Freezing fresh corn

[JRobyn]

I assume this question is kinda like "what oil should I use"?

I also figured this question had been asked and answered a thousand times on here, but my attempts at search for freezing+corn didn't turn up any threads that looked right. Just stuff like "what internet to use".

So what methods have REAL corn growers/preservers used successfully to freeze/preserve whole fresh corn on the cob (still in the shuck). One relative advocates carefully pulling the husk back, removing the silk, re-wrapping the husk and then freezing whole.

What has worked well for you?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You have to blanch corn to denature the enzymes that will cause it to spoil even if frozen. Drop the ear in boiling water for 30 seconds, transfer to cold water to stop it from cooking, then freeze.

 

[wagne223]

Like Larry said......this is what I do.
Husk all ears.
Large pot of boiling water, 3 ears at a time in the pot for 30 seconds then into the sink that contains cold water.

Make sure pot is boiling again before doing the next 3.

Allow to dry, then I put them in vacuum seal bags. Then in the freezer.

Works for me.

 

[fishheadbob]

Larry hit it.

 

[oosik]

We would blanch, put in sink with ice & water, take it out and let it dry - then cut it off the cob and bag up in quart bags. Bags go in the freezer. Give the cobs to the deer.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'm NOT going to take up freezer space freezing cobs!!

When we eat corn, I pick/cook extra, what ever is left over from our meal, get's cut off the cob and put in freezer bags for winter.

It really taste great that way and the cobs go back into the garden to "mulch out" to feed next years plants!

SR

 

[Bird]

I know those who recommend blanching are right, that's the "proper" way to do it, but . . . . . some years ago when we had a surplus of freezer space, we put a bunch of ears of corn in the freezer, shucks, silk, and all. In other words, we did nothing to them until we took them out to prepare and eat. This last week, Walmart had ears of corn for 10 cents each so I got 30 of them, shucked and cleaned them, and asked my wife if she thought we should blanch them before freezing and she said she'd never seen any reason to do that, so some of them went into ziplock bags and into the freezer. Freezing without doing anything else has always worked OK for us and none have every spoiled or tasted odd when thawed and cooked. When we had a big garden, we shucked and cleaned the ears of corn, then cut the corn off the cobs, scraped the cops and put the corn into ziplock bags and into the freezer without any other processing.

 

[tcreeley]

I vacuum packed my cooked ears and froze them. Tasted delicious, texture was not as good as fresh when I had them months later.
I also cut the kernels off and vacuum pack and freeze, or just stuff the cut kernels in a quart container and freeze. Great for fresh corn taste, good texture or used in chowders and chilis.
I boil up extra corn from the garden and what we don't eat goes into the freezer.

 

[ray66v]

We cut the corn off the cob, and fry it in butter, with a little chopped onion, a little chopped bell pepper, a little sugar, and some salt.

Once all the water is cooked off, it's allowed to cool, and vacuum sealed in the appropriate size for two servings, and then frozen.

It can be then be reheated by being boiled in the bag, or microwaved in the bag, after piercing it.

It keeps for years in the freezer, and, it always tastes as good as the day it was picked.

 

[Oaktree]

Is there an easy way to get the kernels off the cob? I always make a mess and turn half of them to mush.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Like Larry said......this is what I do.
Husk all ears.
Large pot of boiling water, 3 ears at a time in the pot for 30 seconds then into the sink that contains cold water.

Make sure pot is boiling again before doing the next 3.

Allow to dry, then I put them in vacuum seal bags. Then in the freezer.

Works for me.

We've always blanched and vacuum seal bagged ours (or ziploc bags from before vacuum seal was a thing).

 

[ray66v]

Is there an easy way to get the kernels off the cob? I always make a mess and turn half of them to mush.

I have a really easy way; I let my wife do it.

She cuts them off with a sharp knife.

We've tried some cutters, but she always goes back to the knife.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

It's been pretty well covered, but for simplicity's sake here is what we do and it works WONDERFULLY!

1. Get same-day picked corn...I shuck it as soon as I can get it home.
2. Sharn Jean blanches it immediately...she does a big pot all at once, and brings it to a boil for about two minutes.
3. She puts it into ice water for about the same length of time.
4. Allows it to drain a bit, the places it on a cookie sheet and into the freezer. We have found that freezing it first, makes vacuum packing a whole lot easier.
5. Vacuum pack in what ever number you find convenient. We usually pack about 5 ears per package.

