Best Corn Varieties for Homemade Cornmeal

Any fully mature, field-dried yellow or white dent corn works for meal. Extension specialists and millers recommend:

• Open-pollinated heirlooms: ‘Bloody Butcher’ (Territorial Seed), ‘Butcher’s Blood’ types—tall, multi-eared, nutty flavor.
• Reliable hybrids: ‘Trucker’s Favorite’ (sweeter, large ears), Pioneer 32H39 (commercial mill standard).
• Bulk sources: Keller Grain Co. (Texas), local Mexican groceries (50-lb bags of nixtamal-grade corn).

Harvest when husks are brown and kernels dent; dry further under cover before grinding. Open-pollinated types let you save seed year to year.