Discussion Board

Jeff, can you comment on hominy grits? I never had grits before, so I bought some under the (apparently mistaken) impression that they were a whole grain (not intact, but not refined either). Not knowing they were refined, I figured that the addition of all that water in cooking would make them not a terrible choice (because they are low in calorie density, even though not intact - I liked the idea I could cook them quickly, and I have a reaction to oats, so I don't eat them). But now I find out they are not whole grain, but refined. (I was blinded by how inexpensive they were!)

How bad are they? Would it be terrible to finish out the bag I purchased?

Thank you!
Emily

I think that the earlier threads were probably referencing corn grits, but Emily's question is specific to hominy grits. OTOH, I checked some nutrition data, and they don't seem signficantly different from each other. In fact, inexplicably, the hominy grits seem to have more fiber than the corn grits. Not sure how accurate that is.

Also, Emily, why do you think the hominy isn't whole? I didn't find anything to suggest it was less whole than regular corn. The soak in lye apparently kills the germ to prevent sprouting, but it isn't removed. So, I think the hominy might be whole grain but I could be wrong. And as Vic mentioned, certainly not terrible especially when your diet is looked at in its totality. But would be interested in Jeff's response too.

victw, thanks for the link. I actually didn't think to look there. And your comments were very nice.

I'd still like Jeff's thoughts, though, because he makes a distinction between what is "allowed" and what is "recommended." So grits may appear on that list and still not be a great choice.

I did a search of the forum for a post by JeffN that had the words "grits" in it, and I couldn't find one (well, one mentioned barley grits). So I assumed he hadn't commented on them as a food choice, at least not here.

Thanks for your comments, too, serenity. I mentioned hominy grits because that's the kind I bought, but my idea that "grits" are a refined food is a general idea that I got from looking at various resources.

The USDA lists grits as a refined grain here:

http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/grains.html

A publication from the Center for Science in Public Interest also listed them in the "refined" column in the chart in this article:

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/wwheat.html

So that's why I thought they were refined. They are low in calorie density, and they do have some fiber.

I always thought hominy was just the inside of the corn kernel, with the skin removed. Like white rice version of a corn kernel.

"Hominy refers to corn without the germ. It is served both whole or ground. Hominy is boiled until cooked and served as either a cereal or as a vegetable. Hominy may also be pressed into patties and fried. This dish is especially popular in the southern United States. Samp is another name for coarse hominy. Hominy ground into small grains is sometimes called "hominy grits.""

Thank you, Mober. That's very helpful, actually. I think hominy always confused me because you can buy it canned, and there are individual kernels...which seemed a lot like a whole grain to me. But comparing it to white rice makes sense - white rice is refined, but keeps the shape of the original grain. So that's very helpful in wrapping my head around it.

I don't know if maybe there's such a thing as "whole" corn grits - obviously, that wouldn't be an "intact" grain, but it could be a whole grain that has just been ground up (I've seen things labeled at Whole Foods that were labeled in such a way that made me think that's what they were - very expensive, though). In any case, it seems like things are pointing to that maybe the word "grits" isn't a reliable word for knowing how refined something is, as people seem to use the word to mean "a dry grain food coarsely ground"...but we would have to know exactly what they were grinding, and that seems to vary.

Given all that, I've decided I will bite the bullet on the cost and prep time and return to breakfast porridge made from things I *know* are whole, like amaranth (which is delicious!). It's about 6 times the price of those grits per pound at the cheapest price I've found it (I've found it somewhat cheaper online in bulk, but then I have to pay shipping, which mostly removes the savings), but the thing with whole grains is that once I add all that water, the cost per serving ends up being pretty reasonable even with an expensive grain. And I know I'm getting MUCH more nutrition that way - the stats in the CRON-o-meter show a dramatic difference in the nutrients I get from the amaranth versus the grits. And, well, I'll just have to bite the bullet on the prep time, too (I cook it in the rice cooker, so it's not much work, just takes a while).

And I guess that bag of grits I bought will go to waste, but maybe I can find someone who would use them.

I have occasionally used my Zojirushi rice cooker on grains, oat groats, steel cut oats and wheat berries have turned out really well (as well as brown rice of course). It's made a big difference in my enjoyment of grains, in fact I sometimes don't use any condiments at all as the grains are so much better than I ever cooked myself on the stove. I got a rice cooker recipe book that has a recipe for yellow corn meal porridge (adds maple syrup and vanilla) that I might try in near future. Last time I made course ground corn meal "porridge" myself it wasn't good, but maybe the rice cooker will elevate it!

I use my rice cooker for everything! I don't have a fancy one, just one of those typical ones you can get in any store that carries appliances. But I love the way grains turn out in it. I use it for quinoa (which turns out best with a proportion of one cup quinoa to 1.25 or 1.5 cups water - it gets really mushy at 1:2), amaranth, french green lentils, red lentils, and of course, brown rice. I love the way I don't have to watch things or worry about them overcooking. I hope if you make that porridge, it is delicious!