Again, the corn you've added is serving no function whatsover that I'm aware of. Of course it's going to just float around...it should end up at the end of the ferment having done nothing but having added foreign microbes to the mash.

Where is this idea coming from, to add corn to a sugar wash? Is this common practice? If so, what's the thinking?

i have heard of it used a lot. it is supposed to add a good flavour to the finished product. corn is cheap and may be cheaper and give a more authentic flavour than essence, many also feel essence is 'cheating'

Okay. Checked out those moonshine recipes, and nearly all of them that claim to be a 'mash' do indeed have a malted grain of some kind in them; either malted barley, wheat or corn. In addition, many contain another starch source such as unmalted grain or cracked corn. SO, these are all mashes, just like they say.

Those recipes that are sugar washes with some corn thrown in might make fine liquor--otherwise I guess folks wouldn't do it that way. It's just a way to flavor the product, I guess--although they ARE getting the soluble corn sugar that's already in the grain; the amount of dextrose you'd get this way would depend heavily on the kind of corn you add, I'd expect.

The process for making barley malt is simple--at least in concept. The grain is germinated ,made to sprout, by soaking in water and keeping cozy. When the sprouts are about a inch long, the enzymes in the kernel have started the conversion process--changing the stored energy in the grain ,in the form of starch, to sugar for more immediate energy.

The sprouted grain is then dried out in a kiln--then rolled to break off the sprout itself, which is discarded.

I assume this is the same process to malt corn as well--but there's no need to malt corn. Malted barley contains enough enzymes in it that it is simply mashed ,steeped at the proper temp, with corn and/or rice. The corn and/or rice is generally cooked by boiling in a cereal cooker to release its starch content--then mixed in with barley malt. The barley malt, when mashed, converts its own remaining starch AND the starch contained in the corn or rice.

The temperature for this is ideally about 145F to 148F, to produce the most highly fermentable sugars possible. With turbo yeasts, the mash can probably be taken up as high as 155F, where less fermentable sugars are produced ,less fermentable by ale yeasts, that is,.

I'm trying to extend by beermaking knowledge to making corn mash for distillation--so while I think it applies, beware that I'm just another internet idiot who doesn't know distilling or the best way to make a mash for that process.

If you want to know a little more about this simple but fascinating process, do a Google search for 'infusion mashing'.

CORN SERVES AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE AND IF YOU DO IT RIGHT YOU WONT NEED ANY OTHER SUGAR ASIDE FROM THE CORN

Ummmmmm....Something needs to be added here.... You need MALT to break down the starches and help convert them into sugars the yeast can use.
I used Indian Head corn meal and with MALT it fermented into one fine corn whiskey however...without MALT you will get something smelling like rubbing alcahol.