Scientific Uses For Grits

[Schuarta]

I hope this doesn't sound daffy, but I'm a relative new-comer to grits. For about the last year I have been learning to cook grits, and experimenting with various recipes. I frequently make grits for breakfast with eggs and meat (bacon, ham, sausage, etc.). Generally it is simple grits with butter and cheese.

This morning at breakfast I had an "eureka". As breakfast progressed, with conversation and paper reading, most all of the food had cooled. But the grits was still hot. A spoonful taken from the serving dish was still blazing hot.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomena whereby grits holds heat better than any other food I know?

Maybe "hot containers" could be lined with grits to keep the food inside hotter longer. (Now I'm getting silly.)

[Jeeves]

Something to consider should there ever be another Ice Age.

[Panama Hat]

I have noticed that also. Next time I make grits, I'm going to boil water in a similar pot and see if it retains its heat just a long. It may be just the heat capacity of water.

[Gourmondo]

Being a grits afficionado from infancy plus a former chemistry major, the secret is that grits are a hydrocolloid and as such have more stable thermodynamics than, say, your fried egg. It is the same principal at work behind why marshmallows take so damn long to cool off after you toast them. Of course the consistency is critical. For maximum heat retention, never remove grits from the heat source until the "molten lava" stage is reached, lest excessive entropic forces ensue (i.e., the dreaded runny grits syndrome).

And I take it you are not a Southerner, since a Southerner would always say "the grits were still hot" not "the grits was still hot"! It is a plural concept with no singular, like "police".

I always love the "grits testimony" courtroom scene in "My Cousin Vinny"!

[Panama Hat]

I had a Yankee girlfriend who moved down here with me years ago. The first meal she wanted to eat was "a grit".

[JudiB]

"Do dah laaaaaws of physics cease to exist on your stove?"

hahahahaha.... I love that movie.


Speaking of Grits.... years ago we had an ant problem in the yard. I hated putting down chemicals cuz the kids were little.

A friend suggested sprinkling grits in their path. She said, they would carry the grits to the inner sanctum, where the queen would eat them, then explode because of being so thirsty and drinking too much.... or something like that. Of course, once the queen was dead... they'd move.

Hmmmm.

So.... I sprinkled grits all over the lil lines of marching ants. It was quite fascinating to watch, actually.

Each ant would put a grit on their back... and continue marching down into the depths of the hive.

Nothing. Nada. In fact, Tom and I decided that they got stronger and smarter over the next few days.

Eventually, I informed my source that she was full of hock pucky... and she said... well did you use INSTANT GRITS?? Of course not you weenier, no self respecting southerner.....

hahahahahaha

Next day we bought chemicals.

[Panama Hat]

Judi,

YOU WASTED GRITS ON ANTS???????

[edible complex]

Speaking of Grits.... years ago we had an ant problem in the yard. I hated putting down chemicals cuz the kids were little.

A friend suggested sprinkling grits in their path.

who knew....
http://www.gomestic.com/Do-It-Yourself/ ... ller.62265

[JudiB]

ROFL!! Thanks for the link, edible. What a hoot... just remember.. the key word here is "INSTANT".

Regular grits make 'em strong and smart.

PH.... lol, yes... I did, I admit it. What can I say, I was young and foolish.

[Gourmondo]

who knew....
http://www.gomestic.com/Do-It-Yourself/ ... ller.62265

EC, this is awesome, man! Check out the footnote about geese not being able to fart, so if they eat grits they explode. I only regret I did not have this knowledge when we young, bored and stupid, hanging out with my friends in the fields and along the banks of the bayou in Iberville Parish. Many squandered evenings of my wayward youth could have been filled with productive activity! But more to the point, I believe you may have hit upon the solution to the LaGuardia bird strike problem. I am pretty sure you and I could get a juicy grant from the Obama administration to test this out at MSY as part of the stimulus plan. Heh heh.