Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Jul 19, 2024 4:49:08 GMT 10
To me it seems the local farmers markets got a bit of a late start this season, but yesterdays markets were virtually flooded with local sweet corn.. Last nights news saying the local sweet corn is quite early this year and seems to have matured all at once, thus flooding markets.. Unfortunately the price is quite high.. I usually wait until nearer the end of season when it is cheaper to freeze, can, and over dose on sweet corn...
What is going on in your area ??
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Post by spinifex on Jul 19, 2024 11:27:25 GMT 10
what IS the best way of preserving a glut of sweet corn. We freeze our excess after blanching it ... but while I enjoy fresh corn, after freezing its texture changes and it become kind of gluey rater than juicy.
Is it better to cook it, strip it off cobs then jar it in some kind of fluid?
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malewithatail
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Location: Northern Rivers NSW
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Post by malewithatail on Jul 19, 2024 11:34:50 GMT 10
We buy frozen corn kernels from Wollies/coles and dehydrate it. Stores for years and tastes ok in stews, kiesches and so on. Takes a full day in this cold weather though, but at least we have no power bills and can run the dehydrator as long as required, turning it off overnight and restarting for a few hours the next day. And we have a big dehydrator, that can take at least 3 1 kg bags at a time.
We also water bath can it as well. Once again it keeps for years, along with chicken stock, chicken and beef pieces etc.
No wanna work, wanna bang on keyboard....
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Post by Stealth on Jul 19, 2024 11:55:53 GMT 10
I haven't tried freeze drying it yet, but a lot of people seem to have good results with it by doing that. Apparently they make an amazing beer snack! Doesn't help you much if you don't have a freeze dryer of course and most people don't around here but you've reminded me that I need to stock up on basic veg to run through again.
I think canned corn works out very nicely, I've had some that a friend canned quite a while back. I remember it being quite juicy and it still had a bit of a crunch. I wonder if you could also blend it up and turn it into a masa meal of sorts? I don't know if that works with sweet corn but that could be an option too. Quite a bit of work of course but most food storage stuff is.
But I've heard a few things on a few different US youtuber's channels that a lot of harvests are popping up far earlier than expected. It seems to be quite unexpected for them and it makes me wonder if it'll be a similar experience for us. Given that it's mid-winter and quite a few days have been up to 20 degrees here it makes me think that we might have to consider early planting here too if we want to get through the peak of summer when it comes to a decent harvest.
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malewithatail
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Location: Northern Rivers NSW
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Post by malewithatail on Jul 19, 2024 14:36:21 GMT 10
Not freeze dried, only pre frozen and then dehydrated. Almost the same as home freeze drying it, but uses Woolworths electricity to freeze it first.
We are practicing these skills before they are needed in earnest, and getting the bugs out of our procedures whilst it doesn't really matter and we can still buy food. Its gonna be different after the collapse when food will be scarce and summer harvests will need to be preserved for winter.
NO NO ! Taco Bell is not a Mexican phone company !
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Post by Stealth on Jul 19, 2024 14:52:48 GMT 10
No, I didn't mean you freeze dried. I just happened to comment after you, and freeze drying is the primary storage method I use. I was just referencing the storage solution that I use. Sorry I probably could have made that a bit clearer heh.
Edit to add: But also, you can't do anything 'almost' like freeze drying at home without sublimation. Freezing it and dehydrating it doesn't sublimate the liquid out. It just dehydrates it out. You need a vacuum to sublimate. There's a lot of 'freeze dry at home with a freezer' myths going around. If there's no sublimation process, it's not freeze dried. It's freezer burnt and then dehydrated at best.
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Beno
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Location: Northern Rivers
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Post by Beno on Jul 19, 2024 15:08:05 GMT 10
I wonder if you could freeze dry using a home made vacuum chamber and a freezer?
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Tim Horton
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Post by Tim Horton on Jul 19, 2024 15:54:52 GMT 10
what IS the best way of preserving a glut of sweet corn. We freeze our excess after blanching it ... Is it better to cook it, strip it off cobs then jar it in some kind of fluid? I have blanched and froze corn on the cob. It is OK, but obviously not like fresh.. My favorite way to freeze corn.. Homemade Rich Cream Corn Cut 10 cups of corn from the cob 1 lb of unsalted butter 1 pint heavy cream Bake in a covered roaster pan at 250F for 2 hours.. Stir well and freeze in meal size bags Salt and pepper to taste when ready for the dinner table Use caution as it is VERY rich and will have wash room consequences if you overdose.. |
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