How to Freeze Corn on the Cob

The same way you would freeze corn off the cob. With corn, it’s not a matter of how to freeze corn on the cob, it’s when. When corn is ready to be picked— all of it is ready. Meaning every cob of corn on every plant on every row-- is ready. And you have to be ready to freeze every cob that you don’t eat right there and then.

Planting corn and then harvesting your crop, isn’t like growing tomatoes. You can’t pick corn green, let it ripen, then eat it as you need it. For fresh-tasting results at defrost time, you have to freeze corn as soon as it’s picked. So, unless you’re planning a neighborhood corn husking party and give away a few hundred bushels— freezing corn is a must.

Whatever Corn Doesn’t Shape Up, Gets Creamed

Fortunately, today’s freezing methods are a lot more efficient than the days of using dry ice. Even if some corn kernels spoil or turn brown in the freezing process—they easily become creamed corn. Also easy to freeze. So there’s very little waste. Normally though, if corn is quick-frozen, right on the cob, right from the plant, if it’s defrosted and cooked properly-- it’ll taste as great as the day it was picked.

Either way, freezing corn doesn’t change the nutritional content. Corn is one of the most complete vegetables you can plant—with many of the major vitamins and most essential trace minerals. Meanwhile, here are some tips to remember when growing corn:

Encourage bee pollination by planting shorter rows
Corn can take as much sunlight as you can give it
Peak maturity is reached when the silk turns brown
In hot summers, pick corn early morning for best flavor

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