My Experience Making Parched Corn

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     My husband and I often enjoy trying to do things as they were done in earlier years.  It is like a fun challenge to us to see if we can do things like our ancestors might have done them and it feels like as we learn do do these old skills, we are somewhat prepared for hard or difficult times that could come.  I guess you could say that our gardening and preserving are skills like that.  Skills that we were taught when we were young and continue to use today.  But, sometimes we come across other ideas that are even less known and we just have to give them a try! 
     So, when I was able to get a bounty of fresh corn, my husband asked me if I had ever tried parched corn.  Somewhere in the far recesses of my mind, I felt like I had heard of it, but didn't really know what it was.  I decided to do some research and this was a project that my husband and I worked on together. 
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​What is Parched Corn?

      In earlier days, farmers didn't have freezers to preserve their corn, as I did here,  parched corn was one method of preserving corn that also provided a snack for their travels or while they were out working.  I remembered that I had read about it in books like The Little House on the Prairie, where they talk about a parched corn tradition at Thanksgiving.  It is also mentioned in Ruth 2:14 in the Old Testament!   
      Parched corn is made from dried corn and then it is pan roasted and seasoned.  It is crunchy, but not hard like an old maid in popped corn and thus stores well on the shelf. Some have referred to it as homemade corn nuts!​

​The Steps to Make Parched Corn

Dry the corn-While I was processing my corn for freezing, I gave 3 ears of it to my husband to dry.  He left the husks on to keep flies or anything else off of the corn and then tied them up to hang out on our very warm (hot) patio to dry.  They were nice and dry in about 3 days.  We're in our humid time of year, so if you experience even higher humidity than we have, it may take longer than 3 days.



Remove husks from the corn-Be careful not to rub the kernels off while you do this.  The kernels will look shriveled, that is okay. 







Rub the dry kernels from the cob-If the kernels don't come off easily, the corn isn't quite dry enough.  You can dry them a bit more by placing them in the oven at a very low temperature for awhile until they are dry.  

     To parch the kernels, you will need a heavy skillet.  I prefer my large cast iron skillet.  Begin to heat the skillet on the stove over medium heat with just a bit of oil spread over the bottom of it.  You don't want the corn to be submerged in oil, so basically just grease the skillet with oil thickly. 

     Spread the kernels in the bottom of the hot skillet in one layer-Then, you are going to stir and shake the kernels for about 5 minutes until they puff up a bit, you will hear popping sounds, and the kernels will begin to brown. 

     You can season the kernels as they parch, or wait until you remove them from the skillet. I seasoned mine with flaked, smoked sea salt.  Other people I've seen online have sweetened theirs with brown sugar.  I wondered if a ranch seasoning would be good. 

     My kernels didn't pop up very rounded.  I understand that some varieties of corn do.  But, they are crunchy and I can understand why people in the days of Laura Ingles Wilder would have found them to be an enjoyable snack food.  The fresh corn taste is very strong and I think if I try this again I would try it with the brown sugar.  

     Interestingly, our 3 ears of corn only produced enough parched corn to fill less than half of a pint jar full. 

We had only taste tested a little bit.

     If I had enough to actually fill a jar or two, I would use my hand held food saver to pull the air out of the jar to store it and make it shelf stable. (You need these jar attachments to go with it.) With this small amount that I have, we will probably just eat it or I think it might be a nice addition to trail mix! 
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    What do you think?  Have you eaten parched corn?  Do you think you will give it a try?  
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If you would like to try some of the other old fashioned skills we've tried, look at these posts! 

• Bannock,  A Stovetop Bread
• Pilgrim Pumpkin Pie in a Turban Squash
• Lacto Fermented Pickles Using Whey
• Catching Wild Yeast With Potato Water