Storing Corn for Winter Use

~ By Gardnbee ~

If you type "the history of corn" into Google, volumes of information will unfold for you but for the purpose of this sharing I will simply say that Corn has been around for at least 10,000 years and beyond in some regions. It is a plant that does not grow naturally in the wilds but must be planted from seed.

I grew up on a variety of corn known as Golden Bantam, a rich flavored, sweet and solidly yellow kernelled corn that is to this day my favorite above all others. The two places I am still able to purchase this wonderful corn is at Heirloom and Burpee Seed Companies where it is still considered to be one of the finest of its kind for flavor and quick growth maturing in just 80 days.

Corn isn't difficult to grow if you can spare a minimum of 10 feet by 10 feet in your garden that will be exposed to direct sunlight to allow for adequate pollination while making sure the stalks won't overshadow other growing vegetables.

Besides enjoying as much corn as you can consume when it comes into season there is valuable reasons to preserve this manna for winter use as well since it contains several Antioxidants, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Phosphorous, Protein, Manganese, Vitamins A, B1, B5 and C to name but a few of this vegetable's nutrient values.

So how does one go about preserving this gem for use during winter? There are many suggested methods out there but the one that suits me best is freezing the niblets as follows:

6 quarts corn taken from cob
½ to ¾ cups water
1 to 1½ cups white sugar
1 tsp. Natural Salt (optional)

- Put corn niblets in a suitable sized pot
- Mix sugar and water together until dissolved and pour over niblets
- Stir and cook at medium heat until corn deepens in color (about 10 minutes)
- Cool just enough to place into freezer safe containers (You can place the pot into cold water to speed up this process)
- Using a slotted spoon, scoop just enough niblets to sit about ½ inch from the top of your containers and do this until all the niblets are in place then using a suitable spoon distribute the liquid equally over each of theses filled containers, put the lid on and then freeze.

Note: Make sure the corn is a solid yellow variety when using this method as tri-colored or bi-colored varieties freeze poorly.

Come time to use for a meal all one has to do is re-heat using the Micro Wave or stove top with a bit of heart safe margarine (or butter) and pepper sprinkled on top. I'll share with you that come a cold winter's day there is simply nothing like the "just picked" flavor of "fresh" Niblet Corn the results are that good :)

         

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