Around here, Gaeddert Farms Sweet Corn stands are everywhere. The stands first open the beginning of July, and every year I swear that I’m going to be a regular customer and buy loads of corn while the prices are low and the ears are plentiful. I start out going great guns with the plan to put up tons of corn for use later in the year.
Then, every year life happens and it’s the end of July and I see that the corn stands are about to close. And I’ve not frozen a single kernel. I then spend the next 11 months berating myself for not having my act together.
While we’ve passed the midway point in July, I’m working on doing better this year.
Most importantly, I’ve gathered together information about storing corn for later use so I’m prepared for my foray to the stands later this week. While I know that it’s common to can corn and it can be dehydrated, I’m going to leave those projects for another summer. This year I’m going to focus on freezing.
Essentially, there are three ways to freeze corn:
1. Whole Ears
2. Unblanched
3. Blanched
You’re never going to freeze corn with the silk or husk, so get ready to shuck your corn. I’m working on a post about shucking corn, but for now, be really patient and get everything off the ear. Also make sure that you break or cut the stem off as close to the bottom of the ear as possible. A long stem makes the ears hard to manageand I think it gives the corn a funky flavor (that’s a technical cooking term) when you cook it.
Whole Ears
Freezing whole ears of corn is actually pretty easy, as long as you’re careful about completely shucking your corn and removing the silk.
Note that this method of freezing corn does not involve cooking it first. I’m not a fan of frozen and reheated ears. They end up soggy and not appealing. To compound matters I think they taste weird!
After you’ve completely shucked your ears, put them into a large zippered freezer bag. Press out as much of the air as possible. If you have a vacuum sealer you can use this too. I’ve had awesome luck using my vacuum sealer, so that’s another reason to consider getting one!
Once you’ve got the air out of the bag, make sure you close the bag tightly. Double-check to make sure the edge is sealed. If air can leak in and out your corn will get mushy and potentially pickup flavors from the freezer. Ewwww, gross!
I’m pretty particular about labeling everything that goes into the freezer, so I would strongly recommend you put the date you froze the corn on the outside of the bag. I happen to prefer permanent labels, but using a permanent marker to write on the bag is totally fine too.
Put the bags of corn into the freezer and leave them there until you need them. Your corn should last for about 12 months in the freezer…just in time for next year’s crop!
Unblanched Kernels
Once you’ve shucked your corn, you need to cut the kernels off the cob. I’ve seen people use a tube cake pan, forcing the cob through the hole and magically removing the kernels. While I’m actually pretty good at that method, everybody I’ve tried to teach has many more smashed and ruined kernels than good kernels. I don’t know why I’m good at it, and obviously I’ve proven that I can’t teach that method.
Frankly, I have a really sharp knife that I use to cut the kernels off the cob. I stand the cob on the fat end and carefully cut the kernels off . The goal is to get the entire kernel without a bunch of the cob. It takes some practice, but after a dozen or so ears you’ll be pretty proficient.
You’re going to be amazed at how much corn comes off a single cob!
Once you’ve got the kernels off the cob, put them into a quart-sized zippered freezer bag. I’ve tried using other containers, and honestly nothing works as well as good freezer bags. We happen to use food service bags here at Hectic Manor, but that’s because we have historically frozen so much food that it’s cheaper to buy bags in bulk.
No matter what kind of bag you’re using, don’t overfill it. First off, you’re not going to eat that much corn unless you have a family of ten like we do. Secondly an overstuffed bag will be hard to manage in the freezer, since it will be all rounded. Keep the bags partially empty and you’ll be able to stack them better. Plus you need to press all the air out of the bags, and having over-stuffed bags makes this really hard to do.
Don’t forget to date the bags. I actually always write what’s in the bag, although that does seem like a bit of overkill for corn. Of course, this is unblanched corn, so that’s what I would write on the bag along with the date.
If you haven’t over-filled your bags you can stack them in the freezer and have them ready to go when you want to use them later.
Blanched Kernels
While blanching is the most involved method it’s also the method that is the most traditional and probably the most common.
First bring a large pot of water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, shuck the ears. Fill a really large bowl with cool water and put it somewhere near where you’re cooking the corn. Once the water has come to a boil, put in a bunch of ears, but don’t overfill the pot. Bring the water back to a roiling boil (if it stopped boiling) and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the ears from the pot and put them in the cool water. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, or at least long enough that you can handle them without scalding yourself.
Cut the kernels off the cobs, put them into the freezer bag, press out the air, label the bag, and put the bags in the freezer.
Wrap-Up
So there you have it…three ways to freeze corn. Now you need to get to a corn stand or farmer’s market before fresh corn is gone for the season! Bring it home and make it a great day in the kitchen!