how to freeze corn - Pick your own

1 All images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights you can find a pick - your -own farm near you!Click on the printer icon that looks like this:(at the top left, to the right of save a copy ) to print! many other canning directions and recipesHow to freeze corn -From corn on the Cob!If you like frozen niblets-type corn in the winter, just imagine how good it would taste if you had pickeda couple of dozen ears yourself,or bought a couple dozen fresh ears from a farm stand and then quicklyfroze it at home!It is also one of the simplest ways to put up a vegetable for the winter. Here's how todo it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. The corn will taste MUCH betterthan anything you've ever had from a store.

2 These directions are for corn which youwill cut off you wantdirections for freezing corn ON the cob, click , I think you'll get betterresults and use less freezer space with it OFF the for Freezing CornIngredients and Equipment fresh corn on the figure ears perserving. 1 Large pot of boiling water Vacuum food sealer or "ziploc"type freezer bags (the freezer bagversion is heavier and protectsbetter against freezer burn. 2 large bowls, one filled with coldwater and ice. 1 sharp knife 1 Large spoonIdeal ear-ripe but not kernels are still tender(easily punctured with your fingernail) and the juice ismilky).White, yellow or bicolor types are all fine! images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights 1-Get yer corn !Start with fresh corn on the cob-as fresh as youcan there is a delay between harvestingand freezing, put it in the refrigerator or puticeon it.

3 The sugars break down quickly at 2-Husk the cornHusk the corn and pick off as much of the silk asyou can. A soft vegetable brush is the fastest andeasiest way to get the remaining silk off-just don'tbe too roughwith 3-Get the potsreadyGet thelargestpotyou have (I use my canner)filled fullwith hot water,put it on your largestburner (or straddle two burners) and get it heatingto a full rolling , geta LARGE bowlfilledwith ice and may need to buy a bag or two of ice ifyou are planning to do more than adozenears images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights 4-Blanch the fruits and vegetables containenzymesthat, overtime, break down the destroy nutrients and changethe color, flavor, and texture of food during frozenstorage.

4 Cornrequires a brief heat treatment, calledblanching, in boiling water or steam, to destroythe enzymes before freezing. Blanching timesgenerally vary from one to 10 minutes, dependingon the vegetable. the duration should be just longenough to stop the action of the counting the blanching time as soon as youplace the corn in the boiling it takes morethan a minute to return to a boil, thenyour pot is toosmall, your burners aren t hot enough or you areputting too muchcorn in at the kettleand boil at a high temperature for the requiredlength of time. You may use the same blanchingwater several times (up to 5). Be sure to add morehot water from the tap from time to time to keep thewater level at the required time varies depending on the type offrozen corn you are making: cut-whole kernel,cream style or corn -on-the-cob:Blanching times, for freezing the corn : Whole Kernel to 6minutes.

5 Cream style corn -4 to 6 : It's my opinion that best results come fromwhole kernel or cream , I don'trecommend freezing it on the cob: it takes up toomuch space in the freezer, and gets too : UC Davis research has shown that supersweet varieties typically require a 4 min 5-Coolthe cornAfter vegetables are blanched, cool them quicklyto prevent overcooking. Plunge the corn into alarge quantity of ice-cold water (I keep addingmore ice to it). A good rule of thumb: Cool forthe same amount of time as the blanch step. Forinstance, if you blanch sweet corn for 7 minutes,then cool in ice water for 7 drainthe images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights 6-Cut the kernels from thecobObviously, if you are freezing the corn on the cob,skip this Kernel corn Cut kernels from cob about2/3 the depth of the kernels.

6 I hold the ear by thesmall end, and slide the knife down the ear. see thenext Style corn Cut kernel tips about 1/2 deepand scrape the cobs with the back of a knife toremove the juice and the heart of the way to prepare cream style corn forfreezing is to cut and scrape the corn from the cobwithout blanching. Place the cut corn in a doubleboiler, and heat with constant stirring for about 10minutes or until it thickens; allow to cool by placingthe pan in ice don't need a special tool, just a very sharpknife! images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights the corn piles up in your bowl, it will look likethis!Close up, the corn comes off in youput these in the bag, they will easilyseparate intoseparate 7-bag the cornI love the FoodSavers with their vacuum sealing!

7 Iam not paid by them, but these things really you don't have one, ziploc bags work, too, but itis hard to get as much air out of the air to prevent drying and freezer burn. Avacuum-sealed FoodSaver bag is shown at right andon the next page. You can see how the FoodSaverreally sucks out all the air, so the corn won't dry outor get freezer burn. That means the food insidewilllast many times 've been using them (andtheir predecessor in the marketplace, Seal-a-Meal)for many years. If you're interested,here's whereyou can get images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights 8-Label the bags!"Sharpie" marking pens work well on plastic andwon'trub 9-Done!Pop them into the freezer, on the quickfreeze shelf, if you have one!

8 Later, when you are ready to serve thecorn, it just takes about 3 or 4 minutes inthe microwave (from frozen) or in the topof a double doesn'tneed to be"cooked", just heated up!Tips: Harvest early in the morning, especially if the weather is hot, to get peak flavor. Harvest the corn at its peak maturity (milky fluid in the kernels, kernels tender, and not bloated).Immature corn is watery when cooked and over-ripe corn is chewy and doughy. Process promptly after harvesting, or keep cooled in the fridge or with ice until images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights Asked QuestionsQ. I didn't know about the blanching step and I already froze mycorn?Is that dangerous?Should I take the corn out of the freezerand blanchit and re- freeze it?

9 , there is no health or safety is done topreserve the flavor and sweetness. In fact, if you eat the corn in amatter of weeks, you probably wouldn't notice the most noticeable (much lesstasty and sweet) after months inthe freezer, if it hadn't been 'm freezing corn on the cob tomorrow. Is it possible to "steam" in acrab pot vs. boiling in water? If so, what adjustment to the blanching timeshould I make? question. You can steam blanch most vegetables, althoughwater isgenerally preferred. Heating in steam is recommended for afew vegetables, and for broccoli, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and wintersquash, both steaming and boiling are satisfactory blanching takes about 1 times longer than water blanching provides greater enthalpy, means more effective andrapid heating, thus steam blanching takes steam, use a pot with a tight lid and a basket that holds the food atleast three inches above the bottom of the pot.

10 Put an inch or twoofwater in the pot and bring the water to a the vegetables in the basket in a single layer so that steam reachesall parts quickly. Cover the pot and keep heat high. Start countingsteaming time as soon as the lid is images and textCopyright Benivia, LLC2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 All rights of CornBlanchingtime in waterBlanching time insteamCorn-on-the-cob:Small Ears7 minutes11 Medium Ears914 Large Ears1117 Whole Kernel or Cream Style (note:the ears are blanched beforecutting corn from cob) have tried to use a vacuum sealer to seal my corn for freezing but thejuice of the corn is pulled from the kernel preventing my food-saver fromsealing the bag. Any suggestions?A. Yep! Some corn is juicier than others! In that case, just fill the bagwith the corn kernels, and pop it into the freezer, unsealed.