LOS CHILEROS Organic White Corn Posole, 12 OZ

This review may turn lengthy; I'll try and be organized. For "purists," consider me a creative, but haphazard, type of cook, especially prone to quick meals. I worked, was married, raised five kids, and meal preparation focused on time as a major factor -- getting it from cupboard/refrigerator to table within an hour was the norm. It's not that I don't or won't cook from scratch, but I'm a mix and match type of person. Grab this, grab that, put it together.A pantry and freezer exists to keep me from constantly running to the grocery store, especially now that I'm a single "old lady" on a limited budget, and in Alaska. Since I've lived in California, New Hampshire, Boston, Seattle, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and now, Alaska, I've had access to a wide range of regional cooking styles -- things others might consider "gourmet" are just part of my cooking history; yet, I'm hardly a fancy cook, either. 1) Personal History: I've been using canned hominy for most of my lifetime -- usually just pan-sauteed with the addition of crumbled hamburger, diced ham, or whatever. Was one of those quick meal "something different" types of things. 2) Posole. I learned about it being a Mexican favorite many years later when I was in New Mexico and found it bagged as "fresh" in the Produce section of supermarkets. That's when I tuned into its bigger history; plus, with the advent of the internet, many unknown food items became far more accessible both for recipes and use, and availability for ordering. I started adding a can of hominy to make a "posole chili" -- again, a quick meal use of shelf food either in combination with other canned items, and/or fresh or frozen ingredients, such as diced tomatoes, onions, peppers, corn, etc. 3) Not so long ago, I came across dried posole offered on "Rancho Gordo," an organic and heirloom bean site. I HAD to try it, but didn't want to place a larger order of beans to balance out the shipping costs; so, looked for an equivalent on Amazon. Voila! This is it. After receiving it, I looked up various recipes and discovered that cooking times varied all over the spectrum, all of them indicating a far longer cooking time than "just beans." So, I opted for experimental -- I simmered the contents in a 6 qt pot for an hour, let sit for about 8 hours, and then brought back to a boil and cooked for another 2 hours. When the timer went off, I checked it and it was "cooked." All of the hominy kernels were "exploded" and tender. They will always have some "chew," though. One 12 oz bag = about 3 qts of cooked hominy (just an estimate). I cooked with salt only. 4) Now, I have at least 4-5 meals worth of cooked posole -- ready for however I choose to use it. I'll probably drain and bag off for freezing several 2-cup portions as I don't expect to be willing to eat that much hominy before little green critters start growing on it. 5) My first meal was about 2 cups drained and sauteed in olive oil, seasonings from the cupboard, diced ham, and a good amount of hot smoked paprika to "bind" all of the flavors together. A simple and quick meal that was definitely a step above canned hominy (which normally costs me about $1.19/can). So, right there, I have both a savings AND a better tasting ingredient. One noticeable difference also is the behavior of the hominy. Canned hominy pops like popcorn and MUST be covered as it bounces all over the kitchen during sauteing. This does not. The exploded kernels aren't as "pretty" but they don't jump all over the place, either. 5) I'm intrigued by all of the heirloom bean offerings on Rancho Gordo and all of the claims about how good they taste; so, I'll likely order some to do up a posole "chili" from scratch with some beans that aren't available in my grocery store. I did go ahead and order the Kindle edition of their book. I think I'll definitely keep a bag of this in the pantry. It's superior to canned; however, as always, I'll still stock canned hominy for those times when I failed to plan ahead.

Top-quality posole! It tastes so much better than canned, and I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to trying other Los Chileros products.

I love it when a company has integrity and is honest about their product. This corn was used to make Colombian arepas and worked wonderfully! As a scratch made focused family, I appreciate that this corn is organically grown and well packaged. I will continue to buy this corn! Thank you a quality product!

I found a recipe on the Internet to make this in the instant pot, and I made green posole with it, it was delicious. Will definitely purchase again since it’s organic, and easy to make in the instant pot. I feel like it’s much more flavorful than the one in the can.

I took one star off because it actually took me three and a half hours to cook this, after leaving it soaking in water the entire night, in a plastic container. It was my first time making pozole. I cooked it without a lid and in low temperature so to not dry the water from it too fast. The flavor of the corn is absolutely delicious. Worth the time it took to cook.

Can't find dried posole locally, so this was greatly appreciated. Very nice and plenty for a second round.

Fantastic! Good texture and flavor.

Great product, just wish the bags were bigger because it is so yummy!