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How healthy and tasty frozen corn is in winter is known to most housewives. To please yourself with fragrant fresh cobs in the cold season, you do not need to make a lot of effort or spend a lot of time and money. But many ignorant people do not prepare frozen vegetables correctly. This leads to the loss of most of the beneficial properties of the product. It is worth learning more about harvesting frozen corn for the winter.
Benefits of freezing corn
Corn can be prepared for the winter in two ways: canned and frozen. The second way is simpler and more profitable. First, freezing is much easier and less costly than canning. Secondly, it allows you to keep the vegetable almost intact. Frozen cobs have everything: the aroma, color, and taste of the original product, and most importantly, the nutrients remain in the same composition.
Preparing corn for freezing
Before sending the vegetable to the freezer, it must be properly processed. It is necessary to cleanse leaves, corn silk. To do this, it is necessary to cut off 1-2 cm of the inedible part from the blunt end of the head of cabbage. Further, the cleansing process will go much easier. Wash the peeled heads of cabbage under running water, dry them so that the frozen grains do not stick together and the moisture does not turn into ice. If the corn will be frozen ready-made, boil it.
There are housewives who do not consider it necessary to wash vegetables, preparing them for the winter. But this is wrong and can lead to unpleasant consequences. Water washes away dirt, bacteria, parasites, some of them do not die even at very low temperatures and can enter the body, cause poisoning and other negative symptoms.
How to properly freeze an ear of corn
In order to get the maximum of nutrients in winter, it is better to freeze vegetables fresh. At the same time, corn heads will turn out bright, juicy and aromatic when blanched.
Without processing
Prepare the corn cobs, wrap them in plastic wrap, put them compactly in the freezer compartment. You don't need anything else - this is the easiest way to freeze a vegetable. To improve its taste, after defrosting, they use various culinary techniques, but more on that later.
After blanching
Corn cobs can be blanched in preparation for freezing, which helps not only to preserve the properties of vegetables, but also to extend their shelf life. Heads of cabbage are dipped in boiling water, boiled there for 5 minutes. Then, abruptly interrupting the cooking process, they are immersed in a bowl of ice water.
The fact is that there are enzymes in vegetables that continue to remain active even at low temperatures. Thanks to their activity, various biochemical processes are accelerated, including the reactions of decay, decay, damage. Shock cooking frozen vegetables, albeit for a short time, helps to stop this process.
How to freeze corn beans
It is more expedient to harvest frozen corn in grains, since the scope of its application is significantly increasing. Now the vegetable can be used not only as an independent dish, but also as additional ingredients in various culinary recipes. Frozen whole corn is used in soups, salads, side dishes, and other dishes.
Raw
You need to freeze freshly harvested corn. With prolonged storage, starchy substances begin to accumulate in it, which significantly spoil the taste of the product. They are converted from natural sugars found in the vegetable.
To separate the grains from the head of cabbage, it is necessary to carefully cut them off with a sharpened knife to the very base. Then collect in a bag or other suitable container, always airtight, and put in the freezer until winter.
After blanching
After blanching corn cobs, you need to wait until they cool to room temperature. Then try to manually separate the seeds. If this does not work, resort to using a knife or other device. On sale there are special devices for cleaning corn, manual and electric stubblers, so there should be no problems with this.
It is better to use sturdy bags for storage so that they do not tear. It is necessary to divide the grain mass into small portions - this way you do not have to defrost the entire stock for the sake of 100 g. If the vegetable is frozen for the first time, more than half of the nutrients are retained in it, but when the procedure is repeated, they are completely destroyed.
Is it possible to freeze canned corn
Sometimes, after preparing holiday dishes, half a can of canned corn remains. Thrifty housewives have learned to save such leftovers by freezing them. This allows you to extend the shelf life of canned corn (after opening) until the next time. This can be done as follows:
- drain the water and dry the grains with a towel;
- freeze in bulk;
- pour into a bag;
- put in the freezer.
Can be immediately packed in a plastic bag, which must be shaken periodically. The frozen mass without this will stick together.
Can boiled corn be frozen
Before freezing, corn may be boiled until cooked and sent to the freezer in this form. This can be done in two ways:
- Whollyif you want to pamper yourself with fresh juicy cobs in winter. Boil them until tender, cool and wrap in plastic wrap. In winter, throw frozen heads of cabbage into boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes at 100 degrees.
- In grains... This method is more suitable for soups, casseroles, stews, baby food. Cook whole, separate the grains from the cells, first one row, the rest will be easier. Pack in small portions (1 time) in plastic bags.
How long can frozen corn be stored
Frozen corn can be stored for a very long time, up to one and a half years. Therefore, on each container (package) it is necessary to sign the harvest date, so as not to confuse the old crop with the new one later. A boiled vegetable can also be stored for a long time, until the next season.
How to properly defrost corn
Raw frozen corn cobs must be removed from the freezer and thawed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Then cook as usual in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes.
How to cook frozen corn
Let the frozen heads of cabbage thaw, pour boiling water over to make the grains juicy and tender. Put to cook.If the frozen cobs are first immersed in cold water, then while it boils, all the nutrients and vegetable juice will come out into it. If poured with boiling water, the surface will scald, a protective film will form, which will prevent the loss of the taste and nutritional properties of frozen corn.
For one head of cabbage, you need to prepare 250-300 ml of boiling water. Pour everything into a saucepan, put the ears on and close the lid. The upper layers protruding above the water, thanks to this, will be steamed. Many people are mistaken in thinking that the longer they cook, the softer it will be. But the result is the opposite! Long-term cooking produces starch, frozen corn becomes tough and tasteless.
Frozen fodder corn must be soaked in milk for two hours before cooking to be juicy. It will become sweet if you add 1 teaspoon of sugar per liter of water during cooking. To preserve the natural color of the frozen vegetable, you must also pour the juice of half a lemon (2.5-3 liters) into the pan. Twenty minutes after the start of the boil, take a toothpick and pierce the head of cabbage with it.
If it is bent or broken, you can cook for another five minutes, then turn it off. Let the heads of cabbage stand in hot water for a while (5 minutes) to make them even juicier. To make frozen corn soft, it should not be salted while it is boiling or in water. Salt stimulates the extraction of juice from the grains. Therefore, corn must be salted before serving.
Milk recipe
A wonderful dish can be obtained by boiling frozen corn in milk. It acquires an unusually delicate creamy taste. Frozen ears that have been thawed in the refrigerator can be prepared as follows:
- cut in portions into several parts, so they are better saturated with milk;
- pour water so that it covers slightly;
- pour milk, filling in the missing volume;
- cook for 10 minutes at 100 degrees;
- add 50 g of butter, boil the same amount;
- turn off, keep covered for 20 minutes so that the grains become juicy;
- serving, sprinkle each piece with salt.
Cooking times may vary depending on the variety and degree of maturity of the frozen heads. It is even tastier to grill them.
Conclusion
Frozen corn will help bring freshness and bright colors of summer to the diet in the winter season, and nourish the body with useful substances. Simplicity and ease of preparation make this product available in every home.
