HELP! I've been invaded by corn!

[catskinner]

Help! I had nightmares last night. DH is working out of town and his "boss" offered to give him some fresh corn. Then FIL called and said that his corn is ready. What do I do with it all?

 

My main question is can I freeze it and then can it later? If so, do I need to scrape it first? I know I want to put up some cream style, but Dh really likes it on the cob. Can I freeze the whole ear?

 

There is just no way I can get to all of it right away, so can I freeze the rest somehow, or do I give it away?

I really hate for it to go to waste, but I've never had to deal with corn before and have no idea what to do. Please make the nightmares stop, I could use a good nights sleep.

 

Thanks,

catskinner

[JCK88]

Yes, you can freeze the whole ears of corn. The Ball Blue book says that you need to blanch ears of corn having a two inch diameter for 8 minutes. If you are cutting the corn off the cob, blanch for 6 minutes. Count the blanching time from when ears of corn are submerged in the boiling water.

 

Remove ears of corn from the boiling water and submerge in cold water to cool. Keep in there for the same amount of time you blanched it. Then, drain and dry the corn. Wrap individual ears in freezer wrap, removing as much air as possible, pack ears of corn into plastic freezer bags or vacuum packaging.. Or, if you took the kernels off the cob and want to freeze them, drain, dry, and freeze in containers or freezer jars or vacuum bags.

 

The book doesn't address the issue of if it is okay to can corn you froze first. My guess is that the quality would be different so I'd either choose to can OR to freeze but not both to the same product.

[Nytehunter]

or you could dehydrate it Jingles has been dehydrating her frozen corn and it rehydrates fine in soups and such great over ramen noodles

[snapshotmiki]

If you are interested I will find and post my recipe for corn cob jelly. Sounds wierd but tastes great--like apple or sweet young corn. It just uses the corn cobs after you have scraped the corn off for other uses. One less thing to waste! and easy to make.

[WormGuy]

Please!!

 

 

 

John

[Canned Nerd]

I would be making/canning lots of Corn Relish.

 

[Violet]

Be sure to blanch the corn. I know some don't but the reason to blanch is that it will destroy enzymes that cause spoilage and deterioration. It really is worth the time.

If you can later it will not be so great since the cell walls will be broken down during freezing.

I really prefer frozen corn over canned. Some canned corn will turn brown due to the starch/sugar in it. No way to know if it will happen before hand.

 

[snapshotmiki]

CORNCOB JELLY

 

12 corncobs

4 cups water

1 box powdered fruit pectin

4 cups sugar

Yellow food coloring

 

Cut corn kernels from cobs and reserve for another recipe. In a large kettle, place corn cobs and water; bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove and discard cobs; strain liquid through cheesecloth. Liquid should measure 3 cups. Add additional water if neccessary. Return to the kettle and stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil. Add sugar and bring back to a boil. Skim foam and add a few drops of food coloring if desired. Pour into hot jars. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

 

I did not use food coloring and I always proccessed jelly instead of refrigerating. Have fun! Mik

[WormGuy]

Now that sounds too easy, thanks!!

 

 

 

John

[catskinner]

Ok, I've decided. I'm going to freeze some of it on the cob, and I'll scrape some of it to make cream style corn to freeze. No canning. (I'll admit it's a relief not to have to deal with all of that.)

 

Is there any advice ya'll can give me for making the cream style? Is there a certain technique?

 

DH wants me to make some corn relish, so if you'd be so kind as to post your recipe Canned Nerd, I'd appreciate it. I'm also going to make the jelly with snapshotmiki's recipe. I just have one question, can I use Splenda?

 

I hit the jackpot at Kroger yesterday. They had all kinds of regular and sugar-free pectin, as well as fruit fresh in the "got to get rid of this junk" basket. About two months ago, they got rid of their food saver rolls in the same way. I was overjoyed to help them out. This was really handy since my blackberry bush is loaded down and we love blackberry jelly. We've never had corn cob jelly before, but I'm willing to try anything, you never know, it may become our new favorite.

Thanks!

catskinner

[Canned Nerd]

For creamed-style corn I just put some of it in a blender or use an immersion blender, though there are more official ways for making it.

 

There are many Corn Relish recipes out there, both refrigerator and canned, so you might be better just doing a Google search to find what interests you. The main ingredients are corn and red/green bell peppers and the rest is creative for the taste you want.

 

As for using Splenda, it needs a recipe that uses a no/low sugar pectin. They are not the same as a regular recipe using sugar. Just get the pectin and the recipes are usually in the package.

[catskinner]

For creamed-style corn I just put some of it in a blender or use an immersion blender, though there are more official ways for making it.

 

There are many Corn Relish recipes out there, both refrigerator and canned, so you might be better just doing a Google search to find what interests you. The main ingredients are corn and red/green bell peppers and the rest is creative for the taste you want.

 

As for using Splenda, it needs a recipe that uses a no/low sugar pectin. They are not the same as a regular recipe using sugar. Just get the pectin and the recipes are usually in the package.

 

 

Thanks CN, I just talked to FIL and he says there will be even more corn in a few days. I think I'll wait to do the relish then.

 

I have the SF pectin from my Kroger jackpot (LOL) So I think I'll try it with the jelly.

 

Thanks for all your help.

catskinner

[snapshotmiki]

Please let me know how it works with Splenda. I cannot use Splenda. It makes me break out in hives and gives me an asthma attack. No fun!

 

When I was looking for my corncob jelly recipe this morning I also found "Almost raspberry jam" with chopped green tomatoes, sugar and raspberry jello. And apple butter made in the crockpot. Gives me somethings I can do in small quantities over the next few weeks!

 

John --I just remembered Corncob jelly is a recipe from FL. I don't know if there are adjustments for altitude or not. I don't have that much experience.

[Canned Nerd]

When I was looking for my corncob jelly recipe this morning I also found "Almost raspberry jam" with chopped green tomatoes, sugar and raspberry jello.

Jams using Jello are quite old and you need to remember you cannot 'can' recipes that contain jello since it is a meat product and meat products cannot be safely processed in a boiling water canner.

 

If made it should be stored in the refrigerator.

[snapshotmiki]

I am sure glad you called my attention to that. I don't think I knew jello is a meat product. Doesn't sound quite so good now I will only make a small amount at a time. Do the same rules apply to Koolaid? I remember my mom making Koolaid jelly.

[Canned Nerd]

The problem I found with the old Kool-Aid recipes is not finding the full sugar single flavor variety anymore. Everything is a fancy mixture now.