Corn Starch

Corn starch is a fine, nearly pure carbohydrate powder milled from the starchy endosperm of corn kernels, produced through a wet-milling process in which corn is soaked for one to two days before the germ, fiber, and protein are separated out and the remaining starch is washed, dried, and packaged. In cooking it is prized as a thickener for soups, sauces, and gravies because heating it above about 95 degrees Celsius causes its starch molecules to unravel into a mesh that thickens the liquid into a clear, translucent consistency, unlike the cloudier result produced by wheat flour. It is also used as an anti-caking agent in powdered sugar and other dry mixes. Commercial culinary starch production from corn dates back to a process patented in Scotland in 1854.