Preserve The Taste of Summer: Freezing Farm Fresh ORGANIC Corn

Do you enjoy the delicious, sweet taste of summer corn?  Right now, fresh corn is readily available and boy is it good!  Frozen corn never tastes as good, does it?  

Well, guess what....with a little foresight and a tiny bit of work, you can preserve that yummy corn for the winter months.  

The trick is to freeze your own corn NOW!

So head out to your local farmer's market and pick up at least 2 dozen ears of corn.  I personally choose organic corn since the majority of corn comes from GMO seeds, buying from an organic farmer will guarantee you are getting non-GMO, healthy corn.  It may cost a little more, but in my opinion it is well worth it....and by freezing your own corn, you will make up the cost anyway.

Husk your corn - get rid of any "yucky" parts - I had a couple of ears which caterpillars invaded...

Prepare a very large pot (I use a pasta pot) with boiling water and a large bowl with ice water.

Blanch the corn.  

Blanching is the process of partially cooking a vegetable and then plunging it into an ice bath to immediately stop the cooking process.  Blanching not only cleanses the surface of the corn, but it brightens the color and helps prevent loss of vitamins.  

Here is how you do it:  Place 5-6 ears of corn into water that is at a full rolling boil (it will stop boiling when you put in the corn, but it will start boiling again shortly).  Set a timer and boil the corn for 4 minutes. 

Immediately throw the corn into the ice water and let it sit for another 4 minutes.  

While this batch is cooling, put your next bunch of ears into the boiling pot and repeat the process until all of your corn is blanched.  

Once all the corn is finished, use your large bowl and a sharp knife and cut the kernels off the cobs.

Once all of your corn is cut, grab a bunch of freezer zip lock bags.  Place the corn in the bags (how much depends on your family serving size).  I put 2 cups into each bag which is perfect for us.

Vacuum Seal the bags.

Now here is a trick....if you don't have one of those fancy vacuum sealers, you can use this simple trick to prevent freezer burn...

Zip lock the bag around a straw.  Let the straw hang out of the bag and suck out the air as best as you can and zip it closed.  It may take a few tries to perfect this, but it does a pretty good job and it costs nothing!

 Label your bags with the freeze date.

Place all of your small bags into a larger freezer bag to safeguard the corn even more....

Freeze!  And that's it.  Place the corn in your freezer and enjoy this winter!  I can't tell you how happy you will be in December when you can pull this bag out of the freezer and enjoy a simple taste of summer goodness!

$$ Savings:  If you purchase a 10oz bag of frozen organic corn (Cascadian Farm), you will pay approximately $2.79 or 0.28 per oz.  

My 22 ears of corn provided me with seven 16oz bags of corn.  The final cost of my frozen corn was $0.14 per oz!   HALF THE PRICE!!!!

So, while corn is in season go grab some and save yourself some money and savor the taste year round!