Retailer Recent Corn on the Cob

The summer time of 2022 was peak candy corn for me. Not solely had Corn Child develop into a mini sensation, however I used to be additionally neck deep in contemporary farmers market corn for weeks on finish. This heavy corn food plan began after I made a decision to make esquites with my haul. My household liked the dish a lot that I ended up making it each weekend for the remainder of the summer time. I’d head to the farmers market each Saturday, seize the freshest corn I might discover, and make the recipe for lunch or dinner that very same day—which meant I didn’t have to fret about how one can retailer the corn. 

This summer time, nonetheless, I’m exploring new methods to arrange contemporary corn, so I usually discover myself selecting it up with out having a dish in thoughts, which typically means utilizing the corn a number of days later. After all this is not actually splendid—our normal recommendation about how one can retailer corn has all the time been…don’t. The ingredient’s taste and sweetness solely declines the longer you wait. However relying on the place you’re getting your corn, that recommendation can range. I spoke with Smoke-McCluskey, a Mohawk chef and proprietor of Corn Mafia, a micro-milling venture that explores native foodways, to be taught extra. 

What Occurs As Your Corn Sits

Due to its quick metabolic fee, corn can lose its candy taste rapidly when its sugars flip starchy. This has led to the age-old recommendation to take your corn straight from the sphere to the cooking pot. Nonetheless, the time that it takes for the corn’s flavors to show into starch relies on the number of corn you’re coping with and the place you’re shopping for it. In terms of candy corn—the kind that the majority People are buying to eat on the cob and for recipes like corn ribs and Kansas Metropolis-style tacky corn—the period of time it’s a must to eat it comes down as to if you’re getting it from a neighborhood farmer or the grocery retailer.

Grocery Retailer Corn vs. Farmers Market Corn

Harold McGee’s On Meals and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen notes that “in three days, conventional candy corn,” which is most regionally grown corn, “converts half of its candy sugar into tasteless chains,” giving off a taste that’s disliked by many. Commercially grown corn, nonetheless, has been bred into sweeter varieties that may stand up to the lengthy processing occasions it takes to get from the farm to a warehouse after which on grocery retailer cabinets.  

“These days, with the brand new business candy corns, a few of these are designed to mature slowly,” says Smoke-McCluskey. “So the sugars begin to convert a bit bit slower than regular candy corn was, say, even a decade in the past. You’ll be able to go away it in your fridge for 5 or 6 days. It is most likely been 5 or 6 days out of the sphere [when you purchase it] and it is nonetheless candy if you’re consuming it, for essentially the most half.“

Sadly, there’s probably not any technique to inform what selection you’re selecting up on the grocery retailer; most are simply labeled as “candy corn.” “There are millions of types of corn,” says Smoke-McCluskey. In the event you’re looking for corn at a farmers market, ask the farmer what they’re promoting and they need to be capable of provide you with extra info on the variability and the way a lot time you may have earlier than the standard drops off an excessive amount of. 

What to Look For When Shopping for Corn

Though chances are you’ll not be capable of determine what kind of corn you’re shopping for, there are some things to maintain an eye fixed out for to be sure to’re selecting the perfect of the bunch. “I search for the plumpest kernels,” says Smoke-McCluskey. Editorial director Daniel Gritzer notes that the silk needs to be “moist and smooth, not brittle and dehydrated,” and Smoke-McCluskey provides that they need to be “form of healthful wanting, not limp and mushy. I search for the husk to be a pleasant inexperienced and form of vibrant wanting. I do not wish to see any tan to it in any respect, or it drying out.”

The Greatest Technique to Retailer Corn

In the event you insist on storing your corn, you’ll be able to preserve it in its husk and throw it in your fridge’s crisper drawer—the chilly slows down the conversion of sugars to extra complicated (and fewer candy) starches. Whereas it is all the time greatest to eat your corn as rapidly as you’ll be able to, you doubtless have a while, relying on the number of corn you’ve got purchased and the place you’ve got purchased it. Longer-lasting varieties (usually what you may discover on the grocery store lately, but in addition grown by some native growers) can final an extra 5 to 6 days from buy if stored within the fridge. In the event you’ve purchased corn that does not maintain onto its sweetness as lengthy, you may must eat it quicker, anyplace from one to 2 days after buy. If doubtful, speak to your produce supervisor or the farmer for extra steering.

Your greatest wager for storing corn long run is to freeze it. You are able to do this by blanching the corn in boiling water for one minute, chilling it quickly in ice water, after which chopping off its kernels. Unfold them throughout a baking sheet and place them in a freezer till frozen, earlier than transferring them to a zipper-lock bag which you’ll be able to preserve within the freezer for as much as three months.  

The Takeaway

Relying on the place you’re buying your candy corn, your choices for storage range. In the event you’re shopping for shorter-lasting varieties (typically nonetheless bought at a farmers market), you’ll wish to use it as rapidly as attainable, since any such corn loses taste in a short time. In the event you’re buying corn on the grocery retailer, you must be capable of use it inside rather less than per week earlier than its taste actually fades. Retailer it entire within the crisper drawer of your fridge, or minimize the kernels from the corn, blanch and freeze them, then retailer them in a zipper-lock bag for a most of three months.