Are you leaving it on the cob? How long will it be frozen before eating? How will it be eaten?

yes, leaving on the cob. It will be frozen several months. It will be eaten on the cob.

Hopefully you'll get some other opinions, but I would blanch.

Oh, also bbstx, you may get some good advice in the Harvest Forum.

I think it ought to be blanched. DH is happy to freeze as is. I have virtually no experience freezing fresh veggies. Once, I froze some fresh broccoli without blanching. It was ghastly.

Thanks, rg. I'll cross post over there.

Plllog: sorry don't know how to message you privately. Would like your opinion on the gaggenau vario 400 15" panels. Is there an more appropriate way to discuss without crashing this thread? Thanks

The reason to blanch before freezing is to destroy the enzymes that cause the fruit of veggie to ripen. If you plan on saving it until January, I would blanch....if you will be using in in a few weeks....don't bother.

Susan, I'll meet you over in the Appliances Forum, if you want to start a thread there. I didn't end up buying the Varios, however, so I don't know how much help I can be.

Not only does blanching control the enzymatic activity, blanching also removes dirt and microorganisms, brightens and sets the color, and helps maintain vitamin content. Be sure to check the proper time for blanching if you decide to use that step. You count the time AFTER the corn is added and the water comes back to a full boil. Under-blanching is worse than NO blanching because it causes the enzymes to increase in activity. Over-blanching results in the loss of color, nutrients and flavor. The goal is to blanch the product, not to cook it.

After blanching, the product MUST be cooled quickly and completely. This stops the cooking process. Use a large container filled with cold water and ice.

This is the how-to from the National Center for Home Food Preservation:

Freezing

Corn

Preparation – Select only tender, freshly-gathered corn in the milk stage. Husk and trim the ears, remove silks and wash.

Corn-on-the-cob – Water blanch small ears (1¼ inches or less in diameter) 7 minutes, medium ears (1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter) 9 minutes and large ears (over 1½ inches in diameter) 11 minutes. Cool promptly and completely to prevent a "cobby" taste. Drain and package. Seal and freeze.

Whole Kernel Corn – Water blanch 4 minutes. Cool promptly, drain and cut from cob. Cut kernels from cob about 2/3 the depth of the kernels. Package, leaving ½-inch headspace. Seal and freeze.

Cream Style Corn – Water blanch 4 minutes. Cool promptly and drain. Cut kernel tips and scrape the cobs with the back of a knife to remove the juice and the heart of the kernel. Package, leaving ½-inch headspace. Seal and freeze.

Another way to prepare cream style corn for freezing is to cut and scrape the corn from the cob without blanching. Place the cut corn in a double boiler, and heat with constant stirring for about 10 minutes or until it thickens; allow to cool by placing the pan in ice water. Package in moisture-vapor resistant containers, leaving ½-inch headspace. Seal and freeze.

-Grainlady

I very much appreciate all who have taken the time to respond to my question and your very knowledgeable answers. However, this has all become moot. DH froze the corn unblanched. This is now his "little red wagon." I'll not be eating any of the unblanched corn.

Hold on a minute. I'd like to hear an actual defense from grainlady, plllog or anyone else who would like to jump in, on why any of this makes much sense. Yes, one could assume that killing the enzymatic action would be useful. However, one must wonder how much action is going on while frozen. My real concern is that blanching sounds exactly like cooking. In fact, the corn blanching sounds like vast overcooking. I certainly don't cook corn on the cob as long as the blanching rec's above.

I have managed to grow enough green beans to freeze and I have blanched them, but again I was worried about overcooking and I doubt that I 'blanched' them anywhere as long as I can imagine would be suggested after hearing the 'appropriate' time for corn. Do we really want to eat twice or thrice cooked food?

chas makes a fair point. I don't have corn often, for me it's much more a pain to eat than it's worth. However, when I do, I break the cob in half, and steam for 6 mins. Some of those 'blanch' times apparently given by that Center call for more cooking than I would ever do to a poor piece of corn. That's interesting.

I can't say I have experience with corn, but in my experience with everything I have frozen, blanching does far more harm than good, to both texture and flavor - I tried it both ways. I feel like generally it is one of those unnecessary "extra step" things some gardeners feel the need to do because more work has to be a better result, like starting squash seeds indoors. I did eat all my stuff within 6 months, but I imagine most people would.

At one time, people around here were freezing corn in the husks, without blanching. If I remember right, there was even a discussion about it here on the CF. So, always being open to "new" ideas, I tried it. While others raved about how good it was, just like fresh picked, etc., how easy it was, and on and on, I thought very differently! To me it tasted spoiled. Like it was rotting or something.

Grainlady, I know you are very knowledgeable and generous in sharing that knowledge but in this case, I agree with Chas and rgreen, the blanching times given are wa-a-a-a-a-y to long!! It may be personal taste, but when cooking fresh corn on the cob, I prefer it cooked just long enough to get it nice and hot, just hot enough to melt the butter, not cooked to death.

Rusty

The blanching times from the National Center for Home Food Preservation that GL posted are the same times I've found in other places on the web.

Rusty, glad you mentioned freezing in the husks. Our friends told DH they also did that from time to time. Sounded gross to me.

Does the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and other authoritative sources, have to abide by regulations when giving out such information as blanching times?

I can understand if they do. When I offer advice, especially with subjects related to health, or which can have detrimental consequences, I too try to err on the side of caution.

