To blanch or not to blanch?

[completely plotty]

I am overrun with sweetcorn! Can i just de-leaf and tassle it and throw it in the freezer or do i blanch it first? ( I actually need to buy a chest freezer too so happy days)

[rustylady]

I don't blanch any veg for the freezer, as you said just remove the husks and tassels.

If you want it to take up less room then you can remove the kernels from the cob with a sharp knife.

[veggiechicken]

I'm even lazier with sweetcorn. I bung the whole lot in the freezer, husks and all. Then I microwave or boil it in the husks and peel them off when cooked

[crannman]

i allways blanched my veg but iwas told by a guy on our allotment not too ?

[Martin H]

If you want it to take up less room then you can remove the kernels from the cob with a sharp knife.

I would love to see a video of how this is done. When I try it, I end up with a mess. It's either lots of pieces of sliced kernal or a good proportion of undamaged kernal mixed with lots of the stem that was underneath. Got any tips?

For what it's worth, we clean up the cobs then blanch before freezing whole.

[Alison]

I think that the veg tastes nicer if not blanched. We only lightly cook our veggies and I find them over cooked and bland if blanched - and I'm quite lazy so any excuse to miss out a task. Just cook it all from frozen straight out the freezer.

[rustylady]

I would love to see a video of how this is done. When I try it, I end up with a mess. It's either lots of pieces of sliced kernal or a good proportion of undamaged kernal mixed with lots of the stem that was underneath. Got any tips?

Video here Martin Toni Tanner Scott - Family Digest - Remove Corn on the Cob - YouTube

[Martin H]

Thanks for that, Rustylady. That's the way I've been trying to do it. But it still seems that for every intact kernal I get two mushy ones that have been cut in half. Maybe I need to wait until the corn has got tougher and less juicy? The ones Ms Scott was slicing looked very dry, there was hardly any juice visible at all.

I wondered at first if it was because of my damaged X chromosome, but Mrs H can't do it either.

[lottie dolly]

Prepare the cob,do not strip,freeze as it is ready for use,i put mine straight from the freezer into the steamer on top of the other veg,eat it from the cob,

[Snadger]

I don't usually blanch veg before freezing. Having said that I brought some French Beans home the other day and had some fresh which were lovely, but the ones I frose were not as nice a few days later.
I've just picked a full carrier bag of said beans so will eat some freshly cooked and the rest I will try blanching before freezing to see if it improves the taste?

[Bill HH]

I would love to see a video of how this is done. When I try it, I end up with a mess. It's either lots of pieces of sliced kernal or a good proportion of undamaged kernal mixed with lots of the stem that was underneath. Got any tips?

For what it's worth, we clean up the cobs then blanch before freezing whole.

Martin, this link is from another thread on here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TS...ature=youtu.be

[Martin H]

Thanks Bill, just watched. That looks easy!

[Bill HH]

Thanks Bill, just watched. That looks easy!

It certainly doesn't waste any, but I would think you could easily slit your wrists.

[Martin H]

Yes, I wouldn't be holding the cob and the knife like that. But pushing the knife in directly away from myself with the blade upwards should be safe enough.