Sweet Corn Sunday is a pretty happy day here on the farm. It means everything came together this year. Mother Nature smiled on the garden with plenty of sunshine and enough rain. It means Tom won the battle against the raccoons and deer. Some years we win, sometimes they pull sneaky daytime attacks and wipe the sweet corn patch out while we aren’t looking. He has an electric fence around the garden, but we usually leave it unplugged during the day to prevent any unexpected zaps to clumsy people. (That would be me!)
We have had small batches of corn ready off & on for a couple of weeks. We devoured these at mealtimes. There is nothing better than fresh-picked sweet corn.
Food is incredible when you can go from garden to plate in five minutes.
Today was the day we had enough corn ready to add some to the freezer for the long, cold winter ahead, hence Sweet Corn Sunday!
I know there are hundreds of recipes for canning/freezing sweet corn. Every gardener/cook swears their way is the best. The following is how I freeze sweet corn. I haven’t sickened anyone yet, so I’m sticking with what works for me.
Tom picked and shucked a big box full and brought to the house to get me started. While he was doing that, I put a kettle of water on to boil and laid out my utensils.
I use:
- A large colander
- A dishcloth
- Tongs
- A cutting board ( I like my plastic flexible one. More on this later.)
- A sharp knife (I have used an electric knife, but it tends to make my hand sore.)
- A long, clean towel
- Bags for freezing (Zipper bags or Vacuum seal bags)
See the notes at the bottom for a list of my favorite tools.
First, I wash the ears of corn and remove as much silk as possible.
Next, I put the corn in a large pot of near-boiling water.
After it cooks long enough to start changing color, remove it to the colander that is sitting on a dishcloth. If you are not sure about this step, I recommend buttering up an ear and sampling it!
Dump it from the colander onto the long towel. I use an old, soft beach towel spread on my kitchen island.
As soon as it’s cool enough to hold onto the ear, start slicing the kernels from the ear. When you have enough to fill your bag about 3/4 of the way, curl up the flexible cutting sheet and pour the corn directly into the container.
Garden sweet corn in the winter is like a bite of summer!
Sometimes, a few ears are a little too ripe for my taste. These I lay aside and process them together. I label that bag “For Soup.” I promise you will never know the difference after they have simmered in a delicious pot of vegetable soup all day.
If you are using Zipper bags, fold the top over and press the air out. Then seal and press the corn out flat so you can stack the bags in the freezer.
Since I prefer my vacuum sealer, I fill about a dozen bags and let them continue to cool. I then vacuum-seal them just until you see the air is mostly out, but the corn juice has not yet run up into the machine. If you have liquid at the top, the bag will not seal. If this happens, release the sealer, wipe the inside top of the bag dry, and start over. Press them semi-flat so they will stack neatly in the freezer.
Boom! You now have frozen sweet corn to bring a taste of summer into your winter meals.
A few tips:
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- Lay your bags on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they are frozen then stack them to prevent the bags from sticking together.
- If you don’t have access to a garden or farmers market, you can do just a few ears at a time from store-bought sweet corn.
- If your hands are sensitive to the heat, or you have a substantial amount of corn to handle, do yourself a favor and stick a corn skewer in one end to give you something to grip. Your fingertips will thank you.
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A few more tips:
- Do you cook sweet corn for the family and always have a few ears left over? Slice the kernels off and keep them in a zipper bag in the freezer. You can use a little at a time for soups, stews, and casseroles.
- Are you an Instant Pot person? Blanching sweet corn in an IP is so simple and easy. Just put a cup of water in the bottom and put the corn on the rack that came with your pot. Give it 4 minutes high pressure, quick release and your corn is perfect. I love this method when I don’t have bushels to cook. It’s fast, easy and doesn’t heat the kitchen. The corn is so tender and delicious prepared in the Instant Pot.
- I am experimenting this year with using the vacuum sealer to freeze o few whole ears of corn. I’ll let you know in the comments how this works out.
There you have it. The quick & easy way I freeze fresh sweet corn. Stay tuned….. apples and tomatoes are next!
You may be interested in my other gardening, cooking, & canning recipes.
Here is a list of a few of my favorite canning tools.
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What ever happened with freezing the whole ears of corn? I must know! Lol.
I completely forgot to post an update. Thanks for the reminder. It worked out ok. I microwaved the frozen ears, wrapped in a paper towel. They were softer than the fresh from the field crisp corn, but not soggy. The corn is really tasty basted in butter and cooked on the grill. I’ll add a picture to the post.