A process for preparing a starch-containing biomass particle stream having a significant percentage of fiber for processing into ethanol comprises the first step of: mixing the particle stream with a liquid solvent to dissolve at least a portion of the starch in the carbohydrate particle stream to form a carbohydrate slurry stream containing starch dissolved in the liquid solvent. This first step removes a portion of the fiber from the carbohydrate slurry stream. In a second step, the carbohydrate slurry stream is held in a settling tank to remove a further portion of the fiber. An enhancement to the process is suitable for use with shell corn or other biomass having an oil-containing germ portion and a non-germ portion comprising mainly carbohydrates and fiber. This enhancement includes the step of grinding the corn to particles of a size suitable for separating the germ particles from the non-germ particles. The germ particles are processed first to remove the oil and then to remove the carbohydrates.