Talk:Corn starch

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 30 August 2018 and 6 December 2018. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hurstbn.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 18:29, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Source to confirm Huggies and SoftIce using cornstarch?
I note that there is a picture here showing several identifiable brands, including Huggies and SoftIce, with the text "Products treated with cornstarch", but with no source to back up that those products are in fact treated with cornstarch. Can such a source be found? Or should the picture be removed for lack of confirmation? Dyork (talk) 00:18, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Liquid behavior
Can anyone explain why cornstarch shear-thickens? —BenFrantzDale 04:04, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Chemical Formula...
...should be added.


 * Cornstarch is a mix of amylose and amylopectin, both of which are polymers of glucose. DonPMitchell (talk) 02:32, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

What about the uses of corn starch as a substitute for talcum powder?
 * In surgical gloves both talcum or corn starch (both sterilised of course) are used. The rationale is that hands will sweat in the glove. The additive will absorb the sweat and make the glove easier to put on and take off. JHvW 07:49, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Equal volumes is too thin for good shear-thickening in the experiment I just tried. Perhaps equal weight?


 * Cornstarch is primarily starch, which itself is a mixture of the helical carbohydrate amylose ≈H₂(C₆H₁₂O₆)₃₀₀₋₆₀₀ and its branched form amylopectin with the same empirical formula; but cornstarch isolated by centrifuge, so it isn't chemically pure and it contains trace amounts of proteins ≈H₂(CH₂)ₗₒₜₛ(CHON)ₗᵢₜₜₗₑ and fat, a triglyceride ≈H₂(C₂HO₂)₃(CH₂)ₙ. According to the current header box, each 100 g × cornstarch contains 0.3 g × protein, 0.1 g × fat, + 91 g × carbohydrate.Thecurran (talk) 05:51, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

Statement that doesn't make sense
I removed this about a cornflour-water dilatant mix:
 * This is always a great way to demonstrate what Shear Thickening Fluid is without the real thing

AFAIK and this appears to be supported by wiki this is a shear thickening fluid that's being made so it is the real thing... Nil Einne 15:06, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Cornstarch may be used as a substitute for talcum powder. It does not disperse readily into the air, as talcum does, thus avoiding inhalation of the powder. However,it does not spread as smoothly as talcum, when used dry. Cornstarch has good anti-itch properties. Mixing one half of a standard supermarket box in a warm bath will relieve itching of the skin caused by allergic reactions, insect bites or other causes. Its anti-itch relief may last for hours.

Killing ants?
Doesn't cornstarch kill ants when they eat it? or is this just an urban myth? Wasn't corn starch a supplement for coke for poor people? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.128.17.53 (talk) 20:57, 15 November 2016 (UTC)


 * Basically these are two questions, which I will try to answer.


 * Many people believe (I can not disprove it, so it might be true) that you can use both corn starch and cornmeal to combat ants. The methods are different. Corn starch is used to cover the ants and then making the covered ants wet. The mixture will become a sort of cement and will kill the ants. Cornmeal is eaten by the ants but is difficult to digest which makes them bloated and will kill them. Some observations however. Ants do not particularly like corn starch, they will try to go around it. And covering all of them might be difficult, but covering them in a thick layer will probably mean that they themselves will cover other ants. If you sprinkle it around their food source or over their track (they use a pheromone track to find the food and return to their nest) they will try to avoid it. So this might cut of their food supply. Ants like cornmeal and will eat it, but I have no idea how much an ant would have to ingest to kill the ant.


 * As for the coke, I think there is some confusion. Coke is often "cut". Meaning it is diluted with a powder which looks like coke but is indifferent, like talcum powder. I believe that corn starch is also used. JHvW 07:38, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Maizestarch
Shouldn't this be called 'maizestarch' since the faggoty-ass, eurotrash Limeys can't make the distinction between corn (maize) and other grains (wheat, oats, barley, etc.)?? However many are so smart they can tell the difference between G.M. and real food.


 * Get your facts straight if you are going to attempt to insult people! Most people in the UK understand the word "corn" to mean "maize" just like most other English speakers do nowadays (although we generally call it sweetcorn when it is used as a vegetable), and the term "maize" is rarely used unless it is necessary to eliminate confusion. However, the word "corn" has always meant "grain" (it actually comes from the same Indoeuropean root word, "grn", & was also used to refer to any small grain-like object), hence it can be legitimately used for corn, wheat, oats, etc. The early settlers recognised maize as a grain and therefore referred to it as Indian corn, but eventually the "Indian" bit was dropped and "corn" came to apply only to maize in the US. In the UK and some other English speaking countries the word corn continued to be used for all grains, and it is only very recently that people have begun to use "corn" to refer exclusively to maize. It is still acceptable English usage to describe any grain as corn, however this is rarely found now as it tends to confuse people (although it is often still used to refer to a grain crop whilst it is growing, e.g. "a field of corn"). If you want to be nitpicky, maize is a more "correct" term, as that's closest to what it was called by certain tribes long before the Europeans came along and took over America (although all the native languages used different words for maize, so there isn't really one single "correct" term).


 * Unbelievably, there are some people who read some kind of mystical significance into the fact that the King James bible uses the word corn before maize was discovered (interpreting this as some kind of premonition of the discovery of the Americas!), as they fail to realise that this was the usual term for grains at the time that version was written. This is a pretty good illustration of what happens when you take things in the bible too literally without understanding the cultural context in which it was written.


