How to Freeze Corn for the Winter
The best advice I can give you is to do as much of this outdoors as possible. Itβs an easy, but messy job and it will be so much simpler to clean up after the job is done if you can hose off your work space!
Suggested Uses:
Corn releases liquid as it thaws. If youβre adding the corn to soup, just add it all in. If using as a side dish, drain liquid before adding butter and salt and pepper.
Make a fresh tastingΒ corn chowderΒ on a cold winterβs night
Drain, add butter and salt and pepper to taste for a delicious side dish
Bring out the cast iron frying pan and bake a tasty cornbread
Mix into Mexican rice or risotto
Toss on a pizza
Add to any Southwestern dish such as burritos or enchiladas
How to Freeze Corn for the Winter
Ingredients
Leppβs Sweet Corn (as much as you want!)
What Youβll Need:
- A large pot of boiling water
- A large pot or bowl with ice, or access to cold running water
- A sharp knife (or corn zipper, or electric knife)
- A large pan to collect the corn kernels
- Optional:Β Bundt Pan, to hold the corn while you cut it
- A scoop for the corn kernels
- Bags to freeze the corn in
- Optional:Β a tray for your corn bags, so that they can sit in the freezer neatly
Tip: it goes quickly if you have a small group together; assign a task to each person and everyone gets to take some corn home at the end.
Instructions
Husk and remove silk from the corn. To easily remove the silk from the cobs, brush with a clean toothbrush or a soft vegetable brush.
Blanch corn by bringing a large pot of water to boil. Make allowances in the water level for adding the corn to the pot, so itβs best to only fill the pot halfway with water. Once water is boiling, add as many cobs to the pot as will fit. This will often work best if you stand them up on end. The corn needs to be covered by the water, so if the cobs arenβt completely submerged, add enough hot water to cover. Once water has returned to a boil, immediately take the pot off the heat.
The corn needs to be cooled as quickly as possible, and this can be done in two ways.
- Have a large container of cold water ready, adding ice to make water as cold as possible. Immediately submerge corn cobs in cold water.
- Much easier, and a lot less mess is to take the pot outside and put the hose into it, running water until the corn has completely cooled.
Once corn has cooled, cut the kernels off the cob. Β Measure into ziplock bags, pressing as much air as possible out of the bags, and flattening them for freezing. Itβs important to get the corn frozen as quickly as possible so spread the bags out into a thin layer in the freezer.
TipsΒ for Removing KernelsΒ From the Cobs :
- Use a corn zipper, my favorite gadget, to remove the kernels. I have tried every corn gadget available, and theΒ Kuhn-Rikon corn zipperΒ is the only one worth the money spent. OR,
- Place an angel food or bundt pan on a cookie sheet and place the tip of the cob in the hole in the middle. Using a sharp chefβs knife, cut in a downward motion, and watch all the kernels fall into the pan,
saving you a big mess! - Using an electric knife makes the task even easier.
Optional is to scrape the cob with the dull side of the knife to get all the milky juice out of the cobs. This makes for a creamier finished product.
Press as much air as possible out of the bags, and flatten them for freezing. Itβs important to get the corn frozen as quickly as possible so spread the bags out into a thin layer in the freezer. Place it into the coldest part of your freezer right away, preferably a deep-freeze that wonβt be opened for a little while so that the corn has time to freeze thoroughly, quickly.
