Five Dozen Ears of Corn

'Tis the midst of the busier home canning season with the busiest tomato season just around the corner.  Last week, the canners ran a couple of times a day.  I was very fortunate to find a local farmer about a mile out of town who is selling old fashion yellow corn.  All of the vegetable stands in town are selling peaches and cream corn (bi-colour) which simple is not a good corn for canning or freezing.

I came home with five dozen ears of corn with a goal of putting up 20 dozen ears.  Five dozen ears of corn is within my comfort level for processing usually the same day.  This was rather nice looking corn with good sized, even kernels.

A dozen ears of corn gives an average yield of 5 to 6 cups of kernels.  All of this corn was processed in one form or another as kernels.  I canned whole kernel corn, cream style corn, black bean & corn salsa (to follow next week), home canned beef soup (ditto), froze a gallon of charcoal grilled corn, and 4 cobs went to the chef/sous chef.

Corn has a high sugar content with some varieties higher than others.  The sugar will caramelize during the processing causing the corn to darken or even turn brown.  This is one reason yellow corn with a lower sugar content gives nicer results.  I had a yield of 8 - 500 ml jars of whole kernel corn (left two rows) and 8 - 500 ml jars of cream style corn (right two rows).  I paid $3 per dozen for the corn for a total price of $15.  I basically covered that cost in these two products that would cost $1.49 to $1.89 per 398 ml (14 oz) can in the grocery store.  I only used 2 dozen ears of the corn ($6) to make the sixteen jars so was well ahead of the game.  Everything I made with the remaining 3 dozen ears of corn simply lowered my overall costs for putting up a few corn products.

I will be putting up more corn products this coming week.  The price of  $3 per dozen is not the best I've seen it but it is a lot better than the price of the bi-colour corn in town at $6 per dozen.  We have had very adverse weather conditions that have had a large impact on local produce.  Corn is one vegetable I don't grow because it takes up to much space for the yield.  I'm more than happy to support a local farmer while putting delicious foods in my pantry and freezer as well as saving a bit of money in the process.

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