How to freeze fresh sweet corn and WHY you should

There’s just something about using fresh sweet corn in cooking. Sure, canned corn is an easy swap when fresh corn isn’t available in those cold winter months…but what if fresh corn WAS available? Read on for our favorite method of how to freeze sweet corn and savor that fresh corn flavor for months!

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Freeze summer-fresh corn now to save time and money later

Sweet corn is one of the best tastes of summer. We love grabbing a batch of freshly-picked sweet corn at our local roadside stands and farmer’s market. It’s good. So good. For weeks after the first batch becomes ready, we always have sweet corn as a tasty go-to side on our family dinner table.

Piping hot sweet corn, dripping with butter…that’s summer in the Midwest, right? But we all have our limits. Right about the time we start the back-to-school dance, the fam realizes the redundancy and leaves extra ears for the fridge, the farmers’ abundant corn supplies dwindle, and our tasty sweet corn makes a quiet exit from its previously starring role at the dinner table.

Then, winter rolls around and we start to wish we had that fresh sweet corn again…for use in soups and salads, enchiladas and tacos, for cornbread, fried fritters, and so many other recipes! So, here’s a quick tutorial to make your summer sweet corn last – how to freeze fresh sweet corn to use all winter. (You got it…one of our favorite themes on Root & Bloom, making another appearance: spend a little time now to save time and money later.)

Here’s how to freeze fresh sweetcorn and preserve that corn-on-the-cob flavor for the months to come:

1. Buy fresh sweet corn, at the prime of the season – about 36-40 unshucked ears. It’s best to use freshly picked corn, like from a farmer’s stand or fresh from the field if you are so lucky.  ; )
2. Be prepared to process corn the day you get it. That means immediately – no refrigerating or setting around in a bag or cooler for optimum results. (Food science secret…Why process ears asap? As picked sweet corn sets around, the sugars in the kernels gradually transform to starch. You want to capture the best, sweetest corn-on-the-cob flavor, right? Why the morning harvest? Corn picked really early in the day is sweeter. That’s because the moisture and the corn sugars are more concentrated in the ears at night, rather than the plant. The corn gets drier as the day goes on and the sugars are pulled back into the stalk.)
3. Gather supplies. You’ll need:
   • Utensils: 1 stock pot or Dutch oven (8 qt. is good), 1 large saucepan (at least 3-quart), tongs, electric knife or sharp knife, strainer that sets atop your saucepan, large spoon or scoop, cutting board, large bowl, plenty of kitchen towels.
   • Ingredients in recipe below
   • Freezer bags (in sizes you wish to freeze – quart, gallon, etc.) I like to use quart bags and freeze in about 2-cup servings, because it thaws quicker. Using a permanent marker, label each bag with date. Set aside the bags aside to fill when ready.

Recipe: Frozen Sweet Corn

1. Shuck all the ears of corn, removing as much corn silk as possible. Leave ears intact. Inspect each ear and cut out any bad spots.
2. Wash ears of corn and set aside in a pile. Tip: Set washed ears on a kitchen towel to reduce excessive drips in your work space.
3. Boil water in your stockpot (4 quarts of water in an 8-qt. pot) and keep it boiling as your work.
4. Combine, these ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer.
   • 4 cups of half and half
   • 2 Tbsp. salt
   • 1 cup sugar
   • 2 sticks butter
   • Maintain a steady simmer as you process the corn. Set the strainer in this saucepan mix for later use.
5. First person:  In the stockpot of boiling water, drop in the first 3 to 4 ears to scald them, leaving in about 3 minutes and rolling ears if needed, so color is uniform. Remove each ear with tongs and stack on a towel or cutting board. Continue this process with 3-4 ears at a time. (Add more water if it gets too low to cover ears. Allow to boil before processing more ears.)
6. Second person: Take an ear of the hot corn and hold it vertically, with point of corn cob on a cutting board. Using your knife, cut or shave the kernels off each cob, working quickly so the corn doesn’t cool too much. Do not cut into the cob – better to get 3/4ths of a kernel rather than go too deep and get the rough cob with your cut.
7. Add roughly 2 to 4 large scoops of your cut corn to the simmering saucepan mixture. Cook, and occasionally stir, to simmer about 4 minutes or until heated through.
8. Open a freezer bag and stand it in a large (empty) bowl, near your saucepan but not too close to the hot burner. You’ll be adding the corn to your freezer bag.
9. Raise up the strainer on your saucepan and spoon hot corn directly into the first open bag, in your desired amount. The bowl will hopefully catch any spillage and your work space will be less messy.
10. Add a little of the saucepan liquid to the bag, if desired. Do not overfill. Save room in the bag to allow for expansion when frozen.  (*If you want a less-sweet flavor, do not add any of the liquid to your bagged corn.)
11. Set the bag aside and do another. Continue until you have processed all the cut corn in the saucepan, more or less.
12. Repeat until you’ve used all the scalded corn cut from the cobs.
13. Reduce the air in bags, seal and freeze immediately. Freeze flat for easier stacking.