Shuck and save for later

The smell of cut-off corn cooking is a memory trigger. All good memories, except for the time it took to pick, shuck, trim, cut it off, and package for the freezer. But it tastes so good fresh from the freezer in the wintertime that all that work is forgotten, mostly. If you’ve ever smelled fresh corn straight from a farmer’s field cooking and tasted it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, bless your heart.

That particularly sweet aroma flips a switch and turns on a memory of shucking corn with my parents on their deck back when I was a kid. Calloused hands moving at twice the speed of mine pulling silks and shucks off almost in one fell swoop and then rapidly trimming ends and spots with a paring knife. Then, I hated sitting in that heat swatting the flies that swarmed around the shucks and silks. I remember thinking “My friends don’t have to do this. All they do is lay around the house all summer. Why do I have to learn any of this?” But now I’m so glad I did. It took patience on their part with an extra helping from my mom who then taught my sisters and I how to par-cook it, cool it, and package it so we’d have the most delicious fresh corn all winter. I had no idea at the time how fortunate I was to be taught those things. If you were never taught, truly, bless your heart. It’s not too late and I hope this little tutorial and video help.

To have fresh corn takes a little effort. You can just go to Kroger or Walmart or wherever you shop and get it there, unshucked if you want the “real” corn cooking experience, or shucked and packaged on one of those neat little Styrofoam trays, which is still good and still requires you to cook it. So yes, you are cooking fresh corn that way as well. It is an okay stand-in for bona fide straight from the farmer corn. But if you have the opportunity to buy fresh from a farmer or “produce guy” on the side of the road, you really should. If you don’t know where to find one of those, bless your heart.

Every year, I buy at least 2-3 (50 lb.) sacks of Esau’s Corn from my produce guy. He gets it to me freshly picked and I process it as quickly as I can. Here’s why: It’s generally picked in hot weather and when it sets off the plant in the heat for too long, it begins to sweat and will lend a “soured” taste to the corn. It also will begin to get waxy and a bit rubbery. If it is kept in a cool environment (in your house or a refrigerated area), it will keep fresher longer. However, once picked, it can only retain all the juicy sweet goodness locked in the kernels and cob for so long. This usually takes a day and a half to process fully. Bless my heart.

Par-cook and freeze your corn in whole cobs or make cut-off corn (aka skillet corn or creamed corn). There are lots of ways to do this. This is not the only way. However, it is how I was taught so that’s what I’m going with.

Shuck your corn and silk it (remove the silks as much as you can)
Cut off any bad spots on the cob as they can ruin that cob or others

For whole corn on the cob:
Place cobs in large pot of water and bring to gentle boil.
Make sure all the cobs are submerged, rotating them as needed.

Allow to bubble for 3-4 minutes and remove.
Lay in single layer on towel in a cool location. (Do not lay on a stained or painted table as the sugars and steam can ruin a finish. My mom learned this the hard way.)

When completely cool, package in bags and remove as much air as possible to freeze.

For cut-off corn:
Cut your kernels off the cob using one the fancy new corn cutter gadgets or just use a knife.
When you’ve got it removed, place a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.
Put just a little water in the pan (about 1 Tbs. per 2 cups of corn)

Cook, stirring to keep from sticking (the sugars in the corn will make it stick)
(Do not season if doing this to freeze.)
Cook for 5-6 minutes and remove to large tray so you can spread it out evenly.

Stir it around occasionally to let all the corn cool at the same rate.
When completely cool, package in bags (removing as much air as possible) for freezing.

To cook your corn after thawing or before freezing, you have to use bacon grease and butter and a little cream if you have it. Well, you don’t HAVE to. If you want sub par-tasting corn, go ahead and leave all that out. But you’ll regret it.

Here’s an easy recipe for cut-off corn deliciousness: (https://www.scrappylittlecook.com/cut-off-corn/)
1 qt. bag cut-off corn
1 heaping Tbs bacon grease
4 Tbs butter
1/4-1/2 cup cream or whole milk
Place nonstick skillet on medium-high heat and add bacon grease and butter.
Allow that to melt together and then add your thawed corn.
(Or forget to thaw it and put it in the skillet, covering with a lid and stirring occasionally to allow to steam and melt.)
Season with salt and pepper to taste (optional: a pinch of sugar if your corn isn’t as sweet)
Stir it all together and allow to cook for 6-10 minutes, adding a little cream or milk to get it to the consistency you like.

For corn on the cob:
1 qt. bag frozen corn on the cob
Salt
Place large stew pot of water on medium high heat.
Add salt to taste (I add 1-2 tsp.)
Place cobs in water and make sure they are submerged.
Allow to come to boil.
Boil gently for 5-6 minutes.
Remove from water into bowl and place butter on top to melt for extra flavor and calories.