Exact Answer: 5 To 15 Minutes
Fresh corn adds a lovely flavour to the end of summer and the beginning of fall, making it a much more pleasant transition. Blanching, also known as parboiling, is the process of scalding or steaming vegetables for a brief period of time.
Blanching and chilling in ice water are essential steps in making high-quality frozen corn.
To avoid pigment and nutritional loss, as well as taste and textural changes, corn’s intrinsic enzymes must be removed before freezing. A hot blanch treatment inactivates these enzymes.
The chilling technique keeps the corn from getting mushy as a result of the starch being overcooked.
How Long To Blanch Corn?
| Blanching Level | Cooking Duration |
| Minimum | 5-7 Minutes |
| Maximum | 8-15 Minutes |
If you have too many ears of corn to eat in a relatively long time before the sweet taste of the corn fades, you might consider freezing it. Freezing corn will help you reduce food waste while also allowing you to enjoy sweet summer corn throughout the year.
If you wish to freeze corn for later use, blanch it first to prevent the enzymes from ageing the corn, which will result in a bland flavour and an unappealing colour and texture.
Blanching removes dirt and organisms from the surface of the corn, enhances the colour, and slows nutrient loss.
Although corn can be eaten without blanching if frozen, the National Center for Home Food Preservation advises blanching crops to retain flavour and colour.
Although blanching corn in boiling water or steam is preferred, you can alternatively blanch corn in the microwave for a more desirable situation.
To blanch corn in the microwave, shuck the corn and snap any excess cob from the ear’s base. To remove any leftover silk, wipe the outside of the ear of corn with a soft cloth.
After rinsing the ear with cold water, pat it dry.
Microwave the corn ear for 7 to 11 minutes on high, turning midway through the cooking period, depending on the size of the ears of corn. During the blanching procedure, the water should be boiling. Half-fill a large mixing bowl with ice water.
Fill a tray with ice cubes and place it in the water. Using these simple steps, you would be able to blanch corn pretty easily.
Why To Blanch Corn For That Long?
The most conventional approach is to blanch the corn. Blanching the corn keeps its sweetness and texture while also killing any bacteria that could be on the kernels.
When it comes to food preservation, it’s critical to keep your work surfaces, equipment, and hands as clean as possible. Another benefit of blanching corn is that it will hold its flavour in the freezer for longer.
Blanched corn will keep for roughly a year in the freezer, whereas raw corn will lose quality after six months. Every ear of corn in the freezer section of the supermarket has been cooked before it was frozen.
Blanching corn before eating or preserving it eliminates surface debris from the field and our hands while also deactivating spoilage-causing enzymes.
You’ll need a broad saucepan, tongs, and an ice bath, which is a bowl filled with equal parts water and ice. Improper blanching results in changes in texture, colour, and nutrient content, as well as an increase in the overall cost of the operation.
Blanching also affects the chemical and physical qualities of the kernel pulp, as well as the coagulation of the pulp.
The consistency of the grain pulp can be changed to prevent juice leakage and thus nutrient loss. The blanched material’s modifications are determined by the time, temperature, and manner of blanching, as well as the variation, ripeness, and shape of the corn cob.
After reading about all of the advantages of blanching corn, it’s clear how critical it is for veggies to retain their nutrients during the cooking process.
Conclusion
Blanching is critical for further processing and prolonging the shelf life of sweet corn. Based on the moisture, sugars, protein moisture level, and cut-off kernel mass, the ideal blanching treatment for sweet corn are 8 minutes.
This method of momentarily dipping food in boiling water before plunging into an ice bath to stop the cooking process ensures that no flavour or texture is lost. When corn is not blanched before freezing, it becomes chewy and mushy when thawed.
If you’re going to purée it in a creamy soup, this might be acceptable. However, having a variety of options for using frozen corn is preferable.
That’s why, when freezing corn, blanching it helps to maintain the flavour and texture.
References
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11947-009-0246-3
- https://www.mdpi.com/665796
- https://ifst.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1975.tb00031.x
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