corn, what do i need to know?

I going to check out some farmer's corn for heating. I know the humidity & cleanliness is important. What I'm asking is what to look for when doing a visual inspection. I can get a 1/2 ton & 1 ton bag loads. Proper storage do's & don't's info. Unloading contents into pails as I need them from the big bulk bags. Pest control and whatever else to know on corn handling & storage is needed ASAP as I'm getting ready for the spring purchase. I plan of mixing with pellets for complete burn and easier relighting. I wish Iburncorn.com website was still going strong.

 

Dryness and cleanliness of corn are the top concerns. The dryer it is, the hotter it will burn. Red dog can cause you some serious heartache. Otherwise, nothing much to worry about as far as the corn itself.

Pest control will be difficult in bulk bags, unless you can put the bulk bags into something mouse proof. I bought my corn from the elevator last fall and kept it in a gravity wagon which was parked in a shed at the neighbor's. There was lots of cob pieces that we had to just be careful about catching. Red dog wasn't too bad. I think they're system cleans most of that out. I have 10 of the food grade 55 gallon plastic barrels that I stored and used from. I think I have enough left to fill them all again for summer storage.

Try your stove with various mixtures of pellets. Something around a 30% pellet ratio makes the klinker easier for me to manage.

The only other thing I can think of is to be certain all of your venting is rated for corn.

 

I really like the steam in a bag corn...couple minutes in the microwave, add butter and boy is it tastey!!

 

Can you explain Red dog? I like the idea of the plastic 55 gallon drums, mouse resistant

 

Sorry that might be a regional thing....we call the red hulls or chaff (sp) that flys around when combining or moving harvested corn.

 

Aka redwings.

 

As mentioned above, proper moisture level (no more than 15.5%), ability to get cobs/husk pieces out, air tight storage.

 

Is there a way to check humidity on the fly?

 

Do you have a grain elevator locally? They'll usually check moisture levels for free. Some farmers will also have moisture testers. My Dad used to, but his new combine has all that information automatically so he got rid of the tester. Look at the manual for your furnace. My St. Croix specifies less than 15% moisture corn, and that's exactly what I had, and it burned just fine. My Englander wants 12% corn, and wasn't particularly happy burning the 15% corn. The corn is probably going to be in the 15% range anyway. It doesn't store well at higher moisture levels, and it costs too much money to dry it lower than 15%.

I stored my corn in 55 gallon drums as well. It worked pretty well. I had to build a corn cleaner because I had a ton of fines that were causing problems. After that it worked well. Corn burned faster than pellets in my furnace, but it also produced more heat. The corn was actually easier to burn and didn't make as much mess as the pellets did in the furnace. The freestander was the opposite.

I bought a hopper wagon at a local auction this spring, and I'm going to try tarping the wagon and parking it outside for this year. I had to borrow a wagon last year, and it was a bit of a pain.

Good luck. I really liked how the corn burning went, but I need to find a better way to move it. I'm looking into setup's that allow use of a shop vac to move corn. I'll get back to you on that one.

 

Moving the corn from bulk bags could be a challenge. Will have to make a hoist attachment and a control valve to facilitate the filling of plastic barrels. Furnace requires 15% or less humidity of corn. I foresee a cleaner is going to be a must have item.

 

Are you able to store corn in a old deep freezer in your home, without the mice issue

 

I'm sure...but how much can it hold??

 

Not to thread hijack (BEER!!!), but has anyone heard anything about these systems? I was looking at the cleaner/bulk storage unit, but I'm having a hard time seeing how their plans and hardware for the storage unit are worth the extra $100. How hard is it to make an airtight box??

 

Now that iburncorn.com no longer exists I'm not sure this will be much help.... Try googling kan_burn.

 

Jay I think you're confusing the kan_burn with something else.

 

Here ya go ivanhoe :

http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/corn-cleaner.10003/