Corn starch

Corn starch, also called cornstarch or maize starch, is a fine white powder from corn seeds. People have used it for many years, and it was first made in Scotland. You can find it in kitchens all over the world because it is very useful.

One of the most common uses for corn starch is in cooking. It helps to thicken sauces and soups, making them smoother and nicer. Besides this, corn starch is used to make corn syrup and other sugars.

Corn starch is not just for food. It is also used in many industries. It can be found in adhesives, paper products, and textiles. Because it can stop things from sticking together, it is used to prevent sticking in many products.

Corn starch can also be used in medical ways. For example, it helps provide glucose for people with a condition called glycogen storage disease.

When corn starch is mixed with certain liquids, it can change in interesting ways. With water, it becomes a material called oobleck, which acts like a non-Newtonian fluid. This means it can feel hard when you hit it but flow like a liquid when you move slowly. With oil, corn starch can create something called an electrorheological fluid, which changes with electric fields. These special properties make corn starch fun to experiment with and study.

History

Before 1851, people mostly used corn starch to make clothes stiff and for factory work. In 1854, a man named John Polson from Scotland learned how to make pure starch from corn for cooking. His company, Brown & Polson, sold it as "Patented Corn Flour." They were very good at making starch for clothes and became the largest starch makers in the UK.

Uses

Corn starch is used mostly in cooking and at home, but it has other uses too. It can be added to products to help them work better or used in medical treatments.

Culinary

In cooking, corn starch thickens liquids like soup, sauces, gravies, and custard. You mix it with a cooler liquid to make a paste. It is often used instead of flour because it makes things look clearer. When heated, the tiny parts of the starch break apart and mix with the liquid to make it thicker. But if you keep boiling it, the liquid can get thinner again.

Corn starch is also added to powdered sugar to keep it from clumping. Sometimes, arrowroot starch is used instead of corn starch. Food makers add corn starch to foods like cheese and yogurt to save money. It is also put on chicken nuggets to help them get crispier when fried.

Non-culinary

Corn starch can be an ingredient in baby powder. It is used to make bioplastics, such as PLA for 3D printing, and in making airbags. It can also be used to make a kind of glue for paper and books, which dries with a nice shine. Mixing corn starch with salt can create a special craft material called salt ceramic.

Medical

Corn starch helps stop sticking on medical items made from natural latex, like condoms, diaphragms, and medical gloves. It can also help people with glycogen storage disease by giving them glucose to keep their blood sugar steady, and it can be used when children are about 6 to 12 months old.

Manufacture

Corn starch is made by a process called wet milling. First, the corn is soaked for a day or two. Then, the part called the germ is taken from the endosperm. Both parts are ground while wet. After this, the starch is washed away from other parts like the corn steep liquor, cereal germ, fibers, and corn gluten. Machines help separate these parts. Finally, the starch is dried. Sometimes it is changed a little to work better for some jobs. The leftovers are often used to make animal feed or corn oil.

Risks

Like many powders, corn starch can be risky when it becomes airborne and mixes with air. In 2015, an event in Taiwan happened when a corn starch-based powder got too hot, leading to a big explosion. Always follow safety warnings on products to avoid such risks.

Names and varieties

Corn starch is called corn starch in the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries, it is known as cornflour. This is different from cornmeal in those places.

In Australia, cornflour is often made from wheat instead of corn. The starch comes from the wheat kernel and is sometimes called 'wheaten cornflour'.