Thursday, August 29, 2013

Canning Corn


Canned corn is one of those things that most people either love or hate. I personally think it is because they expect it to taste like the canned corn that you purchase in the store and it does not in my opinion. If you are going to put corn in jars and can it  for the first time remember that the processing time is long. I have heard many say too long to justify doing it that way. If you are trying to preserve corn without requiring electricity then this is the way to go unless you want to dehydrate it.  

As for me I do put up some canned corn occasionally for the convenience to use in soups and such. My husband loves corn in his taco soup. 




When I have lots of corn I wash it all and separate it. The best ears are simply washed and frozen on the cob. I do not blanch my corn on the cob. My husband does not like the taste of it blanched. It's a rather simple process of putting them in vacuum bags and sealing then freezing. I limit the corn I put up on the cob because it requires a huge amount of freezer space for the actual amount of food you get from it. If you have plenty of freezer space then the sky is the limit. Most years though my freezer space is at a premium.  


The remainder I blanch for 6 minutes in boiling water. Then Immediately remove and place in ice water to cool. As soon as it is cool to the touch I remove it from the ice water. 





Then spend hours cutting kernels off the cob. There are tools out there for this but I just use my plain old trusty knife.


Once your kernels are removed then some I place in bags for whole kernel corn.



My vacuum bags are frozen and then sealed. 


What is left I can into jars. This is done by placing the corn in hot jars leaving 1 inch head space. 


Then filling the jars with boiling water to again 1 inch head space.


Then remove bubbles, wipe rims and seal with hot lids and rings. 


Pints are processed 55 minutes and quarts 1 hour and 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. 


It never hurts in my opinion to have one vegetable in different forms. This year I put up corn on the cob, whole kernel frozen corn and canned corn in jars. If I happen to lose my freezer I still have corn in my pantry like many other vegetables I grow.  

How do you put up your corn?


Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

14 comments:

  1. Here in the western North Carolina mountains we usually freeze or can our corn, but (at least for some people) the difference is in the preparation because we often have creamed corn. This means we cut the corn off before cooking and only cut half of the niblet off, then scrape the cob and get the juice, or cream. When finished, the corn is heated to a low simmer then cooled quickly and frozen. When cooked later on with a little milk and butter it is delicious. This is the way my family always did it and the way my neighbors do it today. We usually serve it for supper now, but my grandmother fixed it for breakfast and poured it over hot buttered biscuits. It is delicious.

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    Replies
    1. My mother in law made cream corn in the oven and then froze it. My mother also froze her cream corn : )

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  2. I usually freeze mine. May do a batch of jars if I get enough. Have you ever tried an electric knife for taking the corn of the cob, works slick as a whistle, especially if you have a little arthritis in your hands like me.
    I do enjoy your blog.
    Happy Canning

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use the electric knife for slicing bread and filleting fish but have never used it for corn! Will have to try that.

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  3. I freeze some off the cob because of space and I can some. I haven't tried haying any.

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  4. I do the cream corn version like P. above, and freeze that. My hubby can't digest corn too well so I have started freezing it in my 8 ounce jam jars that have been sitting so long since we don't eat much jam. 8 ounces is perfect for adding to soups and other dishes and in jars I can really stack it in my precious freezer space.

    Your corn looks beautiful BTW :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have the same issue with jam jars and that is a good way to use them. I put tomato sauce in mine for when I just want a little tomato sauce for cooking. Like you we no longer eat much jam. I do make a little for the grands on their pbj's.

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  5. I'm drooling. I'll gladly help you shell peas but not so much on the cutting corn off the cob. I love corn, but that is just not my favorite vegetable task.

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  6. I rarely have enough corn to preserve, but if i do, I freeze it. If I had loads of corn I'd have to can it since I dont have much room in my freezer often. I saw this video on You Tube on how to cut corn off the cob super fast using a drill and a corn cutter.. If I had a bucket full, I'd be off finding myself one of these corn cutting tools & a drill.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1vRFUZ3KbE

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  7. oh lucky you with the corn-when the guys went to the amish produce auction yesterday sweet corn was on my list-but it was very high priced and they said not nice-I love to can and freeze corn too

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  8. Instead of blanching, my step-mom cuts the kernals off the cob and frys them in a cast iron skillet with a little butter and salt and pepper. She says to only cook until it smells like corn. From there its bagged and frozen. It is wonderful that way, but with lots of corn you have SO many batches. I follow a similar process, but boil the kernals in a little water with a stick of butter and salt and pepper....again just till it "smells like corn." I can do much larger batches this way.

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  9. I also use an electric knife--so much faster and easier. Is your corn still coming on??

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  10. This year I had plenty of corn to put up so I froze 60 quarts and canned 30 pints of creamed corn I also dried some corn to put in soup mixes that I make for gifts.

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  11. Thanks for this post. I grow up PA Dutch and we can and freeze all the time, but there has been much skepticism over canning corn. Can you advise if the corn becomes mushy and overcooked when processing for this length of time? I can not seem to find anyone with an answer... :)
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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