The summer time of 2022 was peak candy corn for me. Not solely had Corn Child grow to be a mini sensation, however I used to be additionally neck deep in recent farmers market corn for weeks on finish. This heavy corn food plan began after I made a decision to make esquites with my haul. My household cherished the dish a lot that I ended up making it each weekend for the remainder of the summer time. I’d head to the farmers market each Saturday, seize the freshest corn I may discover, and make the recipe for lunch or dinner that very same day—which meant I didn’t have to fret about find out how to retailer the corn.
This summer time, nevertheless, I’m exploring new methods to organize recent corn, so I typically discover myself selecting it up with out having a dish in thoughts, which generally means utilizing the corn a number of days later. After all this is not actually excellent—our basic recommendation about find out how to retailer corn has all the time been…don’t. The ingredient’s taste and sweetness solely declines the longer you wait. However relying on the place you’re getting your corn, that recommendation can differ. I spoke with Smoke-McCluskey, a Mohawk chef and proprietor of Corn Mafia, a micro-milling challenge that explores native foodways, to study extra.
What Occurs As Your Corn Sits
Due to its quick metabolic charge, corn can lose its candy taste shortly when its sugars flip starchy. This has led to the age-old recommendation to take your corn straight from the sector to the cooking pot. Nevertheless, the time that it takes for the corn’s flavors to show into starch is determined by the number of corn you’re coping with and the place you’re shopping for it. Relating to candy corn—the kind that almost all People are buying to eat on the cob and for recipes like corn ribs and Kansas Metropolis-style tacky corn—the period of time it’s a must to eat it comes down as to whether you’re getting it from a neighborhood farmer or the grocery retailer.
Slathered Grilled Corn Ribs
Grocery Retailer Corn vs. Farmers Market Corn
Harold McGee’s On Meals and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen notes that “in three days, conventional candy corn,” which is most regionally grown corn, “converts half of its candy sugar into tasteless chains,” giving off a taste that’s disliked by many. Commercially grown corn, nevertheless, has been bred into sweeter varieties that may face up to the lengthy processing occasions it takes to get from the farm to a warehouse after which on grocery retailer cabinets.
“These days, with the brand new business candy corns, a few of these are designed to mature slowly,” says Smoke-McCluskey. “So the sugars begin to convert a bit bit slower than regular candy corn was, say, even a decade in the past. You possibly can depart it in your fridge for 5 – 6 days. It is most likely been 5 – 6 days out of the sector [when you purchase it] and it is nonetheless candy if you’re consuming it, for probably the most half.“
Sadly, there’s not likely any method to inform what selection you’re selecting up on the grocery retailer; most are simply labeled as “candy corn.” “There are millions of styles of corn,” says Smoke-McCluskey. Should you’re purchasing for corn at a farmers market, ask the farmer what they’re promoting and they need to have the ability to offer you extra info on the range and the way a lot time you’ve got earlier than the standard drops off an excessive amount of.
What to Look For When Shopping for Corn
Though chances are you’ll not have the ability to determine what sort of corn you’re shopping for, there are some things to maintain an eye fixed out for to be sure to’re selecting the perfect of the bunch. “I search for the plumpest kernels,” says Smoke-McCluskey. Editorial director Daniel Gritzer notes that the silk ought to be “moist and gentle, not brittle and dehydrated,” and Smoke-McCluskey provides that they need to be “sort of healthful wanting, not limp and mushy. I search for the husk to be a pleasant inexperienced and sort of vibrant wanting. I do not need to see any tan to it in any respect, or it drying out.”
The Finest Method to Retailer Corn
Should you insist on storing your corn, you possibly can maintain it in its husk and throw it in your fridge’s crisper drawer—the chilly slows down the conversion of sugars to extra complicated (and fewer candy) starches. Whereas it is all the time greatest to eat your corn as shortly as you possibly can, you probably have a while, relying on the number of corn you have purchased and the place you have purchased it. Longer-lasting varieties (typically what you will discover on the grocery store nowadays, but in addition grown by some native growers) can final a further 5 to 6 days from buy if saved within the fridge. Should you’ve purchased corn that does not maintain onto its sweetness as lengthy, you will have to eat it sooner, anyplace from one to 2 days after buy. If doubtful, speak to your produce supervisor or the farmer for extra steering.
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Your greatest guess for storing corn long run is to freeze it. You are able to do this by blanching the corn in boiling water for one minute, chilling it quickly in ice water, after which slicing off its kernels. Unfold them throughout a baking sheet and place them in a freezer till frozen, earlier than transferring them to a zipper-lock bag which you’ll be able to maintain within the freezer for as much as three months.
The Takeaway
Relying on the place you’re buying your candy corn, your choices for storage differ. Should you’re shopping for shorter-lasting varieties (generally nonetheless offered at a farmers market), you’ll need to use it as shortly as doable, since such a corn loses taste in a short time. Should you’re buying corn on the grocery retailer, you must have the ability to use it inside rather less than every week earlier than its taste really fades. Retailer it complete within the crisper drawer of your fridge, or reduce the kernels from the corn, blanch and freeze them, then retailer them in a zipper-lock bag for a most of three months.