Canning & Preserving
How We Freeze Sweet Corn for Later
Sweet corn is one of the crops we sow directly in the garden, and when it's ready it's all ready at once. We don't can our corn — we freeze it. Blanching it in water with a little salt and butter and cutting it off the cob is the method that has worked for us, and it tastes like summer in January.
Growing it out in the garden
Corn goes straight into the ground in long rows. It takes up more space than almost anything else we grow, but there's nothing else quite like walking out and picking your own sweet corn.
Picking it together
Corn harvest is an all-hands job. Everybody carries something, and the whole picking comes in at once because corn does not wait politely for a free afternoon.
Shucking, and who gets the husks
We shuck the corn outside, and the husks don't go to waste. Our longhorns come right up for them, which makes cleanup part of chores instead of a trash bag.
Blanching with salt and butter
The shucked ears go into a big pot of boiling water with salt and butter added. That's the step people ask about most — the butter and salt go in with the blanching water, not after. Then the ears come straight out into cold water to stop the cooking.
Cutting it off the cob and packing it up
Once the ears are cool enough to handle, we cut the kernels off the cob and pack them into freezer bags or containers, flattened so they stack. Labeled with the year, they go in the freezer and get pulled out all winter.
Printable Recipe Card
How We Freeze Sweet Corn for Later
Ingredients
- Fresh-picked sweet corn, shucked and silked
- Water for blanching
- Salt
- Butter
- Freezer bags or freezer containers
Instructions
- 1Pick the corn and shuck it the same day — sweet corn loses sugar fast.
- 2Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt and butter.
- 3Blanch the ears in the buttered, salted water, working in batches so the water stays hot.
- 4Move the ears straight into cold water to stop the cooking, then drain them well.
- 5Cut the kernels off the cob into a large bowl or sheet pan.
- 6Pack into freezer bags or containers, press out the air, label with the date, and freeze flat.
Helpful Tips
Do it the day you pick. Corn left sitting on the counter is never as sweet.
Pack in the portion size your family actually cooks — a bag that feeds one supper beats a giant block.
Give the husks to your animals if you have them; ours consider it a treat.
Products Used
- Large stockpot
- Freezer bags
- Sheet pans
- Sharp chef's knife
