Adding Corn to the Freezer–A FAVORITE!

Harvest season for produce! It’s that time of year again when I add corn to the freezer. My absolute favorite remembrance of summer produce during those winter months. Giving you the steps here on freezing corn–a favorite!

I don’t know about you–but, I love fresh grown corn during the summer. Corn from the fields arrives here in Kentucky in time for fourth of July celebrations and lingers through August.

Last week, I went in search of dozens of ears of corn to blanche, cut off of the cob and add to the freezer.

That was before freezing the peaches or canning the green beans, tomato juice and marinara sauce.

A surprise in the freezer corn department occurred.

First of all—the COST! Oh, my goodness. It appears that Covid increases have hit seed costs, as well as, causing corn costs to double in some farmer’ markets around here.

My husband found locally grown Amish peaches and cream corn at a great price and I was all in.

That corn was beautiful! It was going to make freezing corn so worth it.

But, I have a confession.

I was so concerned over drought and cost increases, that common sense left me! Does that ever happen to you?

Out of my mouth to that farmer came, “Sure, I’ll take 3 bags”… (with 65 ears in each)!

What?! Had I lost my mind?

Ten dozen is my usual haul to buy and add corn to the freezer. NOT 16 dozen!

NOT THIS YEAR!

Goodness! It was a perfect temperature and my happy self began shucking those corn husks and silks….for about 5 hours.

Still happy, I moved them into the kitchen and began blanching for 5 minutes, adding them to ice water for about 5 minutes and then onto towels to dry.

NOTE: Now, I have friends that skip blanching before they freeze corn. There are others who cut the corn off BEFORE they blanche. I have tried both and found that blanching on the cob, chilling and then cutting off the cob and storing work best for me.

I’d love to know your method for freezing corn if you do that!

Now, my husband is a food saver fan. He decided that a food saver to put this corn into freezer bags was the BEST option. Off we went to make the purchase. You can find it here—

(Affiliate links added to help you shop at no extra cost to you, but will help this little blog grow!)

After securing the food saver and bags, it was time to begin the hard part.

NOTE: Now, trust me, I have used ziplock bags for years and they work well, too. I grew up with friends who put corn into freezer containers that were reusable, too. You choose which works best for you,

Cutting that corn off of the cob was the next step…

People often ask if I leave the corn on the cob. No. I tried that, but it tasted too much like the cob. Now, I realize that there is every trick in the book on videos across social media sites.

We tried the one with the drill. Again, tasted like the cob. Various versions of other methods just brought me back to my original method.

MY METHOD FOR FREEZING CORN?

Drumroll…I use an electric knife. It still requires holding with one hand and pushing that electric knife with the other. But, if you learn to hold where pressure is on the knife and positioned where your hand is not experiencing the “push”, you will be much happier.

TIP: Do not cut too far into the cob when slicing off the corn or it will also taste like the “cob”.

TIP: I always scrape the cob the opposite direction with another table knife to get all of the great parts of the corn from the cob to add to it. I tried to use the electric knife for that and the corn got stuck between the two blades. Lesson learned!

Adding that corn into the labeled freezer bags and sealing was ideal. Kudos to my husband for his assistance in this part of the process.

NOTE: People ask if I add salt, or water or even sugar when I am freezing corn. The answer is a resounding NO! Pure, sweet corn is all that enters that bag and I am happy with it.

Was it time consuming? YES.

Was it worth it? YES.

Every moment of putting that corn into the freezer was worth it.

Adding it as a side, into soups, salads, chowders and casseroles during those long winter months is worth it!

Every penny spent and the work invested was worth it.

Hope you will give it a try, friend.

I promise that you won’t be sorry!

You are welcome in advance.