No. 1 thing to know about preserving produce for winter: It takes hard work and time and might make a big mess.
No. 2 thing to know about preserving produce for winter: In the winter when you get to pull yummy things out of your pantry and freezer…all the hard work and time and big mess will have been worth it. Very worth it!
Here’s a bit about how I put up corn…and you should also check out this post at Amy’s Finer Things because she blogged about this already. I really liked her technique for cutting the corn off the cob!
First…here is our happy little party of Nebraska Cornhuskers….
Check it out…they make a game of how far they can throw the husks. Hey, whatever it takes to get the work done with a happy attitude!
Meanwhile…I’m in the kitchen sticking those ears into boiling water. Just for a short time. Two to three minutes. Blanching stops the aging process of your produce.
Ah, but you don’t want them to continue to cook…so you immediately pull it out of the boiling water (with tongs of course) and run it under cold water to try to cool it off right away. (And Amy recomended putting it in ice water…a much better idea!!)
Now, I line up my ears (hehe…line up my ears…hehe)
And then I cut the corn off the cob into a bowl with a sharp knife. If you have an electric knife, you can use that too. Or do it the way Amy does it. (Oh, so many options.) (But no matter what option you choose, your hand will probably cramp up and feel like it will never again be them same by the time you’re done. But don’t worry, after several operations, you’ll be okay again.) (Kidding…just give yourself a few minutes of a hand massage.)
I then use a measuring cup to scoop the corn into freezer bags. Sometimes I use quart…sometimes I use gallon. Just don’t fill the bags too full, or after it freezes, you’ll have a terrible time getting your corn out of the bag!
Then get the air out of the bag and seal it up and press it flat. And it’s ready to go into the freezer. Isn’t it beautiful?
When you’re ready to cook it, break off whatever amount of corn you want, put it into a saucepan with a little water and cook it until it’s bubbly. Turn it off, drain out the excess water and stir in butter and salt!
Awesome!
I’ll show you to process of freezing green beans another time!
Andrea Frederick says:
And then you spend FOREVER finding little sticky tidbits you missed the last 7 times you mopped the floor:) But your worth it it is worth it when winter rolls around!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Joyce says:
Your little shuckers are just the cutest!
This does look like a lot of work, but sometime in the middle of the winter having a taste of summer will be all worth it, I’m sure.:)
Joyce
August 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Cassandra Stafford says:
Looks awesome. My uncle and mom freeze whole cobs of corn right in the shuck. They pull the shucks back, clean them, then wrap shucks back around. They taste fresh from the garden when cooked in the winter. Works great (they say).
August 8th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Mama says:
Wow you make it seem so easy. I am deffinately gonna try this.
Also I have a little question. “How should I cook brown rice?” I love your post about eating right and eating real foods. I am well on my way to doing just that. I need to know, do you soak your rice before cooking and can you explain it so that I can get it (posting pictures of the proccess would help also?
Thanks in advance
August 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Michele @ Frugal Granola says:
That’s exactly how I freeze my corn, too.
We don’t usually have corn around here until about September, though. That looks good!
Blessings,
Michele
August 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Faith says:
That looks easy enough. I’m going to the Farmers Market this weekend and will pick up a bunch of corn and do this for winter. I love your blog and read it daily. Your boys are so cute!
Thanks for all the tips.
Faith
August 8th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Erin says:
is there anything wrong with not blanching it before freezing it? i tend to think more nutrients/enzymes would be spared if it’s not cooked before you package it
August 8th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Donna says:
Go shuckers!
Your little guys look like they’re doing a great job!
Hey, U gonna show us pics of your garden sometime?
August 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Sally says:
Can you believe that my Kansas grown hubby didn’t have a clue how to shuck corn?? He said he’d never done it before…his California bride had to show him how!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Hestial says:
Oh, what a perfect post! Local corn is only .50 an ear at the grocery store here, but I haven’t been able to stock up: with only two of us in the house, we don’t go through it fast enough. I’m going to buy a bunch next week and try this, thanks
August 8th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Brenda says:
Laura, my in-laws take theirs off the cob using an angel food cake pan. They stick the stem of the ear into the hole in the middle and cut the corn off the sides. They say it works like a charm!
August 8th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Joyce says:
Brenda, that sounds like a great idea! I’m definitely going to try it.:)
Thanks for sharing,
Joyce
August 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Amy @ Finer Things says:
Boy, does THAT bring back some pretty fresh memories… of very sore hands…;-)
But SO worth it!
August 8th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
jayme says:
Wow. That looks sooo easy. Hmmmmmmmm. I might have to venture over to the farmers market and buy a great big bunch of corn.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Marie says:
Who knew that putting up corn was so easy! A couple of years ago I froze the whole cob. That worked pretty well!
August 9th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Marie says:
Who knew that putting up corn was so easy! A couple of years ago I froze the whole cob. That worked pretty well! Do you have any tips for green beans?
August 9th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Marie says:
Ooops I didn’t mean to post my comment twice!
August 9th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Sharon says:
Question - When you put the cobs in the boiling water do you wait for the water to boil again before starting your 3 minutes?
August 17th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Trish says:
I agree with Amy on the ice bath to cool the cobs, since that is the way we did it growing up. We would freeze water in any available containers then use a pick to break it into smaller chunks. We would fill both sinks with ice chunks and water and dunk the cobs in after blanching. Since we froze our corn on the cob this insured that the cob was cool enough before placing into freezer bags. My girls WILL NOT eat corn out of a can, it has to be cooked on the cob and then cut off. They can tell the difference when eating corn at someone elses house! Only homegrown corn for them!
September 19th, 2008 at 9:26 am