Are you a home gardener in need of corn shellers? There are plenty to choose from, each with distinct features and benefits. They come in various shapes, sizes, and modes of operation, from manual to electric, hand-held to tractor-mounted. This article will explain what they are and what they do so that you can make an informed decision about which one to purchase and what they stand to offer you.
What is a Corn Sheller?
A corn sheller is a device that separates the kernels from the cob. The machine can be operated manually or electrically. It is typically used to process corn for animal feed or human consumption, such as cornmeal or tortillas. Lester Denison, an inventor from Sayville, Connecticut, patented a corn sheller in 1839, and his machine is credited with launching an industry that once employed several hundred people. Denison’s machine was a stand-alone upright design.
Corn shellers typically have a small footprint, high work efficiency, and are portable. It is simple for to move one from location to location. The corn sheller machine’s main structure consists of a frame, a material inlet, a threshing device, a screen, an engine (motor, gasoline engine, or diesel engine) wheel, a corn kernel outlet, a corn cob outlet, and so on.
All local maize varieties, including hybrid and composite kinds, are shelled using maize machines. There are two types of maize shellers: cylinder and spring type. A fluted spinning cylinder, a rotating disc, and a spring pressure plate make up a spring-type sheller.
The cobs are fed into a fluted spinning cylinder, and the kernels are scraped off the cobs as they pass between the cylinder and disc. The blower removes light material, and clean grain is collected separately. These shellers come in many sizes, including domestic, single-hole, and double-hole shellers.
Small farmers can shell small amounts of maize with a hand-operated domestic sheller. A maize threshing machine is useful for domestic corn threshers because of its attractive look and extended lifespan.
How Corn Shellers Work
A corn sheller works similarly to a threshing machine but with a few modifications to account for corn’s larger grain size and other variations from wheat and other crops. Hand cranks, tractors, stationary engines, electric motors, and stationary engines can all be used to power corn shellers. They are fed whole corn cobs.
The cob is dragged between two metal, typically toothed, wheels. The directions in which the wheels revolve are counter to one another. The teeth remove the corn kernels from the cob until none are left. The kernels are discharged via a screen and into a bucket or container positioned beneath the machine.
Since the cob cannot travel through the screen, it is subsequently ejected outside. Some models incorporate a “walker” that looks like a threshing machine or combined to remove the cobs.
Shelling your homegrown corn will allow you to effectively use the corn for recipes and storage. You can even process it into corn flour. The process, as outlined by the National Library of Medicine, is quite simple:
First, dried maize is soaked in a solution of water with lime, often with ashes mixed in. The grain is then cooked, steeped, drained, and rinsed multiple times. The grain is then ground to make a wet dough from which tortillas are formed or allowed to dry into flour.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4260129/
Then you can store your corn flour in a similar fashion to storing regular flour in long-term storage.
5 Corn Shellers for Gardeners and Homesteaders
Following is a variety of corn shellers that will meet different needs depending on your requirements. Check out the best available, affordable, and high-performing corn shellers below.
1 – Low-Cost Option – Handheld Corn Stripper
You may save time and work in the kitchen by using this corn peeler to remove multiple rows of corn at once. You can operate more swiftly and effectively because of the smooth handle’s comfortable and simple grip. With this corn threshing equipment, you can easily and quickly harvest fresh corn kernels for cooking, and the corn kernels you receive are typically entire, preventing waste.
The planer is sharper due to its serrated form. The semi-curved wave-shaped surface makes corn easy to arrange. It can simultaneously plan three rows of corn kernels, and the full stalk of corn can be quickly removed.
The peeler features a beautiful, smooth, brushed handle that is comfortable to grasp. Compact and simple-to-use corn remover built of sturdy, high-quality stainless steel that is also corrosion-resistant and heavy-duty.
Aside from all the great features, it’s also not too expensive.
2 – Best Manual Hand Crank Sheller – Maximizer
The hand-cranked Maximizer corn sheller quickly extracts every grain kernel from full corn ears. Ten to fifteen bushels of shelled corn are produced each hour at a pace of very easy crank rotation (about ten seconds per corn ear). Even thin popcorn ears with a 2″ diameter can use; they are all considered normal dry ears.
The sheller activates sealed ball bearings for long life and smooth operation. For high strength, premium ductile iron—rather than the usual fragile grey cast iron—is employed, and the sheller has a durable, attractive powder coat finish.
