“O that fresh sweet corn that the Lord sent down so we know how heaven will be. No grief, no tears, just the young golden ears. Plenty for you and for me.”
By Snickers
If you grew up in the Midwest, you know about the days of putting corn up for the winter months. It’s always the dog days of summer when the sweet corn is ready. The temperature outside is usually hot, the flies are alive and well and if your lucky, the corn is not dripping wet when it’s time to harvest the golden product.
It’s best to pick early in the am to late afternoon. As you drag your buckets down the rows, you can never see where the other person helping you might be but only hear the melody of the snap of the ear coming off the corn stalk.
Bringing in the harvest is only the first part of the operation to get the sweet corn to the freezer. After sitting outside husking the corn, the next step is to get all unwanted hair that is left brushed off and to give the corn a cool water wash. From there, I dig into my canning/freezer cupboard and find my biggest pans, fill them with water and bring the water to a boil.
I place the ears of corn in the water and let them boil for 3 minutes with just a pinch of salt added. After the 3 minutes, remove the corn from the water and place on dish towels. I always use the old fashioned dish towels (flour sack) as not to have any lint from terry towels on it. Let the corn cool.
Slice the corn off the ears and bag in quart freezer bags. When I want to use the corn for winter use, I take it out of the freezer, add sugar, a little milk, salt and pepper to taste and then keep a couple of bags in the frig overnight.This is a favorite at holiday dinners as it tastes like you just went out to the field to pick it. You also can put it in a crock pot on low. It’s a job that takes time, but the taste of canned corn from the store just doesn’t go over well around here. I used to can corn with my Mother and Grandmother, but this is so much faster and better.
Enjoy!
Be sure and check out Snicker’s garden – How does my garden grow? Very well, thank you!
I love snickers garden spot here @ IW. Not as much as I’d love to be eating her corn when the snow flies though. Looks wonderful Snickers.
I didn’t know about adding milk & sugar . I think I’ll put up a few bags for winter myself. I’ll have to purchase mine at the local farmers market, but won’t I be happy in January !.
Thanks !
Wow- wonderful post Snickers!
Makes me wish I had a garden!
BlogHawg,
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I was just thinking the same thing. This has inspired me to freeze some corn for the holidays because there is nothing like sweet corn.
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How long does the corn stay good in the freezer?
BH,
The corn will last up to a year in the freezer if you use a good heavy freezer bag. Mine never lasts that long. If you notice, I lay my bags flat after I fill them. This saves lots of space in the freezer also. Make sure you get all the air out of the bag after filling. It’s really simply to do it this way and my family can’t wait for the corn at the holidays!! You can also add butter after the corn is ready from the stove or crockpot before serving. Enjoy!!
THANK YOU SNICKERS! I was just talking to my Mom and sister about freezing sweet corn and they both said they have tried to, but never seems to taste good. Now I have directions! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!! How much sugar and milk do you add per quart bag?
I love Snickers’s contribution to IW! It makes me want to live next to her, or at the very least, have a garden of my own! I knew about adding sugar, but not milk.
Kmom2,
When you want to take the corn out of the freezer for use, I add about a tablespoon of sugar and just enough milk to make the juice flow from the corn. Do not add this to your corn when you freeze it. Just blanch the corn with a little salt, cut off and bag. Make sure corn is cool when you put it in the freezer.
I’m laughing, the guy next door just put his house up for sale this am. Any takers??? 🙂
I LOVE sweet corn. I would love some tonight!
THANKS SNICKERS!!!!
Snickers,
I just now got through shucking some corn, and in the process of boiling it. I love my corn anyway I can get it.
Snickers,
I freeze my corn too. Actually I freeze all my veggies. I like them frozen alot better then canned and its easier. I am now starting to get my corn. Are you like me and eat the few kernels off the end that you cant get off with the knife? I do that then I dont want dinner lol.
WOW! What a great idea. My freezer usually has hot dogs and ice cream in it. I LOVE the idea of having farm fresh sweet corn at Thanksgiving. Thanks, Snickers. (Great photos, too!)
Thanks Ann and everyone for your nice comments. As you can tell, gardening and cooking are a passion of mine. I’ll share the ice cream with you. 🙂
Snickers, that pic of your corn is making my mouth water. I just know it’s a sweet as can be. I won’t be putting up much, but I will put up a little. There’s nothing like fresh corn.
I love this. The whole concept of picking the corn in the summer and getting it ready for eating in the winter months. Being a city girl, we never did anything like this. I love what I learn from my fellow IW ladies. 🙂 Like Pam, I think I may give freezing corn a try this year (it will come from the Farmer’s Market LOL). First job, clean out my freezer! Thanks Snickers!
Lily and Anya,
Just try a batch and see if you like it. This time of year if you have a garden or a sweet corn patch you just move from one project to another. It’s really fun to be able to sit warm in the house when the snow flies and the freezer is full of good things. 🙂 A couple of years ago we had over 80 inches of snow!!
