CORN!!!

Do you ever have an abundance of something and wonder "what am I going to do with this??". Well, about a week ago, I came into the possession of about 40 ears of wonderful sweet corn.  Now, there is no way that 2 adults and 2 small children are going to eat that much corn.  So I consulted my favorite book:

Well, it told me how to properly preserve corn.
Items you will need:

• Corn :)
• Stock Pot.  Make sure you have a good large pot for what's next!! I love my Target speckled stockpot (use them for canning everything).  I have 2 of them. You can also get them at Walmart.
• Tonges
• Cold water (I have a double sink that I fill with cold water as I need it.  Ice cubes help keep it cold, too.)
• Towel (to lay wet corn on)
• Cutting board
• Sharp Chef's knife or similar
•  Bag or container to freeze corn in
• 2 timers

Let's get started:

1. You have to shuck the corn (if it isn't already).  This can be done with help (little ones love pulling things apart) and even while watching TV if need be!!
2. Make sure all the silk, or as much as you can get, is cleaned off.
3. Rinse the corn off with cool, not cold, water.
4. Bring 3/4 a pot of water to boil.
5. Once water is at a gentle rolling boil, put in about 6-8 ears of corn and boil for 5-6 minutes covered. (Make sure you have the rest of the ears on the counter right next to the pot because when they are done and you do the transfer, you need to start the next batch immediately.)
6. When time goes off, IMMEDIATELY transfer corn to cold water and set a timer for the same amount of time that they were in the boiling water. **For timer usage, start the timer when the you put the last ear in the water (either boiling or cold)**
7. After you put the 1st batch in the cold water, put the 2nd batch of 6-8 ears in the boiling water.
8. When the 1st batch timer goes off for the cold water, remove from the water and set on a towel, folded in half, to dry.
9. Make sure that the water is still cold.  If needed, add ice cubes or cold water. **The cold water stops the cooking process and keeps the nutrients in the kernels preserved better**
10. When the 2nd batch timer goes off for the boiling water, move to the cold water and set timer.
11. Continue doing previous steps until all corn is blanched

If you feel that you have time in between timers you can start the cutting process.  If you have ever cut corn off of a cob, then you already know how to do this.  If not, then grab a cob by one of the ends and put the other end on the cutting board so that it is standing upright.  Starting at the top, cut the kernels as close to the center of the cob as possible.  You want to try to get the whole kernel.  Once all the corn was cut off of the cob, I transferred it to 2 gallon freezer bags, labeled them with the date,  and laid them flat in the deep freezer.  Yep, 40 ears of corn got me 2 GALLON bags of frozen corn.  If done properly, the corn will keep in the freezer for up to a year.  When using the corn, use it just like you would  store bought freezer corn.  Remember that it wasn't full cooked so you still have to "cook" it.

Happy Preserving!!

Amanda