The Maximizer sheller also hulls walnuts when the hulls are brown and reasonably dry, in addition to shelling corn. It doesn’t get rid of green hulls still on the tree or ones that have grown particularly hard.
The hinged pressure plate’s spring tension is changeable using a thumb screw. One setting may fit a wide range of corn ear sizes; thus, adjustments are often made once and forgotten. Because of the clever construction of the corn sheller, empty cobs are automatically ejected to the side rather than falling into your shelled grain.
The 10″ diameter sheller crank wheel has a pulley groove that can accommodate a v-belt for powered operation. The decision to employ a power source other than a hand crank rests solely with the user, who is also solely responsible for any necessary power drive shielding.
The sheller can be secured to a board using the provided cleats, or, if you prefer, you can bolt it on using the pre-drilled holes. As seen in the accompanying photographs, one common mounting choice is to clamp onto the side of a bottomless box positioned inside a bin or tote box.
The box and sheller can be removed once a certain amount of corn has been shelled, leaving your tote full of grain. The Maximizer hand crank corn sheller has a 12-month warranty against manufacturing and material flaws.
Powering the sheller with anything other than the supplied hand crank voids the guarantee because strains over the sheller’s design limits may be introduced. The sheller is intended for non-commercial use and is covered by a warranty.
3 – Best Electric Sheller – INTBUYING 220V
The electric corn sheller is simple and works quickly to remove maize kernels. Insert dry corn ears into the front aperture, and within 2–3 seconds, the grain kernels will be extracted. Ears will be processed by the sheller as quickly as you can feed them. Clean cobs are discharged through the bottom aperture.
Corn that has been shelled leaves the corn sheller partially with the cob and partially from a second port on the lower right side. There is no need to modify the separator for different ear sizes because it works on ears of all sizes. Popcorn ears and dent corn (sometimes known as field corn) can both be shelled. Iron makes up the legs of the sheller, adding to the farm.
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The product contains a 100% copper coil motor, stable performance, and excellent temperature resistance, making it ideal for long periods of continuous use. Corn cobs are not broken by it. Corn kernels come from the bottom of the corn cob, which comes from the tail. It can remove roughly 2200 pounds every hour, which can increase productivity.
The electric corn sheller can process one corn simultaneously in 3-5 seconds and many corns. The machine employs a skilled welding process and a thick steel plate. The machine is more robust because of thicker and wider angle steel. A skip-proof cover on the feeding port can stop maize from splashing out of the feeding port. It’s okay to thresh.
The machine is light and labor-efficient thanks to belt transmission and bearing rotation. Strong power from the high-quality motor keeps the machine running steadily. The surface has electrostatic spraying, which is attractive and long-lasting.
4 – Most Interesting Option – Kernel Kutter
This maize cutter, known as a Kernel Kutter, is American-made. made with high gauge stainless steel blades and steel handles. The cutter with bit eliminates the normal fatigue and makes removing the kernels quick, simple, and straightforward. The Kernel Kutter will strip the entire ear in one stroke.
- Steel Handles, Stainless Steel Blades, Long Threaded Industrial Bit
- Guaranteed to Last
- Manufacture Direct
- Made in USA
- Acres of corn ? No Problem !
Contrary to other cutters, it doesn’t need 4-5 passes to clean the ear. Your hands keep clear of the cutting blades, making use safe. When utilizing it with the bit, no pressure is placed on the cutter’s rivets.
Using this technique, the Kernel Kutter can be used with fresh (raw) corn that has been boiled or blanched without any issues. Numerous ears can be processed without worrying. You’ll get a lot of use out of your cutter. The cutting blades are constructed with the appropriate number of teeth, diameter, and, most crucially, tooth direction.
5 – Antique Corn Shellers on eBay
You can always get a very old, used, and preferably functional corn sheller on eBay. They are older, mechanical, rugged corn shellers on eBay with great working conditions that can serve their purpose perfectly.
You can check those antique corn sheller selections for the best unique or custom handmade pieces from the Antique Corn sheller category. They are all effective even though they are quite different from one another in terms of function range and ease of usability.
While they remain very useful as good artifacts because of their long-term existence, they can still fill your basic corn shelling needs when necessary.
Summary
This guide provides useful information on how the corn sheller works according to its type. It is evident even in today’s world, where new technologies are rampant, corn shellers still remain relevant and effective in handling corn shelling. They gained popularity because they did and still do a great job of separating corn from cobs, and they are still useful for domestic, subsistence, and commercial farming.