How to Build a Corn Cleaner

Corn can be fuel for thought.

Corn can be an excellent and inexpensive source of home heat. According to Backwoods Home magazine, corn-fueled stoves can provide as much as 60,000 BTUs of heat--plenty for a large house. Corn, which contains oil and ethanol, is also an extremely renewable resource. The largest downside to burning corn pellets is the dust and soot that fine corn particles leave when they're burned inside the stove, often extinguishing the fire. Owners of corn-fueled stoves need to clean their corn before using it for heat. You can put one together in just a few minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Fuel corn
• One piece 1/4-inch hardware cloth, cut into a 3-foot-long by 1-foot-wide section
• Small tarp or sheet
• Bucket
• Hair drier or leaf blower (optional)

Instructions

Cleaning corn

1. Shape the hardware cloth into a V-shaped funnel. Position the cloth so it's sloped at a 45-degree angle from top to bottom.

2. Place the tarp underneath the hardware cloth.

3. Put the bucket at the lower end of the funnel created with the hardware cloth.

4. Pour the corn slowly and gently on the top of the funnel. The corn will slide down the hardware cloth into the bucket; impurities will fall through the screen to the tarp or sheet.

5. Blow air from a hair drier or leaf blower on the corn while it's being poured down the funnel to ensure that extra chaff is removed. Use the lowest setting possible on the drier or blower.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have doubts about how well your filter worked, take two buckets outside on a windy day. Pour a bucket of corn into an empty bucket from a height of about two feet. Do this several times. The wind will help winnow out any extra chaff.

References

• Space Heater Reviews: Cleaning Shelled Corn
• Countryside and Small Stock Journal: Clean Corn is Vital in Corn Stoves
• Backwoods Home: I Heat My Home Burning Corn