The Type Of Grits Most Often Used In Southern Cooking - Tasting Table

"You've probably read the word "gritty" somewhere - it might even be in your personal vocabulary. Fun fact: It shares roots with a simple, but nourishing food that had fed Southerners for generations. It's a good thing that this culinary staple is still around today (despite being a mystery to anyone north of Virginia), and if you're interested in making a bowl of classic creamy grits for yourself, start by finding some authentic grits."

"Ask any Southern cook, and they'll tell you there's only one kind worth cooking: Corn crushed between granite millstones - each stone weighing upward of 2,000 pounds - which produces an irregular, textured grain called stone-ground grits. The instant varieties filling grocery aisles just don't compare. Stone-ground grits preserve the corn's natural sweetness, subtle earthiness, and that substantive bite you won't find in processed versions. The grinding takes time. The cooking takes time. But that's how flavor gets built into every bowl."

"Beyond stone-ground grits, you may also run into hominy grits or quick-cooking varieties at the supermarket. They cook in less than ten minutes, but you're trading speed for flavor. Both are heavily processed - hominy especially, since it's made by soaking corn in an alkaline bath until the hull slides away, then grinding the dried kernels into powder. What you get is thin and forgettable, the kind of breakfast that needs plenty of butter or cheese before it registers as food."

Stone-ground grits are corn crushed between granite millstones, producing an irregular, textured grain that preserves natural sweetness, subtle earthiness, and substantive bite. The milling and cooking require time, which builds flavor into each bowl. Instant and quick-cooking varieties are heavily processed and lack the depth of stone-ground grits. Hominy grits undergo an alkaline soak that removes the hull and strips corn flavor, resulting in a thin, forgettable texture that often requires butter or cheese. Stone-ground grits have defined Southern breakfast tables for centuries and remain favored by chefs for their full corn character and texture.

Read at Tasting Table