This web site is not identified for its brevity—once we sort out a culinary query, we go deep, check methodically, and clarify our outcomes. This text could also be a welcome change of tempo, as a result of there’s solely a lot one can say about freezing corn. It is quite simple and straightforward.
So, here is what you want to know to protect that summer season sweetness for weeks or months after the final cob has made an look on the farm stand.
Why and When to Freeze Corn
Why freeze corn? To protect it, after all. However there’s much more urgency than that. The pure sugars in candy corn rapidly convert to extra advanced starches, so if you end up with extra corn than you may moderately eat in a day or two, or in the event you simply wish to protect as a lot of it as potential to get pleasure from different instances of 12 months, freezing is the best choice.
Severe Eats / Daniel Gritzer
Freezing Entire Ears Vs. Kernels
More often than not, you are higher off chopping the kernels off the cob earlier than freezing (comply with our directions for methods to minimize off the kernels with minimal mess). First, this protects house, because you’re eradicating the cobs earlier than freezing, permitting for rather more corn to be saved than in the event you froze the ears complete. Second, in most cases, frozen corn is greatest utilized in dishes that solely require the kernels—whilst you can eat a defrosted and reheated ear of corn, it isn’t as gratifying as consuming one recent. The kernels, although, work nice in all kinds of dishes, from casseroles to salads, soups, stews, baked items, and extra.
One other benefit of freezing simply the kernels: As a result of they’re smaller, they freeze sooner. That is factor, as a result of the sooner they freeze, the smaller the ice crystals are that kind inside them, main to raised preservation of texture (bigger ice crystals do extra cell harm, resulting in softer, mushier outcomes).
Ought to You Blanch First or Not?
It usually is smart to blanch greens earlier than packing them away for a protracted, deep freeze—blanching inactivates enzymes that may result in a loss in produce high quality over time. I ran side-by-side assessments with recent summer season corn to see if I might inform a distinction between blanched* and uncooked frozen corn by freezing samples of each, then defrosting and tasting them just a few weeks later.
* I ought to make clear, I did not technically blanch my corn, which might imply boiling it, however as a substitute used my cold-start, no-boil method for extra exact temperature management and higher outcomes.
I will be trustworthy: I could not inform them aside. The uncooked corn tasted simply as candy and tender because the par-cooked. That is partly as a result of ice crystals that do kind throughout freezing—even when they’re smaller because of the speedy freezing of the corn kernels, they nonetheless inflict some cell harm on the corn, softening it to a extra cooked texture. That is truly a useful method that is typically dubbed “cryo-blanching,” by which recent produce is given a like-cooked texture with out sacrificing any of its freshness.
Severe Eats / Daniel Gritzer
So, must you par-cook the corn? I haven’t got an conclusive reply, but when my assessments confirmed something, it is which you can in all probability take just a little shortcut right here and skip the cooking. However, for the reason that par-cooking did not hurt the corn in any approach, I feel one might argue it is nonetheless an insurance coverage coverage towards any loss in high quality from enzymes or different modifications that happen in raw corn over time.
Briefly, “blanch” the corn (utilizing my no-boil methodology linked to above) when you have the time, however know that you’re going to in all probability be simply tremendous in the event you simply freeze the corn from uncooked.
Suggestions for Making certain the High quality of Your Frozen Corn
Right here are some things you need to attempt to do to make sure you frozen corn stays nice over time.
- Freeze it flat: To hurry up the corn’s freezing time and lock in its high quality as rapidly as potential, unfold the kernels out on rimmed aluminum baking sheets and freeze on these. Then switch the corn to zipper-lock baggage or vacuum baggage for long-term storage.
- Pack it Flat: Attempt to pack the corn flat within the freezer baggage, squeezing out as a lot air as potential, for probably the most environment friendly storage and quickest defrosting instances potential. Kenji has written about this earlier than, and the recommendation is simply pretty much as good right this moment because it was then.
- Double-Bag for Safety: Whereas it makes use of extra plastic, double-bagging the frozen corn helps maintain freezer burn away. As soon as once more, be sure to take away as a lot air from the baggage as potential.
- Label Clearly: Make certain to jot down the date on the corn earlier than you place it within the freezer so you understand how previous it’s. It is also useful to incorporate different info, together with weights and volumes of the corn in every bag; this will help you identify how a lot corn you want to defrost for a recipe.
- Defrost Shortly on Aluminum Baking Sheets: Aluminum baking sheets do not simply allow you to freeze the corn, additionally they assist defrost it rapidly, because of the steel’s nice warmth conduction qualities. In the event you froze the corn in a skinny, flat layer, it’ll defrost very quickly whereas sitting on an aluminum baking sheet at room temperature. Then use the corn quickly after to make sure its high quality stays excessive.