How to save corn for winter: freezing

Corn is an excellent delicacy of both adults and children, but the period of fresh consumption of this product is rather short - unfortunately, young cobbles have not been able to store for a long time. But you can extend the period of consumption of corn until next summer, if you know how to freeze corn for the winter in the grains and on the cob. Then you can use it for salads, side dishes, or just eat it boiled, as well as fresh.

Advantages of freezing

The advantages of this process of harvesting heads for the winter are:

• maximum preservation of vitamins and nutrients contained in corn;
• year-round consumption of fresh corn;
• significant savings, as prices in the winter for fresh cobs are very high, and you can not find them everywhere;
• options for types of freezing and further use of the product. Due to the fact that corn can be harvested both in grains and on the cob,expanding the possibilities of its use for various dishes.

Preliminary preparation

To freeze this product, you must prepare sugar cobswhile their maturity should be average. If you take unripe corn, the taste will be worse. If you choose overripe, the grains will not have the juiciness and taste for which we love this product so much.

One should just freeze the cobs, because during long-term storage the taste deteriorates because sugar, which is contained in the grains, turns into a starchy substance.

It is necessary to pick up the cob carefully. On the surface there should be no signs of damage, diseases and rotten formations.

Before freezing, remove the foliage and hair of the cob, wash it well and dry with a paper towel.

Cobble Frost

There are several ways to freeze the cabbages for the winter. Let's look at them in detail.

Without pretreatment

First, consider how to freeze corn for the winter on the cob without cooking. This method is the easiest and fastest. When you picked up the necessary heads, you should remove the leaves, cut the stem, remove all the hairs. When the cobs are well washed and dried, they are folded into spares or ordinary plastic bags, tightly closed and sent to the freezer for freezing and storage.

The method is very popular, as it is less time consuming, but at the same time, cobs take up a lot of space. This option is blank not suitable for those with small freezers.

With blanching

This method of freezing is more time-consuming, but allows you to eat the product immediately after it is thawed. The blanching method can be called a kind of "hardening" of the product before being sent to the freezer, which allows to preserve the taste, appetizing appearance and usefulness as much as possible.

During this procedure, the cleaned corn cobs need immerse in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes, then quickly throw them into the pan with the most cold water, which add ice cubes.

Cool heads in cold water should be about 3 minutes, then you need to dry them well with a paper towel.

It is necessary to place the cobs in the freezer in the ZIP package or plastic bag.

Freeze beans

The main advantage of such a freeze is the fact that you save as much space as possible in the freezer and can prepare a lot more corn than on the cob.

The disadvantage of this method is considered a longer process of preparatory work before being sent to the freezer.

Consider the step by step process of harvesting raw grains for freezing:

1. The first thing to do is to free the cob from the leaves and hair.
2. Wash all the cabbages well and dry them with a paper towel.
3. On the cutting board, using a sharp knife, you should cut the grain from the head - as carefully as possible, making smooth movements, starting from the top of the cob and falling down.
4. The grains are transferred to a ZIP package or plastic container and placed in a freezer for freezing and further storage.

You can also freeze the grain, pre-probyshiruv them. The advantage of this method is the fact that the grains can be immediately used for cooking, without prior heat treatment. But at the same time, this option of freezing is considered the longest.

Consider the step by step process of preparing the grains for freezing in this way:

1. The first thing to do is to clean the ears of corn from the leaves and hair, wash well and dry with paper towels.
2. Next, you must put the cabbages in boiling water - so that the water completely covered them - and boil for 5 minutes.
3. While the grains are being prepared, you should take care in advance of preparing the tank with cold water and ice cubes.
4. After 5 minutes, you should quickly throw the cabbages into a container with cold water and ice.
5. After the billet has cooled completely, and it will take about 2 minutes, remove it from the water and dry it well with a paper towel.
6. On the cutting board, with the help of the sharpest knife, you should cut the grain from the cob, starting from the top and gently sinking down.
7. Pour the grain in the ZIP-bags or plastic containers, send in the freezer for freezing and further storage.

How much can you store

Those who have frozen vegetables or fruits at least once know how to store them in order to prolong their shelf life, but let us consider in more detail how to harvest corn in the freezer for the winter.

Frozen vegetables usually have a shelf life of one year, but the product in question is an exception, and you can store it in the freezer for no more than 8 monthswhether it was pro-blanched or not, on the cob or in the grains.

How to defrost

Corn that was previously blanched (regardless of whether it is on the cob or in the grain), defrost recommended in the microwaveby turning on the defrost mode. Defrosting methods also depend on how you plan to use the frozen product in the future.If you add grains to the soup, side dish, or other dish that will go through the heat treatment process, then the harvesting you can not defrost, and add frozen.

Corn on the cob, which was not previously pro-blanched, is recommended to be partially thawed and sent to the pan to boil.

It is not recommended to warm up the frozen product, just leaving it at room temperature, since various bacteria can develop in it.

Another easy way to defrost is to put the corn in the fridge. So the defrosting process will occur gradually, but the correct temperature will remain, which will not allow bacteria to develop.

How and how much to cook

It is necessary to cook only the corn that was not pro-blanched before freezing.

Consider how to cook frozen corn on the cob.It is recommended to send the cobs into the microwave for a few minutes, so that they thaw out a little, and send them to the pan, where they should be boiled for 40 minutes. Another thing is the frozen product in the grains - you do not need to defrost it before cooking. However, you need to know how much to cook frozen corn, so that it is tasty, as freshly picked. Grains in this form should cook for 20 minutes, they should be sent to salted boiling water.

Thus, it is possible to freeze corn in various ways, the main thing is to figure out which one suits you best. The preparation process is not complicated at all, it is only important to take into account some recommendations and tips in order to cope with the task without much effort and time.