A bushel of corn

I went a little crazy at the farmer's market yesterday...  Sweet corn started coming in a couple weeks ago, and I obviously needed to get some to put up.  Last weekend I bought a dozen ears, planning to continue the dozen-a-week trend over the next few weeks since cleaning, blanching, and cutting up the corn is rather tedious.  Except one farmer had a "sale" on extra sweet bi-color corn; a whole bushel (approx. 4 dozen ears or 35 lbs) was only $10.

So I spent a few hours today cleaning, blanching, cutting, and canning/freezing corn.  I ended up with 12 pints canned and ~24 cups in the freezer. 

 

  

 

 
The Reynolds Handi-Vac got mixed reviews on Amazon, but I love mine.  I've had a little trouble getting bags to seal if they have powdery stuff in them (like flour), but they're awesome for freezing veggies.  With the corn, I put it in the bags loosely, and tomorrow I'll vacuum the air out.  That will keep the corn from sticking together too much, I hope.

I decided to can about half of the corn because last year's freezer corn lost some of its taste around March.  It started tasting more like the freezer and less like corn, even though the texture was still good.  Plus, by March, I'm less likely to be able to save my freezer food in case of a power outage.  In the winter I can just toss everything outside to keep it cold in an emergency.  This way I've diversified my storage a bit and gave myself some insurance.

As for cost of home canned vs. store bought...  A 16 oz can of Del Monte corn (purchased by the case, which is cheaper) costs $.95.  A pint or 16 oz of frozen corn cost me $.41 to make, and tastes WAY better.  Plus it came from a local farmer and I know there are no preservatives, chemicals, or sodium in it.  Cheaper and better.  Can't beat that!