with crumbles of longaniza sausage that I’d bought at the tianguis. Alice was an expert. My tlacoyo came out kind of uneven and funny-looking; hers looked as perfect as the woman on the corner’s. I told her she should open up her own puesto, with Asian fillings. (Dude — kimchi on a tlacoyo.)
Carrying a tlacoyo to the comal
Overall, I was happy with my tortillas, even though my masa didn’t look like the kind I’ve seen on the streets. That masa is always a smooth cornflower-blue, without any speckles of corn. I’m not sure if I cooked my corn too long or not long enough, or perhaps it needed another run through the Nixtamatic. In either case, the tortillas turned out fine and it was really fun to spend an hour making them.
Yes, that’s how long this all took: about one hour.
I’m going to edit my tortilla video and post it soon, just so you’ll get an idea of how it works. And I’ll have a tlacoyo recipe for you at some point, with more detailed instructions on filling them and shaping them. (Alice will be my guest tlacoyo expert.)
More to come in the next few weeks on masa and tortilla-making!
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Makes about 12 tortillas with a six-inch diameter
Note: Like many recipes in Mexico, the corn tortilla recipe is not set in stone. I didn’t add salt to my masa; some people do. Quantities of calcium hydroxide and boiling times for the corn also differ depending on who you ask. Cal does affect the taste of the tortillas — if you add too much, the tortillas will taste too bitter. My rule right now is two tablespoons of cal per kilo (2.2 lbs.) of corn, but I could see adjusting it slightly in the future, maybe adding just a wee bit more.
As for boiling times for the corn kernels, both Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless recommend 15 minutes; my cooking class instructors say an hour, so that’s what I went with here.
A note on tortilla presses: Some people say wooden presses work better than aluminum ones, but I haven’t found that to be the absolute rule. We have one wooden press in class and it works about as well as the others. No matter what the material is, you shouldn’t place the dough directly on the press, or else it’ll stick.
The folks on the street cut squares of plastic taken from common grocery store bags to line their tortilla presses. I did the same thing here and it worked great.
Ingredients
500 grams (1.1 lbs) dried corn
1 tablespoon calcium hydroxide (see headnote)
1 1/2 liters of water, plus extra for adding to the masa after it’s been ground
Equipment needed
Tortilla press
Electric grain mill
Directions
Rinse the corn under water to remove any dust or grit. Place the corn in a large pot or saucepan filled with water and bring to a boil.
In a separate glass measuring cup or glass bowl, add about 1/2 cup water and sprinkle the cal on top. Let it dissolve. Pour this into your pot of corn and water. (DK says to strain the cal-water mixture into the pot, but I haven’t found this step absolutely necessary so far.)
Once the corn/cal mixture starts boiling, lower the heat and bring it to a slow, rolling simmer for one hour. Then shut off the flame, cover the pot and let sit overnight.
The next morning, rinse the corn well. The water will feel slimy and mucky, but don’t worry, this is good. While you rinse the corn, rub the kernels between your fingers to remove any loose hulls.
Load the corn into the electric grain mill and use according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The corn should come out of the mill as a soft, thin dough. Add water a few tablespoons at a time until the masa is very moist and pliable. It should feel almost like cold Play-Dough. The dough should not crack if you attempt to pat a piece into a tortilla.
Once the masa is ready, heat the comal on the stove and prepare your tortilla press by placing sheets of plastic on the plates. (See headnote for more info.) Grab a chunk of dough, roll it into a ball and place it on the press’s bottom plate. Flatten with top plate and push down with the lever. You may need to open the press back up and rotate the tortilla a quarter-turn, until it’s evenly flat.
When you’ve gained your desired thickness, carefully peel off the tortilla from the plastic and place on the hot comal. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on each side. If the edges start to look white and dry, you’ve overcooked the tortilla.
Tortillas freeze well, so any extras that you haven’t gobbled up warm off the comal can be placed in an airtight bag and frozen.
Wow! I have lived in San Miguel de Allende Mexico for over 23 years and this is the first time I have seen or heard of the Nixtamatic! What an idea! Here, we still take our slaked corn to to the local tortillarias for grinding. Wonderful article! Thank you so much.
Hi Victoria: You’re welcome! Glad you liked the post. The Nixtamatic is fabulous… they may sell it in San Miguel.
What a terrific adventure! I know the feeling where food mills are concerned.
