How To: Shuck and Save Sweet Corn

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 28, 2010 7:00PM

Sweet corn has finally begun to appear at markets and we are eating our fill. Sweet corn is one of those foods that only tastes right when it's very fresh - preferably picked that day - because as soon as it is picked, the sweetness begins to turn starchy. After a few days, it just tastes like cardboard. We won't even try to eat grocery store corn out of season.

This can be a problem if you want the tasty treat out of season. Fortunately, if you're willing to do a tiny bit of work, you can have fresh, tasty corn all year long. It's better than canned corn, and unlike frozen corn it didn't come from a processing plant 1000 miles away. First, buy a big bundle of corn. It's pretty cheap, so buy a lot. Then, take off all the husks. Be as thorough as you can - you don't want to waste effort preserving stringy bits of leaves.

Find a large flat surface with slightly curved sides. You could use a mixing bowl or a large tupperware dish. We used a shallow wok. Place the corn vertically into the dish and run your sharp knife down along the sides, taking off as much corn as possible. If you find yourself taking off any of the cobb, make shallower cuts.

Once you've cut up the corn, use your hands to break it up into individual kernels. Put about 1 1/2 cups into a small, sealable sandwich bag (or vacuum sealer if you have one). Squeeze all the air out and distribute the corn so it lays as flat as possible. Freeze.

A few notes - it is not necessary to cook the corn, if it's really fresh. If it's a little older, feel free to blanch it for a few minutes. When you freeze the corn, don't stack the bags or put anything on top of them - you don't want to squeeze out the liquid. Once the bags are frozen, you can stack them like bricks, but you may want to only shuck a little bit at a time, depending on the size of your freezer. Enjoy!