How to make incredible tortillas from scratch-- from cheap field/feed corn!

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This video is the product of many hours of one-on-one instruction with a family in Nicaragua, followed by 2 years of practicing, improving, and experimenting with ingredients back in the USA. Please check out the original video featuring my host family in El Jocote, Nicaragua: youtu.be/ZMWwrMLO-Uw

Making your own tortillas is ridiculously cheap and fun! It's fund to make tortillas with friends, too. Yes, it takes a while, but these thick tortillas freeze very well. Just pluck one off the frozen pile, throw it in a dry fry pan to warm, add salsa, beans, cheese, or meat, and in a few minutes you have the most incredible taco ever that makes a full meal.

3 pounds of corn, about $2 worth, will make you about 25 tortillas. And since one thick tortilla with a protein makes a full meal, you get 25 meals out of that investment. Not bad!

Next, a few links to suggested sources:

Here's an example of where you can get a $25 grinder, wayfair.com/Buffalo-Tools-Corn-and-Grain-Grinde… Or, you can google food mill or corn or masa grinder and see what results you get. My grinder was bought in Nicaragua for $20, so I haven't tried ones bought from the USA, but I think they're probably mostly the same.

For corn, any whole-kernal corn works, but some works better than others. I have found feed corn to be especially good and cheap, and a lot of heirloom maize varieties are also good and pretty, too. Though it's hard to find organic, non GMO feed corn, Scratch and Peck feed (scratchandpeck.com/) based out of Bellingham Wa is great, and they have dealers around the Northwest.

For lime, try Mrs. Wage's Pickling lime, found in the canning section at the store, or at Amazon for $7: amazon.com/Mrs-Wages-Pickling-1-Pound-Resealabl…. This is enough lime to nixtamalize a 50 pound bag of corn, for 400 tortillas!

Finally, if you do break down and invest in a manual-powered food mill like I show here, not only can you make tortillas, nut butters, and grind coffee, but you can also make chocolate from scratch. Check out my instructional video on making chocolate from cocoa beans, using the very same grinder: youtu.be/hfrWPtjVuWU

Please feel free to ask questions! Hit like if you like this video! Share it with your creative, foodie friends! And please tell me if you actually use my video to learn how to make tortillas! It will make all of my work worthwhile if one person learns something new.

Oh, for a more mexican-style tortilla (thinner) you could try using a tortilla press. They also sometimes add salt to the masa. Here's a technique using pie plates instead of a tortilla press: youtube.com/watch?v=8N0r4aMXfmE