Is it absolutely necessary to add the cal to the masa? Were the corn kernels al dente when you were done cooking them? I had a similar problem last time I cooked some yellow corn to make Panamanian tortillas, I think I’m going to try again this year, cooking the corn until very soft.
Your blue tortillas are beautiful.
Yep, it’s absolutely necessary to add the cal. It helps loosen the hulls on the kernels, which makes the corn easier to grind. And the cal enables your body to better absorb the corn’s nutrients. (It’s kind of a miracle powder, really.) You can find cal at hardware stores here in Mexico, so maybe you can try hardware stores in the States, if you’re not sure where to get it? And no, my kernels weren’t al dente. They were harder. I could cut into them with a knife, but I couldn’t smush them between my fingers.
I have been wanting to play with a Nixtamatic ever since Steve from Rancho Gordo talked about it on his blog. Now I am even more interested!
Gourmet Sleuth sells cal via mail order:
http://store.gourmetsleuth.com/cal-slaked-lime-1lb-P234.aspx
Anita: If you’re ever in Mexico City, we’ll have to make some tortillas together. The machine is really a life-changer. Thanks for the tip on the cal… I think they’d probably sell it at Mexican grocery stores too, no? Or at least hardware stores maybe.
I so love the blue corn variety, too. To be honest with you I like the way your tortillas burned some- it gives them character and makes them even prettier than they already are. I am wondering- did you slip the skins of the kernels one by one? For some reason I had thought that they sort of float on top the next day, but I haven’t done it myself.
Hi Dani: A lot of them do kind of float and get released into the water, but not all of them necessarily. After cooking the corn and letting it rest overnight, I wash it throughly, and usually any extra skins come off then.
Do you know if anyone in the US sells the nixtamatic or if there’s an online site to buy from?
Hi Jason: No, I don’t know anyone that sells it in the U.S. There is a site in Spanish and they may ship to you (for around $325/$350 USD for shipping alone, plus the price of the machine) but I don’t think the staff speaks English. http://www.nixtamatic.com.mx/ Hope that helps in some way!
Hello,
I have been looking for a mill to grind nixtamal. I have tried many different type of mills and method.
I have tried dry milling the corn after I have cooked it in lime and then dried it. Once dried, I used a impact grinder.This process reproduces a type of “Maseca”. The end result was not good since, it seems, the corn must be wet when milled to obtain a “gummy” enough consistence so the dough sticks together when forming a tortilla and to hold together when transferring it to a comal. The fines of the nixtaml flour was very perfect but the end result after reconstituting of the nixtamal with water was not good enough.
I have tried milling wet, as is tradition in Mexico, but all the mills that I have come across both in the US and in Europe have been too small ( the corn does feed through well enough) or to slow (using handpower is not an option- my husband has revolted). In addition, the masa produced by the wet mills, I have tried, have just not fine enoughs.
Have you had more experience with the Nixtamatic you have purchased? I have been thinking of buying one. It seems to be the only family size nixtamal mill I have seen thus far. It seems that all the mills I have seen have been huge.
How is the quality of the Nixtamatic mill? Is it well built?
I hope it grinds a fine quality. Like the masa one gets in the markets around Mexico at the molinos.
I will travel to Mexico just to buy the Nixtamatic if it is a good product.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank You,
Zaza
Hi Zaza: I have used the Nixtamatic several more times and I continue to think it’s a good product. It’s the only one out there that I know of that grinds nixtamal very quickly, and the resulting dough is good quality. Here are my perceived drawbacks:
1. I can’t seem to grind the nixtamal fine enough, like they do in the molinos. The masa there is practically creamy, while mine, after one go through the mill, is still a little grainy. Let me make clear that the resulting tortilla is very good, and you don’t get chunks of corn like I’m imagining you might from a hand-cranked mill. It’s just that the masa is not *absolutely* creamy and smooth. I think I need to run it through the mill once more — I may try that and let you know what happens. I could also try tightening the plates, but I’m worried that if I tighten them too much, I won’t be able to get them off.
2. The product is a little clunky to clean. You have to remove all the parts, wash them (ideally with a little brush to get the nixtamal out of the crevices), and dry them completely. The pieces will rust quickly if they’re too moist.
3. The metal grinding wheel doesn’t produce the same “mineral” type of flavor that you get with stone-ground corn tortillas in Mexico. Someone needs to invent a tabletop electric STONE corn mill! (That’ll be the day.) In the interim I guess we have the metate, but it takes forever.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I bought my Nixtamatic at Casa Boker in the Centro Histórico, and they do ship within Mexico, if perchance you wanted to have it shipped to a city in Mexico closer to where you lived.
