This is a question about food, which is a CS thing, but it has overtones of GQ. If it should be moved, that’s okay.
I have questions about freezing corn. Not to eat as corn on the cob, but as kernels cut off the cob. Is it best to cut and freeze, or to freeze the cobs, then thaw when ready to use and cut?
I use the corn in a potato/corn chowder I make, and love the crunchy texture of fresh corn. In the winter I can settle for frozen corn, and in desperation I’ve even used canned. Fresh is the best but the corn season doesn’t last forever!
If you all have advice to offer I’d sure appreciate it. And any other info about freezing fresh veggies. Feel free to hijack, I just need to know about the corn first.
I blanch the ears first then put them in an ice water bath. Then cut the kernels off the ears and put in a Ziplock and right out to the freezer. It’s time consuming (cutting the kernels) but oh so well worth it when you’re eating “fresh” corn in December. There’s nothing like the flavor of sweet corn in the middle of winter.
I don’t consider it “cooked” after blanching. Although the so-called experts say that you just have to cook corn briefly, blanching is just getting it heated through. The sugars in the corn are not completely cooked. You can taste the difference if you eat it after blanching. The ice water bath stops the cooking process plus it helps you to be able to handle the ears.
We do a lot of growing and preserving food. NOTHING beats the taste of the first fresh corn of the season. I managed to find a tool which helps strip the kernels from the cob. It’s called a corn shucker, but the ones i could find via google didn’t look like what I’ve got. Maybe some US dopers can help. I had to import it from America. I do freeze them as described above.
Close second for the best taste sensation is the first fresh peas. Raw. Heaven.
I’ll admit, I didn’t spend as much time in the kitchen as a child as I wish I had (my mom was out there, and usually yelled at me for something), but her method was the same as Ruby’s: blanch on the cob, cool in ice water, trim the kernals, and freeze. The cobs got carried out to the horses, who loved them.
I HATE canned corn. They put sugar in it, and it tastes like puke. Sweet corn should have butter, salt, and pepper on it.
Thanks to everyone for their recommendations, and their stories. I really do appreciate them. I think I’ll try the Ruby method, with the blanching. But I definitely will cut the corn off the cob. I just asked about leaving it on because you see it in the store sometimes like that.
Back on the farm, we always blanched it first. This doesn’t cook it completely. Get your water boiling good, and prepare a second large pot or bowl with ice cold water. Drop the ears into the boiling water and let 'er bubble for a minute or two. Take the ears out of the boiling water and drop them right into the cold. Once the ears are cool enough to handle, cut the corn off the ears, bag it and seal the bags.
You can buy gadgets to strip the corn off the ear, but it probably isn’t worth it for just a bit of corn a year. We never bothered with one, and we put up dozens of bags of corn a season. Blanched corn is pretty easy to cut – you really don’t need a special tool. After you get the kernals off, go back over the cob with the back of your knife to get all all the yummy corn-juice out of the cob, too.
We did have a vacuum sealer that we used to bag the corn, BTW, and that was worth it for the amount of produce that we froze every year – in addition to the corn, we froze blackberries, strawberries, green peas, carrots, lima beans, and several varieties of squash. And probably some other things I’m forgetting. Ziplock bags will work fine for you I’m sure.
Man! Farm food! I didn’t much like living on a farm – even a 9 acre hobby farm like we had is far, far, more work than I like to do – but the food! You haven’t eaten until you’ve had homegrown succatash with tiny fresh limas and corn right off the cob. Cooked with salt & pepper and fresh churned butter. So og-damned good!
Since the OP’s been answered (and my only response is “yeah, what they said”, I’ll commence with the first hijack:
While it can’t be done at home, freeze dried vegetables are far superior to canned or conventionally dehydrated in winter soups. They cook up to the taste and texture of fresh, instead of being mooshy or crunchy. (They also make good toddler snacks when they’re dry!) Right now, I’ve only found them at Whole Paycheck, but there are signs they will be at regular supermarkets soon. They’re also in Frontier Soups, which I will pimp to my dying day. I normally avoid soup mixes like the plague, but Frontier’s are wonderful and have **no **salt - just yummy herbs and spices for flavor.
I always blanched corn before freezing it, but last summer I skipped that step. (I was recuperating from a hip fracture and feeling lazy.) I couldn’t tell the difference, and it seemed like the corn kept its crunch better.
If you have a lot of corn, maybe try doing some of it without blanching, and see how it works for you.
I may do that. Blanche this week, the next Saturday go back to the Farmer’s Market and get some more, then just cut that. I really do want to get it off of the cob, because I have only a refrigerator freezer for storage.
The frozen ears are just gross in my not-so-humble opinion. They don’t freeze well (they get soft) and I think they greatly alter the taste of the corn. Stick with me, Baker, and you’ll be singing your praises this winter!
I have finished cutting the kernels of off twenty five ears of corn. Not all that many, but I’ll do some more on Wednesday, and next Saturday.
I blanched it all actually, then dunked in icewater as directed. I found that the blanching made it a little easier to cut from the cob, and the kernels didn’t “scatter” on the cutting board as much. In a month or so I’ll thaw a little, to judge taste and texture, but it still looks good, bright and yellow.
After doing the corn I mixed up fresh salsa. I’d bought two flats of tomatoes, as well as the corn and other veggies. Thank God for food processors, as I made up a lot. It’s in a huge container in the fridge now, blending flavors, and tomorrow I’ll drain it in the colander and freeze the salsa mix itself. The juice I’ll drink as a sort of homemade V8.
In case anyone cares to know what my blend was,(and even if they don’t), here goes.
4 large cloves garlic, minced as fine as I could do it
1 ounce jalapeno pepper, minced the same as the garlic
juice of 4 limes
8 ounces of very finely chopped onion
18-1/2 ounces finely chopped cucumber
18-1/2 ounces finely chopped bell pepper
Most of the two flats of tomatoes, that’s LOTS of tomato
Blend it all together an allow to “steep” at least overnight in the fridge. Drain thoroughly in a fine colander, saving the juice to drink. Freeze the fresh salsa in small batches.
Yummmm… corn on the cob. I must try freezing some this year.
Any hints on how to do the best job of de-cobbing? I’ve only ever done the straight knife down the side of the cob (usually when cutting off for immediate consumption) and that seems to waste at least half of the flesh of the kernels. How do factories get those whole kernels off?
I’ve never been successful getting “whole kernels” off the ears using any type of tool. I’ve tried a couple of gadgets over the years and the plain old-fashioned knife is the one I keep going back to. After you trim the kernels off the ear, use the back side of the knife to scrape the ear again to get the rest of the corn goop off. You have to be careful to not cut too deep trying to get the largest kernel size because you can actually cut into the ear leaving a hard spot on the kernel.
I saw a trick on the Food Network the other day. The guy cut the kernels off while setting the ear on top of the middle of a bundt pan - it caught all the kernels and they didn’t go flying everywhere…
