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How to Freeze Corn
on the Cob!
Click
here for a PDF print version
If you like frozen niblets-type corn in the
winter, just imagine how good it would taste if you had picked a couple of dozen
ears yourself, or bought a couple dozen fresh ears from a farm stand and then
quickly froze it at home! It is also one of the simplest ways to put up a
vegetable for the winter. Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and
completely illustrated. The corn will taste MUCH better than anything
you've ever had from a store. If you want
directions on how to freeze corn cut
off the cob (niblets and cream style), click here!
Directions for Freezing Corn on the Cob!
Ingredients and Equipment
- fresh corn on the cob - any
quantity. I figure 1.5 ears per serving.
- 1 Large pot of boiling water
- Plenty of ice - about 1 tray per ear.
- Vacuum food sealer or "ziploc"
type freezer bags (the freezer bag version is heavier and protects
better against freezer burn.
- 2 large bowls, one filled with cold water
and ice.
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 Large spoon
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Ideal ear - ripe but not bloated. the
kernels are still tender (easily punctured with your fingernail) and the
juice is milky). White, yellow or bicolor types are all fine!
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Instructions
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Step 1 - Get yer corn!
Start with fresh corn on the cob - as fresh
as you can get. If there is a delay between harvesting and freezing,
put it in the refrigerator or put ice on it. The sugars break down quickly
at room temperature. |
Step 2 - Husk the corn
Husk the corn and pick off as much of the
silk as you can. A soft vegetable brush is the fastest and easiest
way to get the remaining silk off - just don't be too rough with it. |
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Step 3 - Get the pots ready
Get the largest pot you have (I use my canner) filled ¾ full with hot
water, put it on your largest burner (or straddle two burners) and get
it heating to a full rolling boil..
Next, get a LARGE bowl filled with ice and cold water. You may need to
buy a bag or two of ice if you are planning to do more than a dozen ears
of corn. |
Step 4 - Blanch the corn.
All fruits and vegetables contain enzymes
that, over time, break down the destroy nutrients and change the color,
flavor, and texture of food during frozen storage. Corn requires a brief
heat treatment, called blanching, in boiling water or steam, to
destroy the enzymes before freezing. Blanching times generally vary from
one to 10 minutes, depending on the vegetable. the duration should be just
long enough to stop the action of the enzymes.
Begin counting the blanching time as soon as
you place the corn in the boiling water. Cover the kettle and boil at a
high temperature for the required length of time. You may use the same
blanching water several times (up to 5). Be sure to add more hot water
from the tap from time to time to keep the water level at the required
height.
Blanching time varies depending on the type
of frozen corn you are making: cut-whole kernel, cream style or corn-on-the-cob:
Blanching times, for freezing the corn depend upon the size of the corn
cobs, since the heat must penetrate:
Blanching times for corn-on-the-cob:
- small ears ( 1¼ inches or
less in diameter) 7 minutes,
- medium ears (1¼ to 1½
inches in diameter) 9 minutes, and
- large ears (over 1½ inches
in diameter) 11 minutes.
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 Note: UC Davis research has shown that super sweet
varieties typically require a shorter blanching time (2 minutes less) than
other sweet corn varieties. |
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Step 5 - Cool, then drain the corn
After corn is blanched, cool them
quickly to prevent overcooking. Plunge the corn into a large quantity of
ice-cold water (I keep adding more ice to it). A good rule of thumb: Cool
for the same amount of time as the blanch step. For instance, if you
blanch sweet corn for 7 minutes, then cool in ice water for 7
minutes.
Drain thoroughly. |
Step 6 - bag the corn
I love the FoodSavers (see
this page for more information) with their vacuum
sealing! I am not paid by them, but these things really work.
If you don't have one, ziploc bags work, too, but it is hard to get as
much air out of the bags. remove the air to prevent drying and
freezer burn. |
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A vacuum-sealed FoodSaver bag is on top at left, and a hand-sealed ziploc
bag below it. You can see how the FoodSaver really sucks out all the air, so
the corn won't dry out or get freezer burn. That means the food inside will
last many times longer. I've been using them (and their predecessor in
the marketplace, Seal-a-Meal) for many years. If you're interested,
here's where you can get one.
