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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Easy Way to Freeze Corn

So the guy who tells me about this is young and single. Why did I believe him? Because I had a bushel of Early Sunglow corn to deal with and no time to do anything fancy like cutting it off the cob and blanching, etc.

"It's the easiest thing ever," he said. "Just trim the outer leaves, pull the silk to remove what you can, then pack in freezer bags, vacuum seal, and freeze."

"That's it?" I asked. "No blanching, cutting off the cob?"

"Nope," he said. "Easiest thing in the world."

Easy things usually don't end up well. Usually you get what you pay--or work--for. But I had all that corn, and it would go to waste if I didn't try something fast.

So we followed his instructions, feeling doubt all the while. I trimmed the outer leaves, pulled at the silk tassel and packed the corn in bags. I don't have a vacuum sealer so I pressed out as much air from the bags as I could. They were pretty flat around the ears.

This evening we tested the corn. We started the grill and threw on a few ears straight from the freezer, and wrapped others in foil and put them over the coals. The result?

The ears put over the coals in their own husks, minus foil, were perfect and delicious. Steam from inside the husks evidently loosens the silk, so when we pulled back the husks the silk came away too.

The ears in the foil took longer to cook and weren't as good. They were a little softer. Perhaps with hotter coals they would have been fine. They were still just as good as any frozen corn on the cob I've ever eaten and better than most.

Bottom line: this is absolutely the easiest way I've ever, ever put up corn. Amazing.

Will it be as good in a month? Two months? I don't know, but after one week it was delicious.

8 comments:

  1. I had heard this works. I'd be interested to know how it tastes in a few months. Also, our corn always seems to get worms in it--I guess the freezer takes care of them??

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  2. That corn looks good enough to eat, Susanne! Some day we might grow corn again, it's so good fresh out of the garden. I don't usually freeze ears of corn, I always blanch it and cut it off the cob. It's so much better than canned corn you buy in the store.

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  3. Laura, we don't have any worms this year--the freezer oughta do the trick, and just think, you'll get added protein :-)

    I usually do corn the way you describe, Janet, but this time there was no time to do that. It took about 15-20 minutes tops to do the entire bushel. I'm just waiting, though, to see how it is in a few months. If we have any left by then...it's pretty good!

    We have another planting coming on soon. This is Silver Queen, and I am hoping to freeze it in the conventional way.

    Then there's the Indian corn, and I *think* he planted some Hickory King which is good for making hominy. But he can't remember if that's what the really really tall corn is or not! So I'm curious as to what the ears look like when it's ready.

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  4. aarrrrrrrr, I just spent 8 hours yesterday with a bushel of corn! blanching & cutting corn off the cob. I'm sure this winter, I'll have forgotten my day in the corn.

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  5. Well, even if it only lasts a week, it buys you some extra time to get to it, so that's a tip worth keeping! It's also my experience that easy often backfires, so I enjoyed reading this.

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  6. Unbelieveable! Wow I'm glad you gave it a try.

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  7. Granny Sue- If I do the corn like you did, how long do I cook it with husks on over the grill?

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