A guide to freezing corn........

When I was little we used to spend summers in Kentucky visiting my aunt & uncle on their farm. They grew corn and tobacco and soy beans and it’s the first and last place I’ve ever tasted rabbit. My cousin, Marilyn grew tomatoes the size of grapefruits and served them sliced at every supper we had. To this day, I can’t remember ever tasting anything better. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve sliced tomatoes as a side dish for supper? Neither do I. How many times did I hear my grandmother say that there was no better corn than Kentucky sweet corn? She’d talk about corn from Kentucky to Florida and every year we came home with coolers full of creamed corn. I didn’t think much about this tradition growing up, but every time we went to Sunday dinner at her house there was always a pot of that very same creamed corn simmering on the stove. And every time I serve my creamed corn to my family…………….I think of her. It seems that deep in the south, there’s not much that can compete with fresh creamed corn. Come April we’re counting down the days until it’s harvesting time. I haven’t had the pleasure of getting back up to Kentucky in years, but I think our local corn is pretty darn good too. So, as tradition would have it, every year we get a few bushels of corn and cream it just as my grandmother did, every year of her whole life.

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fresh corn on the cob(we had 120)

1 large pot of boiling water

sink full of ice water

tongs

gallon or quart sized ziploc freezer bags

1 large pot

corn cutter or sharp knife

First things first, once you get your corn be ready to go through the process of creaming it immediately or within a days time. The longer it is left at room temperature the more quickly the sugars will break down.

I use my canning pot to blanch the corn. It is the biggest pot that I have and will hold 20 ears at a time. I fill it 3/4 of the way full with hot water and straddle it over two burners on the stove on high heat and heat until boiling.

Once the pot is heating up on the stove, it’s time to start shucking the corn. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty sure Kirk holds the record for fastest time shucking corn this side of the Mason Dixon line. He can shuck corn in two steps. Once the corn has been shucked and you’ve picked off as many of the silks as you can, use a vegetable brush to get the rest. Be careful with this step. Be very gentle. As soft as those brushes are, they can damage the kernels

Once all of the corn has been shucked, it’s time to fill up your freshly washed sink with cold, ice water.

 Now it’s time to  blanch the corn. This is an important step. It helps to keep the color of the corn a beautiful pastel yellow and enhances the flavor. I blanch my corn for exactly 4 minutes. I wouldn’t go over 6 minutes because you don’t want to “cook” the corn.

Once the timer goes off, use tongs to transfer blanched corn to ice water to cool. This will stop the cooking process. I leave this in there until the next batch is almost finished. Then, I transfer the corn to a table I’ve covered with a towel until all corn has been blanched.

 Now, it’s time to cream the corn. I have a corn cutter that I’ve had for years. They sell these here locally, but you can find them online also. It will take ALOT of time off this job if you have one of these tools. You can also use a sharp knife and simply cut down the side of the cob. Once you’ve cut all the kernels off of the cob, turn your knife over with the dull end facing the cob and run the back side of the blade down the cob on all sides. This will release the sweet juices that are trapped at the base of the kernels.

Now, it’s time to bag the corn. I freeze my corn in 3 cup batches. This seems to be a good size for my family of 5. We creamed 120 ears of corn and got 20, 3 cup bags to freeze.

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