Snickers, I love to pull fresh frozen corn out of the freezer during those nasty Winter months. I have to buy mine to put up. I usually do have my own greenbeans and broccoli though (not this year, just a big batch of lavender to dry out). I got rid of my huge freezer not too long ago and haven’t yet replaced it w/the smaller more efficient one I want. The one I had was much too big for just me and my daughter. I need to do it soon, because I am having to shop in an entirely different fashion.
Lynn,
I hope you find this post for making slaw.
Frozen Cabbage Slaw
I large head cabbage, slice thin ot cubed, however you like it.
1/2 green pepper,chopped
2 tbsp onion
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp salt
Mix all together in big bowl
Boil:
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup vinegar
Poor the hot syrpt over the slaw, let cool and freeze in containers.
When you want to eat the slaw, let it thaw in frig first, and then stir a little to fluff.
Lynn, you might want to try a twin sugar. I don’t know if this would work. Let me know!!
Snickers,
Thank you. After hours of searching I found one that was almost like that except no sugar and water no oil.And I also found some that uses splenda but I dont like splenda. Thank you. Ill wing it like usual. Do green beans ever stop?
Yes Lynn they stop. The plant will die down and the beans become tough. Mine were gone a month ago and I have cleaned off some of my garden already. I can see the end coming in a few weeks. We are having hot temps again this week, it’s crazy, this is suppose to be fall.
I have an idea. Ill try some of your coleslaw for me, Ill make some with splenda and Ill make some without the sugar. Then see what I like best. Yeah alot of my garden is done too. All I got left is a few peas, beans , pumpkins, cukes, melons, peppers cabbage and tomatoes. Me the idiot I am decided to buy 1 1/8 bushels of hatch green chiles to add to the mix. LOL. Thats what I have been doing all weekend. But hey they are hatch chiles.
Thanks for the recipe Snickers. We should compile these into a cookbook. I am looking forward to making a crockpot roast that Paula suggested on GDNNOP years ago.
Snickers I made your freeer coleslaw and it was good. But I tasted it before frozen. I also made some with splenda instead of sugar. Hubby been gone so he hasnt tried it yet. You need a new post. So hard trying to find this one unless someone comments on it. When you do I will get some more pics up.
Freezer for petes sake I thought I fixed all my typos. Sorry.
Lnn,
I hope to see a new post up here soon. It’s up to the IW ladies. I have a new post coming on canning, freezing tomotoes and green peppers. Hope you liked the coleslaw. Anxious to see your pics too!!
Why is it still so hot. We are running temps at 100 here. Its getting awful.
What a wonderful post! So funny I was eating cole slaw as I read this– with my own dressing which I wasn’t too happy with. Snickers, I was wondering why the dressing is boiled – is it so that the sugar incorporates? Maybe that’s where I go wrong; I just mix it together. Hope you see this. Thanks.
Hi Joanne and Welcome to Imperfect Women! I will let snickers know that you have a question for her.
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She has some other threads you might enjoy
https://imperfectwomen.com/snickers-easy-sweet-refrigerator-pickles/
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https://imperfectwomen.com/making-the-garden-last-all-winter-long/
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https://imperfectwomen.com/how-does-my-garden-grow-very-well-thank-you/
Joanne,
Yes, boiling the dressing until clear, all incorporated. It’s easy to do, just continue stirring while boiling. Makes a lighter dressing, IMO.
Welcome to IW and hope you enjoy this site. Lots of fun things to read and share. 🙂
Thanks for the info and thanks for the welcome!
It’s that time of year again to put up corm, in fact later today will be the huge pick around here. Made pickles yesterday and have done several batches of frozen cole slaw. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and gardens.
I love fresh corn on the cob. I am making some tonight. I like your recipe and how wonderful your corn turned out. I want a garden to grow corn!
This sounds so good. We love fresh corn. This does not sound to difficult. Thank you so much for sharing
Years ago, when we girls were small, our parents used to purchase dozens of ears of corn for freezing. It always had to be a family job too. We’d blanch the ears and let them dry and cool, then my father would use an electric knife to take the corn off the cob and we’d pack it into freezer bags for the winter. I’ve never done this again since I’ve been married and on my own. I most likely should though. We’ve tried growing our own corn before and for some reason, we just can’t get it to grow correctly. We have green peppers in our garden and this year, the crop is really producing! We always cut and freeze the green peppers for winter cooking. Peppers are quite expensive during the winter months. I’ll have to talk to my hubby and see if he wants to do a couple dozen ears of corn to freeze. I haven’t had any corn on the cob yet this year! I love it and should get some! Thanks so much for sharing your fantastic review, the pictures, and your personal and professional opinions on Freezing the Bounty Of The Sweet Corn Harvest with all of us! I truly do appreciate it very much! Thanks again! Michele 🙂
These are great tips on freezing fresh corn for future use.
I live smack dab in the middle of the Midwest and cannot abide corn. My husband loves it and can’t get enough. These were great tips for storing since I can’t say no to my friends who give it to us and I hate to throw it in the composter!