[chickpeacurry]

Sweetcorn is ready how long would it keep on the plant.  Cobs at different stages . I have no room to freeze and Windermere how long I could stagger the picking. Thanks

[JayG]

Sweetcorn is ready how long would it keep on the plant.  Cobs at different stages . I have no room to freeze and Windermere how long I could stagger the picking. Thanks

Hopefully that's predictive text striking again rather than a plan to store sweet corn in a large lake!   

I reckon it probably takes 2-3 weeks from pollination to being ready, and about a week from the 'just about ready' to 'just about to spoil', but it varies considerably with the weather.

Supersweet types will last longer in the fridge than 'normal' types before losing enough sugar to be considered spoiled, although all types are better cooked as soon as possible after picking of course.

Blanching does kill the enzymes which cause the loss of quality, but I've not tried blanching/refrigerating rather than freezing so can't tell you how long they keep or what they're like when subsequently reheated.

As you say, it's a good job they don't all ripen at once!

[beesrus]

Along with JayG's advice, fortunately all plants in a block don't ripen at the same time, as can be seen by the difference in individual plants shooting out their tassels and silks. I usually have two blocks each year of 50 plants each, and each block can be picked for roughly a good month/5 weeks, all things considered. You have to have an eye for those plants that are further forward. The in between SEnhanced type also seem to hold their sweetness fairly well on the plant, but it soon starts to lose it when picked, within a day or two.

As for blanching and freezing, I have blanched for 5 minutes and frozen in the past and found the taste to still be good, but they are a little too much on the soft side. They are then really best to be trimmed off the cob and used as one would do loose from a tin, and in fact many people freeze corn that way.  So now I blanch for no more than 2 minutes, and the cobs hold their texture far better after freezing. Taste is till sweet, although perhaps just a little of the "corn" taste has been lost. Have never tried freezing raw, but am going to give that a go this year as an experiment with 4 or 5 cobs.
Also, as with raspberries and blckberries, don't pick a few days too early, even though there might be a little milky substance oozing out. I tried a couple early this year and they really did need another week.

[Ma Lowe]

Would blanching them for no more than 3 mins be better as cooking them is suggested for around 6 mins and 5 mins blanching is probably too close to being cooked.

[beesrus]

Would blanching them for no more than 3 mins be better as cooking them is suggested for around 6 mins and 5 mins blanching is probably too close to being cooked.

I agree Ma. 2 minutes for me. When I first started blanching corn I foolishly took the advice on 2 or 3 websites, and their advice was anything from 4 to 8 minutes boiling time ! Crazy in hindsight as it really does need only enough heat to stop the sugar degrading process that can continue in the freezer.

Here's a link I've just found that seems to explain the theory behind the blanching better than anywhere else. Interesting comment regarding freezing raw straight away. In fact, that's so interesting, I'm going to put 2 or 3 freshly picked SEnhanced raw cobs in my freezer tomorrow for 3 weeks, and then see how they taste at the end of the month. I'd be over the moon if I can avoid the blanching entirely. I only need the cobs preserved up to the end of the year, as I don't eat them all year round.
http://www.ochef.com/1194.htm

[RJR_38]

When I was researching this last year I read that the best way to preserve sweetcorn was to freeze the cobs whole with all their leaves etc still attached as this acts as a protective layer and obviously no need to blanch etc. It worked wonderfully well although we had eaten them by December so not sure if it would work as well after.

[Yorkie]

I remove all outer layers and freeze without blanching, simply wrapped in clingfilm.

I rarely remember to defrost them in advance of a meal, so instead I take them out of the freezr, pop them in a big jug, pour boiling water over them to take the worst of the frost off them, and then nuke them for about 5 mins.  Lovely 

[RJR_38]

Oh yes, we just cooked straight from frozen as well