Corn: Smart Storage
4 Comments | Written on July 16, 2012 at 11:00 am, by Ruth Cousineau
iStock
What is the essence of summer eating? For me, it’s my first taste of the perfect ear of corn. Sweet and silky, corn on the cob just can’t be beat when the season is upon us. My husband grew up on a farm where his mother had an enormous garden. She would boil a pot of water and go out to pick corn just after making dinner and they would eat ear after ear for dessert. That is sweet!
It’s that just-picked flavor that we find at a farm stand and sometimes even at the supermarket. The sugars in corn begin to turn to starch soon after harvesting. When a market harvests corn, it must be kept cold, so my motto is buy it fresh and eat it quickly.
If you must keep it for 2 to 3 days, store the corn still in its husk, wrapped in a perforated plastic bag in the fridge. Shuck the corn just before cooking it. I put the corn in a large pot of boiling water, return the water to a boil, then shut off the heat and cover the pot. The corn stays perfectly cooked for up to an hour. Helpful when you’re juggling the rest of the meal.
Yes, you can freeze corn if you have an abundant harvest. First remove the husks and silks. Cut the kernels off the cobs, boil the kernels for 4–5 minutes, drain, and quick-chill in ice water. Dry the kernels, then freeze in airtight containers.
You can even freeze corn on the cob if you have a big freezer. Blanching times vary, from boiling the small ears for about 7 minutes to 11 minutes for big ears.
From smart storage to savvy shopping, let us help you save money, save time!
Categories:
Save Money, Save Time | Tags: Corn, Healthy Cooking, Summer, Summer Dinners, Vegetables
4 Comments | Post Your Comment
4 Responses to “Corn: Smart Storage”
We’re a gaggle of volunteers and opening a brand new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with useful information to work on. You have done an impressive process and our entire community might be thankful to you.– italian greyhound puppies
I agree with Joe leaving the husks on and freezing in freezer bags is the best way to do it. The corn is most like fresh from the field. You can drop it in boiling water for 10 min straight from the freezer. Or you can use Joe’s 2 methods of cooking. You can also leave the husks on and cook it on the grill various chefs from food network say to soak the corn in salt water overnight before throwing it on the grill still in the husks.
I recently found that if you just put the corn, still in the husks, in the microwave (4 minutes per cob), and when it’s done, just chop off the part that attaches to the corn stalk and squeeze the other end and out comes the corn – no silk. It’s tastes wonderful….not watered down.
We used to prepare corn for freezing the same way as mentioned in your article. However, in the past 5 years, we have trimmed both ends of the ears, left the shucks intact, and put the corn in freezer bags, then placing it in the freezer. When ready to eat the corn, remove the ear(s) from the freezer, remove the shuck and silks while the ear(s) are still frozen, wrap it in a paper towel and microwave it for about 5 minutes. Or, if preferred, remove the shocks/silks, slather the ear(s) with butter, wrap it in aluminum foil, and place it on a gas or charcoal grill over an indirect fire.