If you choose not to vacuum seal, you can almost accomplish the same thing
by wrapping each ear with Saran wrap, then put in the Ziplock bag. Saran is
an excellent barrier to air and the corn will be garden fresh for 12 months
One person wrote to tell me that she uses a straw and seals the Ziploc
around the straw to suck the air out of the bag, then pinches the straw and
quickly removes it while pressing the seal. It works fairly well, but
I'll stick to the Foodsaver, since the bags are microwaveable and much
thicker than a Ziploc bag (even the Ziploc "freezer bags")
Step 7 - Label the bags!
At least put the date on them so you can eat the older ones first.
With clear bags, it is pretty obvious what it is. "Sharpie" marking pens
work well on plastic and won't rub off.
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Step 8 - Done!
Pop them into the freezer, on the quick
freeze shelf, if you have one! Later, when you are ready to serve
the corn, it just takes about 3 or 4 minutes in the microwave (from frozen)
or 5 or 6 minutes in a pot of boiling water. It doesn't need to be
"cooked", just heated up! |
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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 then.
Questions and Answers
- Q. I didn't know about the blanching step and I already froze my
corn? Is that dangerous? Should I take the corn out of the
freezer and blanch it and re-freeze it?
No, there is no health or safety problem. Blanching is done to
preserve the flavor and sweetness. In fact, if you eat the corn in a matter
of weeks, you probably wouldn't notice the difference. It becomes most
noticeable (much less tasty and sweet) after months in the freezer, if it
hadn't been blanched.
- Q. I followed your freezing corn on the cob directions, but, even
after drying it with paper towels, there is still enough water coming out of
the corn that my vacuum food sealer can't seal the bag. Any ideas ?
A.
Yup! Just pop the corn into the freeze in an ordinary ziploc bag
for about an hour. That will freeze and water droplets that are left on the
corn. Then take it out, put it in your vacuum bag and vacuum seal it!
- Q. I froze corn on the cob as per your instructions but when I
unthawed and cooked some it was mushy. How do I cook it? Not sure if I
should cook it frozen or thaw first and how long to cook or heat.
A. That's an inherent problem with frozen corn-on-the-cob. But, it is
better with some varieties than others. Silver Queen and many SE varieties
have soft kernels. The super-sweets tend to have much firmer kernels that
hold up better when frozen! Be careful not over cook the corn when
blanching, too! Stick to the recommended times, and get the corn into ice
water right afterwards.
Then when you reheat it, just put it into boiling water straight from the
freezer. You'll want to cook it for the least time it takes to get it
hot, which is normally about 5 minutes. Any overcooking, either before
freezing or when you are ready to eat it, will make it more mushy.
- Q. My sister brought me sweet corn from California where she just
moved from. She asked the farmer what is the best way to freeze the cobs and
he told her that his family just cut the over-growth and ends and freeze the
whole cob within the cobs and silk. I did this because of the fact it took
her 3 days driving in hot temps outside so I had to do something quick. I
always would clean and remove the silk and then blanch for over 5 minutes
and cool in ice water then I would use the food saver vacuum sealer. By not
blanching will this be harmful to eat after being frozen and vacuum sealed
without blanching?
A. No, there’s no health risk; the corn just will not maintain the
quality of its flavor and appearance as long in the freezer. It may have
noticeably less flavor after weeks rather than months.
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Q. When freezing sweet corn you say to start counting blanch time
when you put cobs in the boiling water then boil for 4 minutes. I know that
when I cook corn on the cob I put the cobs in boiling water and it takes 4
to 5 minutes before it starts boiling again, so my question is does the
blanch time actually require the water to be boiling?
A. Yes, the temperature ought to be back up
to boiling before starting the timer, if it takes more than 1 minute to
return to a boil.
There’s another problem at work though. If it takes
that long (several minutes or more) for the water to get back to
boiling, that indicates that the volume of water is too small, relative
to the amount of corn added. The corn is cooling the water too much.
Those of you who are physicists or thermodynamicists will recognize the
problem of enthalpy here. While the water isn’t at the boiling point,
it’s still heating the corn, which may result in loss of flavor and
sugar due to overcooking.
The solution is to use a substantially larger pot,
or put much less corn in each batch – or both – so the water returns to
boiling in a minute or so.
Comments
- A visitor writes on September 04, 2009: "Tried your freezing corn
on the cob. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT. I have tried numerous methods
from the dishwasher to a number of others. I followed your step by step
process, the results a few days later were will EXCELLENT.
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