It is always excellent, assuming that you get good corn in the first place AND YOU PROCESS IT IMMEDIATELY. And as someone mentioned before, blanching kills the enzymes that turn the sugar in the corn to starch, so if you wait too long you might as well buy your corn at the super market.

 

[RSKY]

Some of the newer breeds of corn allow you to store it in a refrigerator for a couple days before the super turns to starch. I believe Honey Select Triple Sweet is one of the strains. It still pays to process it as quickly as possible but if you have a large crop coming in all at once it is handy.

Two years ago one of our neighbors/cousins called for help processing corn. Said he had a few ears. He had never pulled corn before and didn't realize how much he was getting. When we got there it was basically a heaped up pickup truck load. His wife called every aunt, cousin, and neighbor they could get to help and it took all day and night and everybody's fridge and freezer to get rid of it.

Somehow over the years I have become a 'cutter offer' cutting the corn off the cob to make cream style for freezing. They tell me it's because I'm good at it but I think it is because I did such a lousy job pulling silks.

RSKY

 

[lakngulf]

As a kid I remember Corn Freezing Day = pick as early as possible, get it shulked and silked and quickly into cool water, cut off cobb with corn cutter, bring to boil on grill, place in frig to cool, bag in zip locks. Of course, before there were zip locks there were little plastic containers and then plastic bags with ties.

That process is ingrained in me, and although the quantity is greatly reduced, the corn is done the same way. My family LOVES cream corn! We ate two bags of this with our BBQ on 4th of July.

 

[JRobyn]

We weren't able to process it quite as quickly as we would have liked. B-I-L knew we would be out of town on Monday and Tuesday but they pulled it on Sunday anyway. So it had to live in the downstairs refrigerator until yesterday.

Wife tried the "no blanch" method. Cut off the cob for specimens where there were damaged parts and just de-silking and re-wrapping in the husks for nice specimens. We'll see how it goes.

I'm a little skeptical. I understand what y'all are saying about converting the sugars. But the relatives that have used this no-blanch method for many years swear it works terrific.

Thanks for all the tips!

 

[Birdhunter1]

A farmer I worked for about 10 years ago got me on this; he would plant about 5 acres of sweet corn. When it was ready he would go pick 2 BIG chest type deep freezes full then tell anyone who wanted it to have at it.

I thought he shucked and cleaned every ear, nope, he took it straight off the bed of his pickup truck and dropped it into the freezers. I've been doing it ever since and in February people will ask me where I came across fresh corn.

I'm only 36, I had never heard of 'blanching' until 12 years ago when I took a pickup load of sweet corn from the farmer mentioned above to my soon to be at the time mother in law. She was delighted to have it but apparently spent all weekend blanching sweet corn, it was the first time I had ever heard of such a practice.

FYI... to cook a frozen ear of corn straight out of the freezer in the microwave (shuck and all).... 5 minutes. To do multiple ears, 5 minutes per ear.

I could be wrong but I've microwaved an 8' pickup bed load of sweet corn this way.

 

[Oaktree]

if you wait too long you might as well buy your corn at the super market.

Gotta admit, supermarket corn is a whole lot better than it used to be. Obviously, nothing beats fresh-picked, but this far north we're talking mid August or so before ours is ready, and the ears we get at the produce market are nice & sweet.
Even Florida corn, which is what we get before July is pretty good these days. When I was a kid, even into my 20s you might as well eat cow corn it was so tough and tasteless.

 

[Bird]

Somehow over the years I have become a 'cutter offer' cutting the corn off the cob to make cream style for freezing. They tell me it's because I'm good at it but I think it is because I did such a lousy job pulling silks.

When we lived down in Navarro County and had a vegetable garden bigger than our entire current property, I cut the corn off the cobs with a paring knife, then scrapped the cobs to get the last of the makings for cream style corn, but then we simply put it in ziplock bags and into the freezer. When we took it out to use it was the first time it was cooked and we added butter to it when cooking it.

 

[mapper]

Is there an easy way to get the kernels off the cob? I always make a mess and turn half of them to mush.

Blanching will firm up the kernels so they are not so juicy when cutting them off of the cob.