 * PS Personally I don't fall strongly on one side or another of the GM debate (although I would argue for the use of the precautionary principle, and not to rush to use GM crops without extremely good justification), but I can't just let that comment about GM food lie! Opponents to GM food make no claims to be able to tell the difference between GM and non-GM food, their opposition stems from a concern about the unknown potential effects of modified crops (e.g. what might happen if these cross with non-GM strains, especially wild varieties), and about the way that GM technologies are used by big biotech companies as a way to encourage farmers to use even more of their pesticides etc. Only those at the "crazy end" of the anti-GM movement would make any claims to be able to tell the difference between GM & non-GM crops! In some respects, it is the very fact that it is not possible to tell the difference that worries people. missdipsy (talk) 10:38, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Thickening agent?
When a slurry of cornstarch and water is used to thicken stock for gravy, is there a specific name for this technique? I have heard it called a "cold roux" by some but others say this terminology is improper. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.148.105.4 (talk) 17:09, 19 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I will try to answer this question. The use of cornstarch is generally known as binding, it makes the liquid to which it is added thicker even to the point of becoming nearly solid (as in lemon curd). But it usually requires some heat to activate the starch. In principle there are three basic types of roux, white (which is used for bechamel), blond (used for veloutés) and brown (used for brown sauces). The basis of a roux is made by heating flour with a fat. The more you heat it the more the starch is degraded and the less it will bind (meaning you will need more roux to achieve the same effect). So I can understand the origins of the name "cold roux", but in cooking a cold roux is just a roux which has cooled. Also because heat is used, the term cold is not exact. So I would avoid using it. JHvW 07:18, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Corn starch v. cornstarch
It seems that 99% of corn starch packages use the latter spelling. It is, after all, two words. Thoughts? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 09:39, 23 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Plus, http://www.corn.org/, the only ext link uses the latter, while the other refs use both. Google hits prefer the latter 2:1. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a craving for some corn starch. Mmmmmmm....corn starch. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 09:45, 23 February 2010 (UTC)


 * If there are are no objections, I will just go ahead and move the page. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 23:24, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

Corn starch and corn flour
Personally I think the term cornflour is confusing. It suggests that when corn is ground (to flour) this somehow becomes starch. However when dried corn is coarsely ground it becomes cornmeal. In the United States, finely ground maize is known as corn flour. In my mind the term corn flour (or cornflour) should be avoided as it may lead to confusion, even though it may be semantically be correct. JHvW 07:18, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Major props on attempting to maintain a very US centric approach to naming things in wikipedia 82.38.61.171 (talk) 11:45, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

Various properties of corn starch
Corn starch has about twice the thickening power of flour.

Origin               polysaccharide extracted from maize/corn Properties, texture  thermoirreversible thickener Clarity              opaque Dispersion           cold water Hydration            62-72 °C (dissolution) Setting              Thickens when heated >70°C Inhibitor            pH around 2-3 lowers viscosity Viscosity of solution High once fully hydrated Typical conc. 0.4-10.4%

Source: "Texture - a hydrocolloid recipe collection" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.28.183.143 (talk) 18:20, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

How-to information about cornstarch
The how-to information in the introduction of this article seems to be out of place:


 * When using corn starch, first mix it with cold water (or another liquid) until it forms a smooth paste, and then add it to whatever is being thickened. If it is added directly into the cooking food it will form lumps that are then difficult to mash out for a smooth mixture.[2] An easy way to make certain that all the lumps are gone from the corn starch/water mixture is to put the two into a jar with a screw on lid and vigorously shake the sealed jar until the lumps are gone. This also works with a flour/water mixture. This method also allows for better portion control when slowly adding it to a soup, sauce, or gravy.

Jonathan (talk) 23:02, 11 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Reply - As Wikipedia is not a how-to guide, I've removed those instructions. -- Whpq (talk) 14:53, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Thomas Kingsford
The article stated that Thomas Kingsford was credited with inventing corn starch. That claim was tagged for a citation. I've looked at it and what Kingsford did was introduce a process for its production that was used in the United States. He did not invent corn starch nor was his the first process for its production. See where other methods predate Kingsford's. -- Whpq (talk) 14:50, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
 * The assertion also conflics with the Bird's Custard article, which states that this egg-free cornflour based concoction was developed in 1837, so it must have existed before that. --Ef80 (talk) 17:27, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

To add to article
To add to this article: a photo of actual corn starch. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 00:26, 4 September 2020 (UTC)

Cornflour name variant
Irish person here, I'm 100% certain I've never heard anyone refer to this as cornflour. There seems to be no citation for this so I think it should probably be removed or have a citation added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.77.132.254 (talk) 00:50, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

✅ - Zefr (talk) 01:57, 4 September 2020 (UTC)

Cornstarch medical use hazards
If someone feels inclined to edit this page - corn starch is the preferred powder for making medical gloves non-stick, but research shows that it actually worsens patient outcomes. For example, corn starch can slow wound healing and increase bacterial growth in wounds. This would be good to mention in "Uses" and "Hazards". 2601:C2:E81:3850:3523:474E:672C:9D9F (talk) 23:00, 18 May 2023 (UTC)

Powered
Bio on tikttok 12.75.77.10 (talk) 06:35, 2 February 2024 (UTC)