It is interesting to me that the blanching time is longer than the potential cooking time. It just sounds counter intuitive. I wonder if those times are what is necessary to kill the worst of the potential pathogens.

Strictly speaking, blanching may not be necessary, but I suppose it can be potentially dangerous to skip. I also wonder if such informative authorities could be sued, or face legal action if they offered advice without a disclaimer? Makes me also wonder if a person could be sued, or worse, for excluding a disclaimer about the regulatory advice?

I don't understand the concern about pathogens for health related reasons. 99% of the time it will be cooked after freezing, and when it isn't, why would there be human health related pathogens on it, and if there were, you would have eaten it raw before freezing anyway. You might as well say not to eat any food raw. Seems like a liability belt and suspenders recommendation to me....

The National Center for Home Food Preservation is essentially the standard for government tested results for food preservation --- whether it's for up-to-date methods for canning, pickling, jam/jelly, low-sugar, freezing, drying, curing/smoking, fermenting, etc. Take any and all information shared from the site for what it's worth to you, we're all adults here and can do what we want. But when I teach classes at the County Extension Office, 4-H groups, the Senior Center and Food Bank and other places as a certified Master Food Volunteer through Kansas State University Cooperative Extension, or pass on information on this, or other message boards, these are the guidelines I use and the factsheets I share. I can only suggest using tested recipes and methods, and that's what the National Center for Home Food Preservation provides.

Blanching is also used for those of us who dehydrate vegetables to stop the enzymes in the food, and up-to-date instructions can be found through the National Center for Home Food Preservation that include acidified water bath treatment that most people omit, or are completely unaware of. There were new home drying recommendations (in 2006) due to the potential for microorganisms like Salmonella and E. Coli 0157:H7 and home-dried food in two studies conducted at Colorado State University (and other studies since), so there are new procedures needed to ensure the safety of home dried/dehydrated foods. I tend to follow these recommendation, and it's also what I teach in the classes on the subject, but others may find it an unnecessary step - the old "we've always done it this way and it's never killed us yet" thinking.

We blanch food for other reasons - to soften it (which is what happens when you blanch corn), preserve it's color (even though heat is chlorophyll's archenemy - the science how it works is pretty interesting), sometimes blanching is used to facilitate the removal of skin (like peaches and tomatoes), and blanching can also help to eliminate bitter flavors (broccoli rabe, for example). Blanching stops the action of enzymes that cause poor texture and loss of color and flavor. Blanched vegetables also reconstitute more easily than ones that haven't been blanched.

Do your own research if you don't agree with the National Center for Home Food Preservation - although most web sites use it as a "standard", and blanching times were tested at the University of Georgia.

Thank you grainlady, it's interesting to learn the recommendations and the most up-to-date information.

I do think that, right or wrong, even if a person decides to skip a step in their own garden-grown produce, it seems it could be chancy if it's purchased food, or produce from another person's garden. But as you say, each person has to make up their own minds... hopefully based on good, trustworthy information.

I've frozen corn raw and blanched, but to be honest, it's about the same either way. Unless you can flash freeze like Birdseye, the snap and crunch gets lost.

I don't plan on stocking up too much this year- when I need corn, I'll go to the freezer section of my store.

Chas, I defer to Grainlady on the science and all. I can't give you a good defense. I don't really care for frozen vegetables other than petits pois (i.e., candy). Sometimes they're very useful, however, and sometimes you just have to do something with what you've got. Vacuum sealing helps a lot. My purpose in blanching can best be defined as, "so it doesn't go weird." I usually judge by color, which is not scientific at all, but works. I try to get it just when it goes bright, and get it into the ice bath fast. If I were doing up a lot (not usual here because I'm not growing the stuff myself), I'd probably look it up.

Just had my first local corn, picked the morning of. Saturday...in a couple weeks it will be a bakers dozen, 13 for 2 bucks. I will blanch for two minutes, ice bath, then cut off the cob and food saver in 2 cup packages. Use it all winter. No comparison to any grocery frozen corn. (why is frozen grocery corn not at all good.!) Or even compares. I have a couple packages from last season that are so much better than any store bought.

I have never cooked any corn for more than a few minutes.

On the grill in soaked husks gets more time but so good fresh. A little smokey. And i tried the frozen on the cob but did not work for me. (that is posted every year).

I suppose there is a reason for blanching vegetables before freezing.

Otherwise Green Giant would not be wasting their time with their frozen vegetables.

dcarch

sleevendog wrote.... "why is frozen grocery corn not at all good.!"

It's probably a variety thing. They choose varieties for profitability. The small gardener chooses varieties for taste.

Yeah frozen grocery corn is bad.... but it is not the texture, it is the lack of taste/sweetness, because they choose varieties for production and other profitability factors and not taste, like rgreen said.

You can get delicious fresh corn for practically nothing right now, I think I saw it at 9 cents a pound (!) I think I might buy some and freeze it myself as I am not growing any. :)

I also cook corn for a far shorter time than the blanching called for by the Center for Home Food Preservation. I freeze corn cut from the cob, because I just don't have freezer room for all those cobs and whether you blanch or not, it's just not all that good. I blanch it for two minutes, cut it from the cob, freeze it on sheets and package it. It's.....OK. Not fresh, but better than any I've found in the store.

Annie

I froze corn cut from the cob a couple of years ago. I didn't think it tasted any better than the Green Giant frozen bags. It certainly wasn't cheaper, so I won't bother again.