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

This summer season, nevertheless, I’m exploring new methods to arrange contemporary corn, so I typically discover myself choosing it up with out having a dish in thoughts, which generally means utilizing the corn just a few days later. In fact this is not actually supreme—our common recommendation about methods to retailer corn has at all times 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 study extra. 

What Occurs As Your Corn Sits

Due to its quick metabolic price, corn can lose its candy taste shortly when its sugars flip starchy. This has led to the age-old recommendation to take your corn straight from the sector to the cooking pot. Nonetheless, the time that it takes for the corn’s flavors to show into starch is dependent upon the number of corn you’re coping with and the place you’re shopping for it. In relation to candy corn—the kind that almost all Individuals are buying to eat on the cob and for recipes like corn ribs and Kansas Metropolis-style tacky corn—the period of time you need to eat it comes down as to if you’re getting it from an area farmer or the grocery retailer.

Snacks & Appetizers

Slathered Grilled Corn Ribs

prepare dinner time:


30 minutes

serves:


4
to six

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 domestically grown corn, “converts half of its candy sugar into tasteless chains,” giving off a taste that’s disliked by many. Commercially grown corn, nevertheless, 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 just a little bit slower than regular candy corn was, say, even a decade in the past. You may go away it in your fridge for 5 – 6 days. It is most likely been 5 – 6 days out of the sector [when you purchase it] and it is nonetheless candy once you’re consuming it, for essentially the most half.“

Sadly, there’s not likely any method to inform what selection you’re choosing up on the grocery retailer; most are simply labeled as “candy corn.” “There are literally thousands of styles of corn,” says Smoke-McCluskey. When you’re searching for corn at a farmers market, ask the farmer what they’re promoting and they need to be capable to offer you extra info on the range and the way a lot time you’ve gotten earlier than the standard drops off an excessive amount of. 

What to Look For When Shopping for Corn

Though you could not be capable to determine what kind of corn you’re shopping for, there are some things to maintain a watch out for to be sure to’re choosing one of the best of the bunch. “I search for the plumpest kernels,” says Smoke-McCluskey. Editorial director Daniel Gritzer notes that the silk ought to be “moist and comfortable, not brittle and dehydrated,” and Smoke-McCluskey provides that they need to be “sort of healthful trying, not limp and mushy. I search for the husk to be a pleasant inexperienced and sort of vibrant trying. I do not wish to see any tan to it in any respect, or it drying out.”

The Finest Option to Retailer Corn

When you insist on storing your corn, you’ll be able to hold 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 at all times finest to eat your corn as shortly as you’ll be able to, you possible have a while, relying on the number of corn you’ve got purchased and the place you’ve got purchased it. Longer-lasting varieties (typically what you will discover on the grocery store today, but in addition grown by some native growers) can final a further 5 to 6 days from buy if saved within the fridge. When you’ve purchased corn that does not maintain onto its sweetness as lengthy, you will have to eat it sooner, anyplace from one to 2 days after buy. If doubtful, discuss to your produce supervisor or the farmer for extra steering.

Your finest guess 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 hold 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. When you’re shopping for shorter-lasting varieties (generally nonetheless bought at a farmers market), you’ll wish to use it as shortly as doable, since any such corn loses taste in a short time. When you’re buying corn on the grocery retailer, it is best to be capable to use it inside rather less than per week earlier than its taste really fades. Retailer it complete within the crisper drawer of your fridge, or reduce the kernels from the corn, blanch and freeze them, then retailer them in a zipper-lock bag for a most of three months.