Freeze Sweet
Corn without Cooking
Somehow you have found yourself with an abundance of fresh, sweet corn. Perhaps your neighbors were generous enough to share part of their corn crop with you, or maybe you just happened upon an irresistible sale at the market. However it happened, you've got to find a way to preserve all that sweet, crunchy corn goodness. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, almost any vegetable can be frozen and still successfully retain most of its fresh flavor, texture and nutrients if it is properly blanched, sealed and stored. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Prepare the corn. Remove the husks and trim the ends of each ear. Gently scrub each ear with a soft vegetable brush to exfoliate the silk strings. Wash well in cool water.
2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. Place it in your refrigerator. Line two cookie sheets with clean dish towels. Set aside.
3. Fill a large pot two-thirds full with water. Place it on your stove top over high heat. Bring water to a boil.
4. Place four to five ears of corn into the boiling water for 5 minutes. As the corn boils, remove your bowl of ice water from the refrigerator.
5. Remove the ears from the boiling water with a pair of tongs. Plunge them immediately into the ice water. Allow them to sit in the water for 5 minutes.
6. Remove the ears from the water and place them on your lined cookie sheets to drain. It's okay if you stack them.
7. Repeat Steps 4 through 6 until you have blanched all ears of corn. It's fine to reuse the boiling water and ice water, as long as you replenish when the levels go down.
8. Hold each ear of corn vertically. Use your stainless steel corn cutter to remove the kernels from the ears (follow the directions supplied by the manufacturer). It's fine if the kernels come off in "sheets;" they will fall apart when you pack them.
9. Pack the cut corn kernels into plastic freezer bags. Pack them into individual "meal-sized" bags so that you won't have to defrost your entire supply at once.
10. Squeeze out as much air as possible from the freezer bags before sealing them properly and securely. Date each bag.
11. Freeze and store the bags of corn at no higher than 0 degrees F. Corn will taste best if consumed within 8 to 12 months.
Tags: boiling water, cookie sheets, ears corn, ears from, Fill large, Freeze Sweet, Freeze Sweet Corn