Farm Flavor Guide to Corn

Corn is everywhere in America. You can find it growing in farm fields, stocked on grocery store shelves, in animal feed bags, and even in non-edible products. But how much do you know about this prolific crop? Check out our Farm Flavor Guide to Corn below for an overview of the different varieties of corn and how to use them.

See more: Complete Guide to Tomato Varieties and How to Use Them

Corn Varieties

You may love your grilled steak with a side of corn-on-the-cob, or maybe you always make sure there’s a hearty pan of cornbread served up alongside your famous chili dinners. But did you know there are six primary varieties of corn? Here’s a quick rundown of each.

Dent Corn (Field Corn)

When you think about the rows of golden corn growing throughout American fields, you’re probably thinking of dent corn, also known as field corn. Named for the small dimple at the end of the kernel, this is a high-starch variety that is popular in animal feed (although it is found in some consumer food products too).

See more: Field Corn and Sweet Corn: What’s the Difference?

Flint Corn

Flint corn is a lot like dent corn, although it lacks the dimple. It gets its name from its tough outer shell, resembling a flintstone. You can most easily identify flint corn by its most distinguishable feature: multicolored kernels. This beautiful and popular type of corn has been around for a long time and is still a popular crop in South America.

See more: The Surprising Diversity of Uses For Nebraska Corn

Pod Corn

Pod corn is objectively the strangest of the corn varieties. Also known as wild maize, this deceptively named type is actually a mutant variety that produces leaves around each individual kernel. You won’t find these on any grocery store shelves, but they are still grown for preservation purposes in some places.

Sweet Corn

Love grilled corn on the cob? That’s sweet corn. This variety is one of the tastiest and most desirable corn crops, due in part to the stage in which it’s harvested. Other corn varieties are picked when they are fully mature and dry. Farmers pick sweet corn while it’s still young and in what is considered the milk stage.

Flour Corn

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that flour corn is another high-starch variety similar to dent corn. But it stands out from the crowd because of its soft shell. The soft shell and high starch content are the perfect combination for grinding up into cornflour.

Popcorn

Popcorn is one of the most common snack foods in the country, but did you know it’s actually an entirely different type of corn than the rest? It’s a type of flint corn with a unique outer shell that retains moisture. That funny little character trait is what allows the kernels to build up steam and pop into America’s favorite movie night snack.

See more: How to Cook Corn on the Cob

How to Use Corn

Eat It Fresh

Sweet corn is arguably one of the tastiest side dishes around, especially when you’re still enjoying dinners fresh from the grill. Consider making a delicious charred corn with coconut shrimp, tossing kernels into a succulent steak salad or making an addictive pineapple corn salsa.

Make Baked Goods or Polenta With Cornmeal

Ever purchased a bag of cornmeal? You usually have your pick between regular or stone-ground, which are kind of like the rolled and steel-cut oats of the corn world. Both can be used to make a hearty cornbread or creamy polenta.

Make Popcorn With Creative Flavors

Why settle for microwave popcorn when you can enjoy making it the old-fashioned way? Besides, if you go the traditional route, you can try all kinds of fun new flavors, like parmesan and thyme, cayenne and lime, or maple pumpkin spice.