Freezing Corn

September 1st - Really? All ready?  It's also a Wednesday so an early morning trip to our local Farmer's Market was the plan for me today.  I purchased 3 dozen ears of corn - 1 dozen Silver Queen, 1 dozen Bodacious, and 1 dozen of a Bi-color corn.  I wanted corn for the freezer, but the few times I've purchased corn for eating this season have been less than satisfactory.  It seems I keep bringing home over-ripe corn.  So I was careful to really examine an ear of each kind, as well as asking when it was picked.  No old corn for me; after about 18 hours off the stalk the sugars turn starchy. By getting 3 different varieties I figured I had a good chance of creating a tasty mix.

Why don't we grow our own corn?  Frankly, it takes up too much room in the garden.  We have great local corn growers, so we are happy to purchase the few dozen ears we like each year. We love it in my "famous" Corn Chowder, and that's where most of the freezer corn will end up.

After husking the corn out on the patio, I'm ready to get down to business.

• Step 1: Cut the raw corn off the cobs. I do this by first cutting the tip of the cob off to create a nice flat end on which to set my cob. Then I run my chef's knife down the cob to remove the kernels. All kernels go into my large soup pot. 
• Step 2: Boil 1 quart of water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 4 teaspoons salt. Add to the corn, and bring the entire pot back to a boil for 3 minutes.
• Step 3: Freeze the corn with juice.  Now I like to freeze it first on trays before putting it into freezer bags, so that it will be loose in the bag and not one solid block.  That way I can use exactly as much as I need without thawing an entire bag.

And that's it.  Really it's pretty easy, and so much better than frozen corn in the grocery store.  That stuff is always over-ripe, and who knows how many times it has been thawed and refrozen before you get it.  It's a good feeling to know that every time I reach for corn, it will have that sweet fresh taste of summer.