Maize

Dent Corn

Zea mays indentata

7.5–10.5% protein (typ. 8.8%)0% dry gluten · 0% wetNo gluten

The American grain

In the atlas

Dent corn is not sweet corn you eat off the cob. It is the grain of grits, cornbread, whiskey, and feedlots — a kernel with a dent in the crown where the soft starch shrank. Indigenous breeders in Mexico started this story; American landraces like Boone County White and Bloody Butcher keep it delicious. Nixtamalize it (lime soak) and you unlock masa.

Origin. Mesoamerica ~9,000 years ago; dent types from the U.S. South and Midwest

Flavor. Sweet cereal, sunshine, the smell of a grits pot.

Worth knowing

Gluten-free. Structure in cornbread comes from eggs, or from nixtamalized masa.
A grain mill on corn makes cornmeal or corn flour, not masa — masa needs nixtamal.
Colored dents (red, blue, bloody butcher) mill into dramatic meal.
Never mill popcorn expecting the same starch — that's flint.

Flours you can make

Flour	Extraction	Protein	Gluten	Notes
Whole-grain flour	100%	8.8%	0%	Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.
High-extraction (85%)	85%	8.7%	0%	Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%.
Sifted / bolted flour	75%	8.6%	0%	Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge.

Nutrition / 100 g

Calories: 365 kcal
Protein: 8.8 g
Carbs: 74 g
Fiber: 7.3 g
Fat: 4.7 g
Iron: 2.7 mg
Magnesium: 127 mg
Zinc: 2.2 mg
Thiamin: 0.39 mg
Selenium: 15 µg

Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.

Sources & USDA links

Buy it retail

Anson Mills
Barton Springs Mill
Azure Standard
Hayden Flour Mills (heritage corn)
Local millers / farmers markets
Bob's Red Mill (dent meal)

Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”

Bakes well as

CornbreadGritsPolenta-style mushCornmeal pancakesBread blends

Mill Dent Corn now

Miller’s desk

Grain to flour

Whole grainFlour type

Flour you want (g)Blend a second grain

Vital wheat gluten booster

Target protein %Target gluten %VWG protein %

Most bags of vital wheat gluten are 75–80% protein. The booster is added on top of the flour, not swapped in.

Dent Corn

Whole-grain flour · No gluten

Whole grain needed: 505 g
Flour you’ll get: 500 g
Bran left behind: 0 g
Protein in that flour: 44 g · 8.8%
Natural gluten: 0%
Add VWG: 33.9 g
After VWG: 13% protein · 4.6% gluten

About 3.2 cups of berries → 4.1 cups of whole-grain flour. Whole-grain milling is essentially 1:1 by weight; sifting is where you lose bran.

How to mill it

Impact mills spark on bone-dry corn — a stone mill is kinder.

Coarse for grits/polenta; fine for cornbread flour. Two-pass is ideal.

Tempering: Dry mill. For masa, nixtamalize first, then grind wet on a different mill.

Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.

Milling 101 →

Next: bake it

Pick a loaf for this flour

13% protein after VWG · Dent Corn whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.