Good luck!
Hello,
I have been looking for a mill to grind nixtamal. I have tried many different type of mills and method.
I have tried dry milling the corn after I have cooked it in lime and then dried it. Once dried, I used a impact grinder.This process reproduces a type of “Maseca”. The end result was not good since, it seems, the corn must be wet when milled to obtain a “gummy” enough consistence so the dough sticks together when forming a tortilla and to hold together when transferring it to a comal. The fines of the nixtaml flour was very perfect but the end result after reconstituting of the nixtamal with water was not good enough.
I have tried milling wet, as is tradition in Mexico, but all the mills that I have come across both in the US and in Europe have been too small ( the corn does not feed through well enough) or to slow (using handpower is not an option- my husband has revolted). In addition, the masa produced by the wet mills, I have tried, have just not fine enoughs.
Have you had more experience with the Nixtamatic you have purchased? I have been thinking of buying one. It seems to be the only family size nixtamal mill I have seen thus far. It seems that all the mills specifically made for grinding nixtamal have been huge.
How is the quality of the Nixtamatic mill? Is it well built?
I hope it grinds a fine quality. Like the masa one gets in the markets around Mexico at the molinos.
I will travel to Mexico just to buy the Nixtamatic if it is a good product.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thank You,
Zaza
Hi,
Thanks You very much for your feedback.
I have tried to regrind masa that was too gritty after only one grind, but the dough got very stuck within the mechanism of the grinder. The whole thing resulted in a big mess.
It will be great to know the result of grinding the masa a second time on the Nixtamatic.
I agree that a counter top nixtamal grinder needs to be developed. I live in Europe and the corn tacos and corn chips have become an absolute sensation, but they are fried American style product that are unhealthy.
I have often wondered why fresh corn tortillas are none existent. I believe the reason is because there is no modern method available to grind the corn at home.
You have made me very happy with your website. We needed a website written in English by someone who is native to the Mexican food and culture.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Zaza
Thanks for the post! I always ogle the grinders in the Mexican grocery store when I head up to Montreal (the closest urban area to my home in rural Vermont), but based on what you said, maybe I’ll wait until I can get an electric mill.
Jen: I haven’t tried a hand-cranked mills, but I’ve heard you have to pass the masa through several times. The electric mill only needs one try, although as I’ve mentioned in this post or elsewhere, I think I need to tighten my plates to get a less grainy texture. The only deal with the electric mill is that it weighs a ton and at this point is only sold in Mexico! Although with the amount of emails I get about the Nixtamatic, I should seriously consider becoming their U.S. representative…
I wish you would show a picture of your electric mill to see the brand.
I’ve been looking for one mill which mills the nixtamilixed corn into a fine masa, like maseca, but I have not found it yet.
If you have a minut of your time, please let me know if you have one that works into a fine masa, for a soft tortilla
Thank you so much
Kindly,
Leticia
Hi Leticia: I linked to a photo of my Nixtamatic mill in this post. Here’s the full link (the photo should be at the top of the page): http://www.themijachronicles.com/2010/11/introducing-my-new-electric-corn-grinder/
I purchased the Nixtamatic in Mexico — they don’t sell it in the U.S. It does grind the masa more or less fine, but not as fine as at a traditional industrial mill. Also the plates aren’t stone, but metal, which makes a difference in the taste. I’ve been happy with it for home use. The tortillas have a slightly more “rustic” look (you can see more texture in the cooked tortilla), but I don’t mind it, and they’re still delicious.
Hope that helps.
Dear Lesley,
Thank you very much for all the info you have provided on the Nixtamatic corn mill.
And thank you for your honest opinion on the outcome of the masa.
I bought a 50-pound bag from Minsa and had to return it because of its coarseness. Too coarse for a tortilla or tamal.
I grew up making tortillas from scratch and now the challenge here is to locate a mill which grinds the nixtamalized corn into the finest possible masa.
I am getting in touch with Casa Boker about the mill.
Mija, mil gracias for your kindness
Kindly,
Leticia
I’m a bit late to this thread, but it’s after yesterday’s NYTimes Taco articles. Does anyone know if putting the nixtamalized through a regular home model meat grinder would work? Barby
Hi Barby: I’m not sure. You can always just try and see what happens. The plates on the Nixtamatic have grooves, instead of holes like a typical meat grinder; I’m not sure if a meat grinder would grind the corn fine enough, to be honest. But why not try? The worst that happens is it doesn’t work.
