Chemical Forums
Specialty Chemistry Forums => Citizen Chemist => Topic started by: schmidling on November 28, 2021, 10:16:10 AM
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Hominy is made by soaking dried corn in lye, soda, potash, slaked lime, KOH or NAOH and I am trying to find reasons for choosing one over the other.
The info from the typical search is an endless stream of bad info and contradictions.
It appears that the lime process takes more soaking/cooking time than using either form of lye but the reason for KOH vs NAOH escapes me.
It all may boil down to primitive methods of making "lye" from wood ashes.
I would like to know get a chemist's opinion and also info on health hazard differences that may exist.
Thanks,
Jack
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It all may boil down to primitive methods of making "lye" from wood ashes.
Looks like, from what I read nixtamalization is done by soaking corn in alkaline solution - and while solutions you have listed are in many ways different, from some point of view they are all equivalent. Just alkaline solutions of strong bases, no matter what the mode of preparation was.
Definitely different bases will require a bit different procedures, but the only way to find out is by trial and error. The only important health hazard is their corrosiveness and related ability to destroy tissues, so you need to avoid direct contact (nothing unusual: apron, gloves, glasses, fume hood or at least mask as in some conditions they can get a bit volatile and you don't want to breath them in any form).
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@schmidling Ca(OH)2 will give the corn better taste than NaOH and especially KOH.