A lack of official labeling guidelines and a lot of overlap among the terms can lead to confusion. Here's what you need to know.

while hominy grits are a good textural middle ground with their hulls and germs removed. Similarly, while most cornmeal ...

And that's like this staple." The chef said he always makes sure to have some grits, a porridge made from boiled cornmeal, on hand for family brunches or Sunday football parties with friends.

Generally, fine cornmeal or fine maize flour will feel like regular flour. If the grain size is large it’ll be called coarse maize meal, cornmeal, grits or polenta.