Thanks, Leslie. That’s what I was thinking, too. Since I don’t have aexample to try to replicate, I’ll just have to fake. Not for a few weeks. I’ll try to remember to let you know the results!
Please do, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Lesley, I found a picture of a hand crank corn mill online and it had taken apart photos, and for sure, a meat grinder is different. I soaked some corn in Cal as directed and instead of trying to grind, I took a cue from Rick Bayless and started w/ the food processor. Then I just kept going . . . I added a bit of water. The dough looked close. I just pinched a little and cooked it. It tasted a little chalky. But not too bad. Like I said, I’m not sure I’ve ever had tortillas from real nixtamalized corn. Actually, I’m not totally sure I started with the right corn. I used pozole corn from Rancho Gordo. Anyway, a good experiment. Next time I’m at the Market I’ll ask in the Mexican shop there if they make their masa from masa harina or nixtamal. Thanks, enjoying your posts. Barby
No, is not going to work.
The grinding plates to grind the corn need to be very tight to each other in order to get a fine masa for an excellent tortilla or tamal.
Hello Lesley, and thank you for the wonderful posts. I’ve been masa for several years now, using a traditional manually operated molino. It is a ton of work, and I see why Mexican ladies started taking their nixtamal to be ground for them. I guess not everyone is near a place where they can have that done so people have eventually compromised using maseca!
I have researched various electrified options on the web including meat grinders, Indian stone lentil grinders, dry stone wheel grinders meant for making flour, etc., looking hard to find evidence that someone has been able to use one of these effectively to make very fine masa that will result in tortillas that puff. Unfortunately, the collective experience is that these machines do not accomplish the job. So I have been very interested in the nixtamatic and really appreciate seeing your review.
My experience with the molino is similar to yours with this machine: Produces a “good” quality masa on the first pass, but not superfine as we would like it. It is great that with the machine you don’t have to expend all the manual labor, but the big question for me is how do you get a high-quality masa from a laborsaving machine that is affordable for use in the home.
Lots of people suggest that one must simply run the masa through the handcranked grinder a second time or in this case through the electric machine. I have attempted that many times with the handcranked grinder and each time it has been a disaster. The ground masa becomes a cohesive blob, and needs to be pushed through the grinder with huge pressure in order to get a second grind. The big question I have about the Nixtamatic is whether that same thing happens, or whether the feeding screw is designed to force the wet masa through on the second pass without lots of additional mechanical assistance by the operator. So, it would be really great to know what results you get if you try a second grind!
Thanks again for the fantastic blog!
Hi Lesley,
Have you had any further adventures with the Nixtamatic? Would love to hear of any new experiences, especially regarding an attempt to run the Mossa through a second time.
Regards,
Jim
Hi Jim: I have tried running the masa through a second time, and it didn’t work. The masa just sat at the top of the grinding screw and was a big pain to push through. The bits that DID push through were definitely finer. But I don’t think the machine is designed for this purpose. I’m going to be testing out the food processor soon, to see how fine a grind you might get. I’m skeptical but a friend said she’s had lots of success this way. We’ll see. I’ll keep you updated!
Hi Lesley,
Thanks for running that experiment and reporting the results! Sounds like A single pass through the Nixtamatic produces a masa pretty similar to what I get from my Corona manual molino. Even though it may not be a finer masa, the time and labor savings get from using the Nixtamatic definitely sound worth it! I have heard that some people use the molino or Nixtamatic for a first grind and follow up with a matate to make it finer. I might give that a try unless you find that the food processor works well as a follow up step. Looking forward to hearing more and thanks again!
Regards,
Jim
By the way, anyone reading this blog would probably be interested in a company that started a year or two ago named Macienda. They are vendors of really fine, land race corn varieties from Mexico, used to make Nixtamal for tortillas in restaurants. If you want to make tortillas the way ladies do on village squares in Oaxaca, this is the place to get your ingredients. It is owned by very nice people, to boot. You could check out their website at http://www.masienda.com. They are the real deal.
yes but they will only sell wholesale.
When they were in a new company, I was able to purchase small quantities as samples. Maybe that is no longer available. But it would be worth checking, as the product was excellent.
Can u tell me where to get the nixtamuzer in the us? I don’t speak spanush. Cindy