We bought ten dozen ears of corn for the pig roast. About four dozen were left over so I decided to preserve most of it. I prefer to freeze corn because of the taste but decided to can the corn instead to save on freezer space. Instructions for freezing corn can be found on an earlier blog (here).
Home Canned Corn
Corn is one of the easier vegetables to can but as with other vegetables it is low acid (pH higher than 4.6) so must be processed in a steam-pressure canner. One of the most common questions asked in preserving forums is "Can a pressure cooker be used for canning?" The answer is no. A pressure canner larger and heavier than a pressure cooker designed to maintain the proper pressure to raise the internal temperature of the food being processed to 240ºF at or below 1,000 feet above sea level. The regulator on pressure canner can be adjusted to compensate for higher altitudes or lower PSI for some fruits whereas most pressure cookers have only one pressure setting of 15 PSI. The higher setting would overprocess most foods at or below 1,000 feet above sea level and would underprocess foods being processed at higher altitudes.
I like to process most foods in 500 ml (pint) mason jars. I also prefer to run the canner full (20 pint jars) whenever possible as processing but that is not always possible. The amount of corn needed will depend on the size of the kernels. Yellow corn gives better results than the peaches & cream variety for both canning and freezing but is not always available in all areas. I had a combination of both varieties. Corn can be either raw or hot packed but the processing times are the same. I used the raw pack method as I think that gives a nicer texture. The total yield was 8 - 500 ml jars (canned) and six 1 - guart vacuum bags (frozen).
Home Canned Corn
Husk the corn and remove the silk. Cut the corn from the cob without scraping. Pack the corn loosely into hot jars leaving 1 - inch headspace. Add 1/2 tsp salt* to each pint or 1 tsp per quart if desired. Ladle boiling water over the corn leaving 1 - inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rim and adjust two-piece caps. Process 55 minutes for pints or 85 minutes for quarts at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.
*salt - is always optional when canning most vegetables and tomato products so feel free to omit or reduce if desired
2 food lovers commented:
Do you have any recipes to make sauces, such as vinaigrettes? Or do you use anything else as a sauce for the meats you do besides the natural juices?
Some of the sauces I make are in the blog archives. Most of these are tomato based and I have used them as ingredients for marinades. There are also a couple of marinades in the archives, one is a vinaigrette using Herbs de Provence. It is quite tasky.
As far as using other ingredients besides natural juices, I quite often let the meat inspire me. I like citrus paired with chicken or a spur of the moment vinaigrette using fresh herbs and experimenting with different vinegars, wines and binders. I also use things like buttermilk as a marinade so I use a lot of different ingredients on meats, poultry and fish.
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